tcazes Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 My favorite cheap to reload is blazer brass. I can get 7-9 reloads before the primer pockets get loose whereas win gets loose in the 5-6 range. The only brass I despise are cbc brass. I have never been able to load them successfully. That's the only brass that gives me issues. Other than that, for practice or local club matches I use anything the police officers leave behind at the indoor range (guaranteed once fired). But try to get starlike for major matches where everything really counts. ^^^^^^ what you said about cbc! I couldn't get it to load right either. Had to pitch quite a few out of the "processed" brass I purchased. Yes man!!! It's garbage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grendel Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 Whats wrong with CBC brass?! Magtech brass? I am reloading them in plenty and dont have issues (9mm major) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WesCummings Posted March 27, 2016 Author Share Posted March 27, 2016 I have to admit I am not using a Dillon progressive press any longer as I gave mine to my God daughter and her husband when they began shooting GSSA Matches. I single load with an old Lyman torrent press with the RCBS carbide dies. With the cbc brass every round fails when placed in the 9mm case gauge. They pass after re-sizing, but fail after re-loading. I have tried every thing from re-adjusting dies to standing on one foot with my fingers crossed and they still won't fit into the case gauge after loading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grendel Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 Thats odd to me, i reload on a Dillon 550 and with Hornady die set. I use mixed range brass for practice, and for matches, once/few fired CBC,Geco,FNB (used in Danish military) all plunk in my Dillon gauge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beastly Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 Also WCC mil crimp brass is excellent, always once fired, but you have to swage the primer pockets after de-priming, unless you have a 1050. 3 of 4 case failures that I have had (3 case blowouts and 1 full case head separation) have all been WCC NATO brass. This is with 9Minor, 134 PF, 1.085+ OAL, ETR-7. I'm sure the shorter OAL is contributing to higher pressure - but still... This has been over the last 20K rounds more or less. I load mixed range brass on a 1050 and DON'T separate out stepped cases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WesCummings Posted March 27, 2016 Author Share Posted March 27, 2016 Thats odd to me, i reload on a Dillon 550 and with Hornady die set. I use mixed range brass for practice, and for matches, once/few fired CBC,Geco,FNB (used in Danish military) all plunk in my Dillon gauge I'm sure it is something I am or not doing. I champher the case mouth and follow up with steel wool to leave a smooth bevel. All my other loads plunk like they are supposed to. The case gauge is a Wilson which has a good rep in the reloading circles I shoot in. Got me stumped . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 Trying to recover all my brass is such a PITA that running Starline is not worth it. That is the main reason I switched from 38 super to 9 x 19. I do have a box of Federal virgin brass for special occasions but my normal everyday brass is mixed headstamp. If I could, I would use Federal nickel plated cases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcazes Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 Thats odd to me, i reload on a Dillon 550 and with Hornady die set. I use mixed range brass for practice, and for matches, once/few fired CBC,Geco,FNB (used in Danish military) all plunk in my Dillon gauge I'm sure it is something I am or not doing. I champher the case mouth and follow up with steel wool to leave a smooth bevel. All my other loads plunk like they are supposed to. The case gauge is a Wilson which has a good rep in the reloading circles I shoot in. Got me stumped . It's not just you. I know SEVERAL people who CNBC fails every single time after reloading using a Dillon case gauge or Wilson. I use a Dillon SDB, and the other use Dillon 650s or 1050s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marmax Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 Wes, I started the other way around. I started with pistol reloads and worked to rifle reloads and learned that for long ragne accuracy, you have to sort rifle cases. For my 9mm reloads I use all major 9mm head stamps from range brass but throw away crimped or tight pocket pieces like the S&B and RWS. I have no doubt that separating the brass would yield better accuracy, but for 9mm blasting, I simply don't need it. Stay safe shooting and reloading. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beastly Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 Thats odd to me, i reload on a Dillon 550 and with Hornady die set. I use mixed range brass for practice, and for matches, once/few fired CBC,Geco,FNB (used in Danish military) all plunk in my Dillon gauge I'm sure it is something I am or not doing. I champher the case mouth and follow up with steel wool to leave a smooth bevel. You are chamfering 9mm pistol brass? I assume you bell the case mouth and crimp afterwards, so what's the point? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WesCummings Posted March 27, 2016 Author Share Posted March 27, 2016 Thats odd to me, i reload on a Dillon 550 and with Hornady die set. I use mixed range brass for practice, and for matches, once/few fired CBC,Geco,FNB (used in Danish military) all plunk in my Dillon gauge I'm sure it is something I am or not doing. I champher the case mouth and follow up with steel wool to leave a smooth bevel. You are chamfering 9mm pistol brass? I assume you bell the case mouth and crimp afterwards, so what's the point? I do bell the case and use a slight crimp. I just found the Bayou Bullets coated seat without issue if the mouths are champher and Remember I am "retired" So time is not that big a deal. I probably shoot about 1K a month in 9mm so it's not a hardship to me to take the extra time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 When loading virgin brass for the first time, It always sticks. Once fired doesn't do that. Some people have taken the powder funnel and polished it by chucking it in a drill press and using steel wool and polishing compound. Have you tried that ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WesCummings Posted March 27, 2016 Author Share Posted March 27, 2016 Thanks for the suggestion, I will give that a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WesCummings Posted March 28, 2016 Author Share Posted March 28, 2016 Wes, I started the other way around. I started with pistol reloads and worked to rifle reloads and learned that for long ragne accuracy, you have to sort rifle cases. For my 9mm reloads I use all major 9mm head stamps from range brass but throw away crimped or tight pocket pieces like the S&B and RWS. I have no doubt that separating the brass would yield better accuracy, but for 9mm blasting, I simply don't need it. Stay safe shooting and reloading. Chris Don't even get me started on reloading for long range......OCD and then some. Interesting thing about reloading for handgun is that some of my rifle reloading habits have carried over to loading for the 9mm. As to chasing brass, I use a reduced load with the 147's (5.4 grains A#7) so my brass usually falls right at my feet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miranda Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 ever talk with the bow and arrow guys about target shooting? they have routines.... I do not know why my aim has never been calm or steady. I did a lot of reading about how the long range target prepare and how they reload... so when I started reloading my 9mm I was very surprised at how much more latitude the 9mm rounds were allowed and still be acceptable. my reading here got me to a couple of points fairly quick, one was while more precision for the powder throws would be nice, what is available does work well. the other is that if you toss a few hundred rounds downrange in a weekend it is a good idea to be able to make them in less than that same week... I have a cousin who reloads for hunting deer. he thinks I am crazy that I want to make a few thousand rounds in a month. all that to point what I suspect you know... precision can take a lot of time. the extra digit of precision is lost in 9mm pistols. miranda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WesCummings Posted March 28, 2016 Author Share Posted March 28, 2016 ever talk with the bow and arrow guys about target shooting? they have routines.... I do not know why my aim has never been calm or steady. I did a lot of reading about how the long range target prepare and how they reload... so when I started reloading my 9mm I was very surprised at how much more latitude the 9mm rounds were allowed and still be acceptable. my reading here got me to a couple of points fairly quick, one was while more precision for the powder throws would be nice, what is available does work well. the other is that if you toss a few hundred rounds downrange in a weekend it is a good idea to be able to make them in less than that same week... I have a cousin who reloads for hunting deer. he thinks I am crazy that I want to make a few thousand rounds in a month. all that to point what I suspect you know... precision can take a lot of time. the extra digit of precision is lost in 9mm pistols. miranda I agree with your assessment of the difference between the two categories. I know a lot of folks will disagree with my philosophy of weapons, but I have always believed my sidearm was to be used to fight my way to my long gun. In the recruit academy we were instructed to seek cover and distance between us and the bad guy if feasible and possible because most hand gunners were not that proficient using a hand gun. ( little light bulb goes on in my then young head) Ah, a long gun vs a hand gun with distance gives the advantage to the rifle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WesCummings Posted April 17, 2016 Author Share Posted April 17, 2016 Well after fiddling around with the dies I am able to get all my "used" brass to pass the case gauge test. I figured it was something I was doing causing the problem. Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzShooter Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 I use to use Starline brass and never had a problem. Now it sticks in the cylinder of my 929. I recently switched to Winchester and my sticking brass problem went away. I keep 2000 cases and load them all, then start over again. Works well for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinceislander Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 Whats wrong with CBC brass?! Magtech brass? I am reloading them in plenty and dont have issues (9mm major) Nothing wrong with CBC. They are just different. Primer pocket is tighter and case wall a touch thicker. I definitely know when there is a CBC case being resized on my Dillion 550. I sort out CBC and Ammoload/FM from the rest and load them separately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kletus Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 I think one's experience with CBC will depend on how they are loading. Since it is so thick, you have to be careful with how deep the base of the bullet is seated into the case. If you are running a heavy bullet with a short OAL then you will have case gauge issues with CBC. If your gun/bullet profile lets you load longer.. then I think CBC loads just fine. I personally had planned on using 147 gr. blue bullets as my go to load for my PPQ but I found that due to my gun's tight throat I was right on the edge of being short enough to plunk test in my barrel vs. so short that I started having case gauge issues with CBC. I have about five 5 gallon buckets of 9mm brass I've been cleaning and sorting that has a bunch of CBC brass in it. There was just no way I was going to take the extra time to sort out all the CBC brass as well, so I decided to switch over to Bayou's FP, which lets me load to a longer OAL and I have zero issues with CBC brass so far. I sort out all the stepped brass into one container, NATO Brass into another because I don't have a 1050, and the rest goes into my mixed brass pile to be loaded. When I'm done sorting I'll probably sell off the NATO brass and scrap all of the stepped brass. Every headstamp you sort out is extra time, and with 3 young kids... I decided to just buy a different bullet rather than add more time to the process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terlingueno Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 I have a bunch of CBC brass and it works fine on the 550 and in my Glock 19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin c Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Terlingueno: I am one of those having trouble with CBC brass and that in my factory Glock 9 mm barrels. But I load 147's to 1.130 OAL. What are you bullet weight do you use and what OAL are you loading to? BTW, per my previous post in this thread, I have loaded one batch of 500 once fired IMT cases twice more without any failures. The load is 3.5 gr CSB-1 (a Universal Clays like flake powder) over Bayou 147's at 1.130 to 1.135. All cases case rolled prior to loadings (figured I'd do what I do to all my brass) and shot through Glock factory barrels. Will report as I continue to reload what I have recovered (~450 cases). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kletus Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 (edited) The issue with stepped brass isn't whether it will reload well and shoot well. The issue is that the step in the case serves as a stress riser and eventually you are going to get a case separation there. When that happens you have part of a case stuck in the chamber and a useless gun until you can get it out. Edited April 19, 2016 by Kletus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WesCummings Posted April 19, 2016 Author Share Posted April 19, 2016 I am shooting 147 Bayou Bullets loaded out to 1.145 OAL in my Glock 19 stock barrel. So far the CBC and stepped Aguila(sp?) seems to be functioning well for this gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WesCummings Posted April 19, 2016 Author Share Posted April 19, 2016 The issue with stepped brass isn't whether it will reload well and shoot well. The issue is that the step in the case serves as a stress riser and eventually you are going to get a case separation there. When that happens you have part of a case stuck in the chamber and a useless gun until you can get it out. That sure gives me pause to shooting stepped brass. I have experienced case separation in rifle comps and that is one PITA. An old timer (older then me ) did show me a quick solution for that situation if you don't have a case separation tool handy. He said to keep a flat head screw driver with the head just wide enough to fit inside the chamber with the stuck piece of separated case in it handy. Grind the head of the screw driver so you have sharp shoulders; gently tap into the brass and then turn to seat into the brass. Pull back and the separated case should come out. Be warned not to scratch the chamber. Works great on rifles; have not had to try it on a hand gun yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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