Smojak Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 (edited) The most time cosuming and cumbersome part of reloading for me is checking brass after cleaning for dents, extractor dings/scratches, bulging etc. I take each case one by one and look at it 360° for defects. I can't imagine anyway to expedite this process, but maybe someone out there has a better way? 9mm/straight wall cases Edited March 11 by Smojak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevolverJockey Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 I am probably in the minority, but I have probably loaded 80,000 rounds of 9mm and aside from culling out the .380, I have never looked at the cases. It may be possible to set up a case feeder with some sort of chute that lines them up and rolls them where you can just watch one fixed point? Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4n2t0 Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 (edited) I don't inspect pistol cases at all. I load them until they split. I only catch split cases when they don't pass gauging in my hundo. I'll shoot split cases one last time if they aren't too split, lol. 20+ years of reloading, and I've still got all the parts god gave me! Except maybe brains... Edited March 11 by 4n2t0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iflyskyhigh Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 Agreed. Checking cases is a waste of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cvincent Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 Same. Don’t even case gauge. When I had hundreds and hundreds of rounds that didn’t pass the case gauge, then all but 1 worked in the gun, which had a visual defect. Stopped gauging. When I load mags at a match I’ll spin the round in the feed lips and look for defects. If none, it’s gtg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptimiStick Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 I case gauge in the hundo, and catch splits there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chills1994 Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 My hearing is still good enough that I can hear a cracked or split case when it is in the media separator. It has a tin-ey sound to it. When I am sure I have enough of whatever media out of the cases, I will take the outer lid off the separator. Then take off the top perforated “clam shell”. Then just rock the bottom part back and forth and listen for that “tin can” like sound. Then pluck out the offending case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathanb Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 Minor I don’t check. major I only shoot certain headstamps. Three case head separation will do that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmc45414 Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 When I bought the the Armanov checker I thought I would only use it for special match or class type ammo, but since I have it I have started to enjoy having the MTM boxes (used to think it was dumb). Split cases will show up there, and I try and separate them so I do not inadvertently load them again. Anything else that doesn't pass gets run though the Lee FCD and loaded into magazines for my Shield and blasted away in practice. Also split cases will not bell properly and are apparent when placing a bullet, or with a bullet feeder they bullet will probably fall off when they advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Phil Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 My LnL shows a split case as it rides on the feed rail into the 1st stage. I keep a half dozen good cases on the bench and replace as necessary. I don't case check except to (about once a year or so) separate the FC (revolver)from the range brass (auto) that gets mixed in. Moon clips negate most of that. I check about 5 or 6 in a case gauge every hundred reloads. Haven't been casing anal since the old varmint/benchrest days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyScuba Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 I spread them out on a towel to dry. Running your fingers through you'll hear the cracked and super comp. Lately I've been catching 380's and 9 police (super sneaky) but that's visual only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoNsTeR Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 They get checked a little as I hand-sort them, otherwise I assume they're' fine. A few split cases make it through, otherwise I can't think of any problems this fails to catch. "Failing to sort out 100% of the supers and 40s" definitely causes more problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe4d Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 I catch an occasional bad case in the sorting, loading, storage, steps.. A major I use the guns chambers to check.. I dont have a dedicated case inspection step for pistol brass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmer Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 Generally I catch them during processing. They get handled enough that usually bad ones get caught. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artemas Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 Visually checked as they move around the shell plate, final check when every thing goes through the hundo case gauge, 70,000+ with no issues. Anything short of a crack or wrong caliber has been good to go for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smojak Posted March 11 Author Share Posted March 11 Great responses. Sounds like I'm over worried about failures in battery. I can spot cracks easy. Its the signs of overpressure and buldge that i was worried about, but maybe i gotta let go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HesedTech Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 4 hours ago, Smojak said: Sounds like I'm over worried about failures in battery Hundo check all your match ammo, practice ammo not as much an issue. You would hate to find a split case or one which won’t chamber during the match. New reloaders (I remember the match where I learned this as a new reloader) learn they must have ammo that runs the hard way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmc45414 Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 13 minutes ago, HesedTech said: New reloaders (I remember the match where I learned this as a new reloader) learn they must have ammo that runs the hard way. All my SRP pistol rounds worked great, in practice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m700 Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 Originally I handled cases so much i would always spot issues. Off the ground, brass size seperator, out of seperator, into wet cleaner, into seperator, into dehydrator, out of dehydrator, handfulls into plastic bag for lube, into collator(cant really see this), down tube on press, out of tray into rag to wipe some lube off, into the ammo storage box, into range bag, and into magazines. Ive pulled brass from every point in those listed steps but never spent time directly inspecting. I will only case gauge when setting up press or if ammo is going to competition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe4d Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 On 3/11/2024 at 3:28 PM, Smojak said: Great responses. Sounds like I'm over worried about failures in battery. I can spot cracks easy. Its the signs of overpressure and buldge that i was worried about, but maybe i gotta let go. dont over pressure your loads Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cautery Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 (edited) I'm only concerned for size into the case feeder. I "inspect" by sight and feel while loading. I inspect LOADED rounds before they go in a match box. Practice goes straight in the box and I HOPE for a failure or two for true drill in practice. Mostly never get one.... ever. Edited March 14 by cautery Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rishii Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 For 9mm brass I line the bottom of a large tray with blazer ammo 45 acp trays, they’re white with large square holes that I dumpster dive out of the trash can. I then dump brass in the tray and rock it, 80-90% fall in and most of those land case head down It make its easy to separate out 380 and 40 I check for damaged, cracked case mouths and stepped brass, I then flip them over into an empty tray and check for crimped primers, it take me around 10-15 minutes to check a couple thousand cases Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 100-round .45 ACP plastic ammo boxes work well for this too. Rip the lid off, dump on a handful of mixed 9mm/380/mak brass, shake. The too-short ones stick out like a sore thumb. Yank them, check for rocks in the remaining 9s and repeat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinceislander Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 2 hours ago, shred said: 100-round .45 ACP plastic ammo boxes work well for this too. Rip the lid off, dump on a handful of mixed 9mm/380/mak brass, shake. The too-short ones stick out like a sore thumb. Yank them, check for rocks in the remaining 9s and repeat. This^^^ I do this with an old 40cal ammo box tray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
togmaster Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 40 cal. trays work best for 9mm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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