Norma 9mm Brass

[Nathanb]

Anyone else found the flash hole to be smaller?  I ripped up a sizing pin or two and could not figure out why.  
 

I thought Maybe the brass had gotten wet and sealed the primers to the brass but after running it through a. Universal recapping does and seeing the enlarged flash hole after the fact it finally clicked. 
 

I guess it’s supposed to improve consistency in ignition but all I’m finding it to do is cause me to stop loading to clear the brass when I hit one 

[Scotty_JR]

My Dillon decapping pin won't punch through most Norma cases. Every once and while it will but mostly they just go in the scrap/don't use bin. 

[Nathanb]

Exactly where these have been going. 

[Farmer]

I sort them out then de-cap with a Lee universal de-capper. Pin is smaller and zips right through. When I get enough saved up and some down time they get the flash hole uniformer treatment. It’s good brass other than that small hole. 

[bazr57]

i was able to decap about 100 with a lee decapping pin before realizing the flash hole was smaller. I recently started reloading on a progressive and was having issues with my flair / expander, so I thought the sticking was on my second stage. After my Lee pin broke, i realized it was the flash hole. 

 

i just throw Norma brass out now. its a shame, I have a few thousand rounds I was collecting to reload. 

[sharko]

Norma brass was pulling out my de-capping pins (getting stuck in the flash hole) until I finally knurled the top end of the pin so it would hold tighter in the die. Now I just power through them, I say power cause you sure know when you hit one, but it doesn't seem to leave a burr on the other end so they are fine.

I had a similar experience with Speer 357Sig brass witch had small flash holes but it had a different de-capping pin with a button head, Dillon sent me some smaller pins that worked fine.

Edited August 14, 2022 by sharko

[Dirty_J]

Dillon RL1100 and Dillon decap pin punches right though them.
 

I did think the machine was locked up the first time I encountered them… now I just give it some extra muscle and pushed right through.  

[Nathanb]

I went the extra muscle route. Bent the pin and the stem. I was impressed. Lol

[Tnbb33]

You can get them out on a lee decapper, but you might bend or break it since the pin is going to enlarge the flash hole to get the primer out. Adds and extra step too. More work then it’s worth is my take, throw them in the scrap bucket or trash. You could use a smaller pin or file one down and probably make it work. 

Edited August 15, 2022 by Tnbb33

[bigdawgbeav]

interesting that my Lee decap/resize die doesn't work.  The pin gets stuck and pulled right out.  I'm just a little more careful now.

[LordManHammer]

I can always "feel" when I have Norma brass in the decapper on the downstroke.  I just stop, remove, and chuck it.

[Speedwagon]

I have a process where I decap, size, prime and flare cases before I load them. To decap I use an FW Arms Universal Decapping die with their .052" diameter decapping pin. It's still a little harder to push the primers out of the Norma cases but it's doable and I haven't broken a pin yet. 

[nelly]

Don't waste time on those Tiny Flashhole 9mm Norma cases,  I took pictures of the small flashhole cases and compared them with normal size flashhole mixed brass and sent them to Norma. Here's the response from customer service- "What are you talking about" it took them 3 weeks to move this complaint up the line to their tech advisor and get back to me. This is the tech dept response- " Those small flashhole brass cases are not meant to reload" We can give you a refund if you provide us with the original box with UPC code and lot# and original receipt from the store you purchased from. 

 Much more trouble than it's worth, so now as I go thru range brass I'm on the lookout for any 9mm Norma cases with the tiny flashholes and either pitch them or use some for powder measurements. Norma has really dropped the ball on this issue, they just don't care.

 I  

[plinker625]

Just swap your Dillon Decapping pin for a headed RCBS decapping pin, and now RCBS has undersized ones too....0.057"

Problems years ago were encountered with Speer 357 Sig brass with tight flash holes....the cure back then was to use a RCBS headed decapping pin. 

[Sinister4]

Yup all Norma goes right in the junk bin, not worth the time sorting hole size

[BigMoneyGrip]

I use RCBS dies in my 650 and haven't had any troubles. I can feel the decapping pin plowing through the small hole, but it hasn't hurt anything. However, I did grind a fine point on the pin.

[Bakerjd]

I hate Norma brass. Toss it in the trash.

[Farmer]

Toss it in a box and send it to me. 

[Nathanb]

1 hour ago, Farmer said:

Toss it in a box and send it to me. 

It’s cheaper to throw it in the trash brass box and less effort too

[Bshooter]

I get a lot of range pickup brass.  I won't use it for Major 9, so if I get Norma brass in the mix and can't deprime with my Super 1050 with a Mark 7 autodrive I keep them seperate and deprime manually. I know it is once fired and will use for Major 9.

[Farmer]

7 hours ago, Bshooter said:

I get a lot of range pickup brass.  I won't use it for Major 9, so if I get Norma brass in the mix and can't deprime with my Super 1050 with a Mark 7 autodrive I keep them seperate and deprime manually. I know it is once fired and will use for Major 9.

 That’s what I’m talking about. 

[APL-G35]

Whatever engineer at Norma came up with the small flash hole nine brass needs publicly flogged.

[MadBomber]

4 hours ago, APL-G35 said:

Whatever engineer at Norma came up with the small flash hole nine brass needs publicly flogged.

Absolutely!  Along with the genius who thought small primer .45 ACP was a good idea.

[Sandbagger123]

my lee die with a squirrel daddy pin ignores these like they are not there .   never sorted  cases in my many thousands of rounds i have made . 

[Miranda]

other than not knowing what a squirrel daddy pin may be...

 

I use a lee sizing/decapping die and norma brass is not an issue.

 

and I can only add that 2 dozen norma cases in not my idea that

this is clear path to success.

... or that the cases are changed from what I had.

 

miranda