9mm brass question

[tgonza]

I bought a bunch of range brass and noticed something kind of odd. Much of the brass had what I would call "cratering" on the base, where the base has a slight bowl shape on the bottom instead of being flat. Not sure you can tell from the picture but the one on the left has the slight curvature, the right one is flat. It seemed to occur more on the Blazer brass, although it was apparent on other brands as well. Is this any concern or should I just go ahead and reload?

 

[Uncle Ed]

The cases you have are safe to reload, watch the video below.

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[Sniper338]

Deprive, resize, put a new primer in. Chamber the brass then fire the primer. See if it works.

 

[243winxb]

Maybe from a Glock?

 

[Uncle Ed]

Before anyone makes any more comments please watch the video I posted. Its called primer drag and it happens more with compact pistols.

 

[Hoser]

Your fine. Load it and go.

 

[tgonza]

I’m not concerned about the primer drag, I don’t think it’s causing the cratering in the brass. I think Hoser is right, I think they’re probably ok to load.

 

[Uncle Ed]

tgonza

I misread your posting and thought you were talking about the primer. I have many make cases that have a bowl shape on the base of the case in 9mm and .40 S&W. Meaning the outside of the rim area is higher than the primer pocket and bowl or dish shape. It is just the way the case was formed when made.

Your OK to reload these cases, they fired the first time without any problems and they will be OK when you reload them and fire them.

 

[jsn]

I see these in Federal products, 9mm, 40S&W, and 45ACP.

Not so much anything else.

 

[RegionRat]

I was guilty of loading new stuff and not looking at it. Then it was time to reload it.

Like you, I was wondering out loud why some cases were obviously less than flat. I had no idea if they came that way or if that was due to firing or maybe even something else. I looked at all the pistols and saw nothing unusual.

So, I got lucky that there were a few remnants laying in the shooting bags because I would normally shoot through a whole case or more before stopping to process the brass. In examination of those case heads, I saw the same shapes before firing. That was just lucky since there would normally have been none left and I would have had a longer investigation for nothing.

You probably already looked if you have any left, but all I can tell you to make you feel any better is that I have had factory new brass in the last several years that was like that in unfired condition. And, it reloaded and cycled just fine. Stay on those details, because someday you may catch something else that is important.

 

[wagonman]

kind of dished like a saucer plate cupped slightly, I've come across these their good to go. the 9mm cases these days require visual inspection and sometimes strait in the scrap can they can either be too thick case walls, or steps or ledges inside case

 

[Rsadams]

Here's a box of factory blazer and if you look closely you will see alot of them are dished.... I load pretty much blazer brass because I have tons of it and if you ask me it's normal.... That ones with completely flat heads will before long not fit in a drop in gauge , the heads will get big , flat and get burrs on them... If you have a Wilson gauge drop them in after re-sizing but before loading , the ones that drop in are of course good to go... You are the Safety guy when loading ammo but with pistol I run them till I find a problem like cracked necks or loose primers or the start shooting funny because there hard....

 

[tgonza]

Thanks. I’ll go ahead and load. I don’t do much pistol stuff, mostly rifle. I load rifle 5 times or more with no problem. How many times can I load 9mm brass?

 

[Rsadams]

Thanks. I’ll go ahead and load. I don’t do much pistol stuff, mostly rifle. I load rifle 5 times or more with no problem. How many times can I load 9mm brass?

Seriously till it splits or won't hold a primer anymore.... Plus you don't have to trim , I group lengths and load they don't grow.... I toss them when I notice they start shooting funny I think because they get hard.... Alot of people don't do that they load till they split or won't hold a primer , just inspect to make sure there's no problems before loading and do it again... Pistol is a ton easier than rifle especially for plinking or just punching paper at the range.... Don't over crimp , just remove the belling and make sure your charges are correct you don't have a big factor like rifle , they need to be pretty darn close to what the book says or what your load is....

 

[tgonza]

Thanks Rsadams, good advice. I am very careful with pistol loads. A few grains in a 300 win mag won’t make much difference but could be big problem in a 9mm!