Sort 9mm Brass / Frontier Bullets

[ohiopinblastersenior]

Do any of you high volume 9mm shooters bother to sort brass by headstamp for matches? And has anyone ever used Frontier Plated bullets (from South Africa) 115gr FMJ? I am finding that they have a longer shoulder on the bullet and affect seating depth.

Thanks

Dave

[DougCarden]

Hi Dave! If I get batches in that are one headstamp I keep them segregated, but unless I need a batch for Bianchi I dont worry about it anymore.

For 50yd accuracy ammo I use one headstamp and roll size it. Anything else just gets loaded and shot!

I loaded up some 124gr fmj Frontiers, and they were uniform and seem ok. Accuracy is OK, but not like a good JHP at distance. I am sure they will be fine for steel. If I remember right they are a cast lead bullet that is jacketed or plated.....I was told that they are good for blasting and practice, but not as good as a true FMJ type bullet.

Later,

DougC

[Bill Nesbitt]

Hi Dave. How are you doing?

I treat 9mm brass like 45 brass. If it isn't split I load it and shoot it.

If I'm going to an important match I'll sort by headstamp.

One of the guys from Weirton shoots Frontier I think in IDPA. He's been shooting it for a while and likes it. He shoots 147s.

[Aircooled6racer]

Hello: I sort into three groups. All Winchester in one, military and mixed. I use the mixed for local matches and Winchester for big matches. The military gets used in my Mech-Tech and

lost brass matches. I am using the mixed once fired right now in my open pistol and can see alot of difference in the primers I will step those down to my Production pistol now. I need to try the military brass and Winchester in the open pistol to see how that works. Thanks, Eric

[1SOW]

Hello.

I'm not a high volume shooter--150+/week mostly, but I'm going to answer anyway.

I sort by the way they run in my press.: Win @ PPU feel exactly the same in my turret press. With these cases I can get the 'es' way down.

F.C. , *-*, and CCI all feel lighter thinner-- I run them together.

If I'm loading Win and an F.C. gets in the batch, I can tell you every time that the case was different.

But that's just me, and I'm nit-noy with my loads..

[ohiopinblastersenior]

This last batch of 9mm I got is a real mixed bag...there are headstamps I have never even heard of before. I think I will use that for production gun & lead bullets as someone else suggested. I have a fair amount of sorted & once fired so I will keep that for more serious games.

I load on a 1050 so I not sure how much I will be able to feel on sizing but it is something I am going to watch for when loading the mixed stuff.

Bill, I cannot believe an old pin shooter like you would not sort your 45 brass.....you use to dive on the ground for it on the practice range at SC.

I have these 115gr fmj Frontier bullets loaded with an OAL 1.125 seated and it still will not go all the way in to the case gauge....About the length of the case rim still out. I usually load these OAL to 1.150 pretty much like WINCH Ball ammo OAL. If I load them to that length they stick way out of the gauge. If I use Rem or Rainer 115's they case gauge fine. The Frontiers are a plated bullet.

My conclusion is the bullet shoulder is longer (or different shape) than the other bullets and prevents it from going into the guage but before I load a bunch of these I would be interested any other thoughts on what this could be. Not sure how much deeper I want to seat them. Every time I change seating depth it is back out to chrono and adjust the powder measure.

Thanks for your help guys!

Dave

[1SOW]

This last batch of 9mm I got is a real mixed bag...there are headstamps I have never even heard of before. I think I will use that for production gun & lead bullets as someone else suggested. I have a fair amount of sorted & once fired so I will keep that for more serious games.

I load on a 1050 so I not sure how much I will be able to feel on sizing but it is something I am going to watch for when loading the mixed stuff.

Bill, I cannot believe an old pin shooter like you would not sort your 45 brass.....you use to dive on the ground for it on the practice range at SC.

I have these 115gr fmj Frontier bullets loaded with an OAL 1.125 seated and it still will not go all the way in to the case gauge....About the length of the case rim still out. I usually load these OAL to 1.150 pretty much like WINCH Ball ammo OAL. If I load them to that length they stick way out of the gauge. If I use Rem or Rainer 115's they case gauge fine. The Frontiers are a plated bullet.

My conclusion is the bullet shoulder is longer (or different shape) than the other bullets and prevents it from going into the guage but before I load a bunch of these I would be interested any other thoughts on what this could be. Not sure how much deeper I want to seat them. Every time I change seating depth it is back out to chrono and adjust the powder measure.

.

Thanks for your help guys!

Dave

Take one of those 'once fired' cases and 'push' your bullet in slightly by hand. Drop the case and bullet into your chamber and push the case in 'til it seats. This will have the bullet nose touching the leade/rifling.

Carefully pull the case and bullet back out and measure it. I'd do this a few times with different cases and bullets to make sure the bullet didn't move. If it measures 1.125 subtract a .10" or whatever you prefer, and load bullets into a few cases to this spec. I wouldn't use powder or primer, just size the cases and seat and crimp the bullet. Drop these into the barrel chamber and they should drop all the way in freely. You should also be able to turn them to insure they aren't hitting the leade. This is your absolute max OAL with this bullet in this barrel.

Do it carefully and even if it won't fit the case gage, it will run in your gun.

Hope this helps.

Edited January 28, 2010 by 1SOW

[bwit]

No Way on the sorting. Clean em, inspect for cracks, splits and load em back up.

[TRUbor9]

I only use Win once fired brass for my major match ammo, otherwise i dont give a crap.