how to check your 9 mm brass

[Kamotion]

When checking 9 mm brass for Berdan Primers and head stamps...do you have any trick way of turning batches of them on their end to look inside?

[Maksim]

most of the berdan primed stuff will be nickel or steel cased... easiest way. also, look at the headstamps.

where would you run across berdan primed 9mm anyway?

[njl]

Sorting by headstamp, you should probably be ok. The berdan stuff often tends to be steel (Wolf and the other Russian brands). The really common stuff you'll find (Win, WCC, FC, RWS, Blazer brass, Speer, RP, Fiocchi, *I*, IMI, *-*) is all going to be boxer. You're probably more likely to run into crimped 9mm primer pockets than berdan primed brass cases.

[Intel6]

I frequently use the plastic trays from Federal ammunition to inspect/count brass. Drop a handfull on an empty tray and most of the cases will fall in head first (heavier end down) and then you can look down into them and if you use antoehr tray to flip them you can look at all the headstamps at the same time. I have a cardboard tray that holds 6 trays so I can do 300 at a time.

Neal in AZ

[kevin c]

Any shallow tray/box/pan, with sides tall enough to keep cases from jumping out, will do. Two or three handfuls, a few shakes and many of the cases will fall mouth up. Set the box under a good light, pick 'em out into two new containers, one Boxer, one Berdan. When you're done with the cases that are upright, shake the box up again and repeat, adding more unsorted brass as you go.

As pointed out above, though, most brass available in the US is Boxer primed, and the exceptions are fairly easy to pick out (often aluminum or steel cased, both usually with distinctive colors).

[Sarge]

Yeah, follow the advice above. I have only found two pieces in the last year and a half. They were 9X18's too.

[GrumpyOne]

Same here, a few Berdan primed cases, but they were oddball. I put all the cases in a big pan, shake in a circular motion, and most turn mouth up.

[sperman]

I must be lucky, because I've had quite a few berdan cases that were brass. They do have a rather distinctive head stamp, so sorting them out isn't too much of a problem.

[sdwilliams]

Help the newbie out please. What is "Berdan"? Why do I need to be careful? and, is it limited to 9mm?

[njl]

Google it for more details...but basically Berdan and Boxer were two guys a long time ago who came up with different designs for primers/cartridge heads. Boxer uses a primer with integral anvil and a single centered flash hole. Berdan uses primers without anvils and requires the cartridge head to provide the anvil. Since the anvil is centered, instead of a centered flash hole there are two offset flash holes.

Since berdan primer brass doesn't have a centered flash hole, a normal (boxer) decapper will hit solid brass and bend or something will break if you use it to deprime berdan primed brass.

[Maksim]

Help the newbie out please. What is "Berdan"? Why do I need to be careful? and, is it limited to 9mm?

http://tinyurl.com/2aaqw6b

There ya go.

[sdwilliams]

Thanks for the clarification NJL. From the initial description, I thought it was the brass itself you guys were referring to. Poking around on the various links (thanks Maksim) found further clarity and an illustration.

Just when I thought I had my bases covered...

Sherry

[MemphisMechanic]

I um... don't check. Nor do I sort by headstamps.

Toss craploads of 9mm brass in tumbler. Load it. Pitch the accursed .380s as they go through the sizing die with zero effort... and crank out ammo.

Scrounge your brass somewhere else.

Edited October 2, 2010 by MemphisMechanic

[Youngeyes]

Accursed .380?

[AWLAZS]

I um... don't check. Nor do I sort by headstamps.

Toss craploads of 9mm brass in tumbler. Load it. Pitch the accursed .380s as they go through the sizing die with zero effort... and crank out ammo.

Scrounge your brass somewhere else.

Sounds about right

[sirveyr]

I um... don't check. Nor do I sort by headstamps.

Toss craploads of 9mm brass in tumbler. Load it. Pitch the accursed .380s as they go through the sizing die with zero effort... and crank out ammo.

Scrounge your brass somewhere else.

Exactly! I do too much volume to give a shit sometimes.

[Mbauer67]

Help the newbie out please. What is "Berdan"? Why do I need to be careful? and, is it limited to 9mm?

http://tinyurl.com/2aaqw6b

There ya go.

that is a pretty cool little trick, I am going to keep this one one file for a later date.

[sperman]

I um... don't check. Nor do I sort by headstamps.

Toss craploads of 9mm brass in tumbler. Load it. Pitch the accursed .380s as they go through the sizing die with zero effort... and crank out ammo.

Scrounge your brass somewhere else.

I used this method with success for a long time. Then I bought a box of brass from the wrong vendor. About 1 in 10 is either a crimped primer pocket or a berdan primer. It's quicker to sort the brass than to deal with all of the stoppages while re-loading. Once I start pulling the handle I don't like to stop until the primer buzzer goes off.

[Bigpops]

Does anyone else have problems with the Speer frangible ammo? I cooked off a primer on my 1050 last week because the primers were not pushing out all the way. I missed it, felt something funny but assumed it was the bulletfeeder and ...WHAMMO! It woke me up for sure!

I then noticed that every single Speer acted up. A buddy of mine shot a bunch of it on our home range so I now have it mixed in our brass bucket. Time to cull the herd...let the fun begin.

[jmorris]

I run a big magnet over a batch of cases to pick up steel Berdan cases and the brass coated steel boxer S&B cases.

[PJ BAD]

Help the newbie out please. What is "Berdan"? Why do I need to be careful? and, is it limited to 9mm?

http://tinyurl.com/2aaqw6b

There ya go.

Let me Google that for you is the best thing I've seen. Thanks for showing me that.

[Kamotion]

Thanks to everyone! I am shaking them over a 45 cal tray now and 95 percent drop in bottom down and it let's me see inside. I agree it is better to sort before than to have stoppages during loading. Thanks. RP

[Classic_jon]

I run a big magnet over a batch of cases to pick up steel Berdan cases and the brass coated steel boxer S&B cases.

Yep, same here. $14.00 for a 150lb pull magnet saves a lot of hassle later on.

[fastmtnbiker33w]

I um... don't check. Nor do I sort by headstamps.

Toss craploads of 9mm brass in tumbler. Load it. Pitch the accursed .380s as they go through the sizing die with zero effort... and crank out ammo.

Scrounge your brass somewhere else.

This hasn't caused you any consistency issues with accuracy or when you had to get chrono'd at a match? If no, then what components and brew are you using?

[MemphisMechanic]

130gr Black Bullet International moly

3.8gr Solo1000 (**This will vary WIDELY depending on lot #**)

1.124" OAL

Wolf Primer

I load to 133pf at 80* outside temperature. Pleny of cushion.

I even load the CCI Aluminum cases the rest of you guys pitch. A buddy loaded one specific case *EIGHTEEN* times before it tore at the mouth. Good enough for me. They run just fine.

Edited October 11, 2010 by MemphisMechanic