9mm brass questions

[KKing]

This isn't a for sale thread, I'm just looking for advice for possibly a future sale. I don't want anyone thinking I'm trying to skirt the policies here at all.

For those of you that reload, when you buy 9mm brass, do you look for a specific brand? For that matter, does it matter to you if it's all one brand? One brand better than the other? See, between my 9mm carbine and my glock 19 I shoot a pile of the stuff pretty frequently (more so than I should), so I thought in the future I might sell some of my brass to help recoup some of my costs and possibly help out a fellow TNGO'er as well. I realize there's not a lot of money to be made by doing this, but anything I made is better than it going to waste. I know very little about reloading so I figured I'd ask some of my TN brethren. Be gentle Edited June 15, 2013 by KKing

[npgunner]

9mm brass is useless for reloading, no one here would want to buy it from you. But since you offered to help in TGO kindness, I'll happily help you and transport all that useless brass away from your range for you. ;)

In all seriousness ... I prefer once fired stuff. I guess I've never reloaded anything but Federal and Winchester brass, but that's because that's all I've ever bought new. Not sure what others' preference would be, but I don't know that I would be too picky.

[KKing]

9mm brass is useless for reloading, no one here would want to buy it from you. But since you offered to help in TGO kindness, I'll happily help you and transport all that useless brass away from your range for you. ;)

In all seriousness ... I prefer once fired stuff. I guess I've never reloaded anything but Federal and Winchester brass, but that's because that's all I've ever bought new. Not sure what others' preference would be, but I don't know that I would be too picky.

Lol I figure as high as 9mm prices still are, if reloaders are able to find components, they're saving a good bit. All of mine would be once fired. Fiocchi, Aguilla, Federal, Winchester, and S&B best I can remember. No brands that ought to be thrown out altogether? Edited June 15, 2013 by KKing

[gregintenn]

Anything aluminum or steel should be tossed. I doubt you'll see it if you're shooting current production ammo, but if you ever read A-MERC on a piece of brass, dig a hole and bury it! All else is good to go as far as I know; unless you may have some Berdan primed foreign military stuff.

 

I buy once fired 9mm brass. It is usually a mix of brands, and so far, all works great. You should really get set up to reload.

[glock55]

this may be a dumb question but what does A-MERC mean?  I am fairly new to reloading but don't think I have ever seen that.

[KKing]

Anything aluminum or steel should be tossed. I doubt you'll see it if you're shooting current production ammo, but if you ever read A-MERC on a piece of brass, dig a hole and bury it! All else is good to go as far as I know; unless you may have some Berdan primed foreign military stuff.

I buy once fired 9mm brass. It is usually a mix of brands, and so far, all works great. You should really get set up to reload.

Good deal. Yeah for a while I was shooting a good bit of the blazer aluminum case and selling them to a metal recycling place but I'm phasing it out slowly and going to all brass, all the time. I'll look through some of mine today for the A-MERC stamp, thanks for the tip. No berdan primed stuff as far as I know, other than the small stash of steel case wolf I have leftover from when you could actually get it cheaper than brass. You're absolutely right, I need to get into reloading, especially as much as I shoot Edited June 15, 2013 by KKing

[timthetoolman]

I cast lead and load it all (not steel of course).  But it's not worth much.  Most folks that are serious about reloading do get it for free or darn near free.  I think I have around 10,000 cases or so......I just fill a 5 gallon bucket per caliber and call it good for pistol calibers  :up:  I too have looked into selling brass, and for the work there is very little money in it.  I have held onto to mine thinking it might be good for trading at some point.

[brent_strong]

Right now it seems like you can get 40 per thousand for decent 9mm brass (with the brands you listed). Not too bad for just scooping it up off the floor.

The people I've seen selling it for around that price seem to have high demand and eventually sell out of it.

[BigK]

If you can afford to shoot large volumes of 9mm and you're 100% sure you'll never start reloading, saving your brass is barely worth your trouble to pick it up. That's not to say I don't save brass in calibers I don't reload too. Difference is, I'm already picking it up, hauling it home, and sorting it out.

If I've made it home with some odd pcs of brass, I hang onto them until I get 500 (if they're valuable) or 1000 (if they're something fairly worthless). The problem with 9mm range brass is that it's hard to find somebody willing to give you more than 3.5 cents each for them. Arranging a sale for $35 is barely worth all that stooping, sorting, and driving to me. :)

There's better reasons to reload than to save money and they make it much more worth it. It makes shooting more fun IMO. I agree with gregintenn, you ought to consider it. Edited June 15, 2013 by BigK

[gregintenn]

this may be a dumb question but what does A-MERC mean?  I am fairly new to reloading but don't think I have ever seen that.

There was once a company, I believe out of Florida who sold ammo. I do not think they are still in business. I have no knowledge of the factory ammunition, but their brass was headstamped "A-MERC". It is of the devil! You will have every sort of imaginable trouble trying to reload it. Primer pockets out of spec, some pieces get hung in your resizing die, heads pull off, etc.

[KKing]

If you can afford to shoot large volumes of 9mm and you're 100% sure you'll never start reloading, saving your brass is barely worth your trouble to pick it up. That's not to say I don't save brass in calibers I don't reload too. Difference is, I'm already picking it up, hauling it home, and sorting it out.


If I've made it home with some odd pcs of brass, I hang onto them until I get 500 (if they're valuable) or 1000 (if they're something fairly worthless). The problem with 9mm range brass is that it's hard to find somebody willing to give you more than 3.5 cents each for them. Arranging a sale for $35 is barely worth all that stooping, sorting, and driving to me. :)


There's better reasons to reload than to save money and they make it much more worth it. It makes shooting more fun IMO. I agree with gregintenn, you ought to consider it.

Oh I agree it's certainly not worth it financially to pick it up to sell, but I try to pick all ours up anyway just to keep our property cleaned up. I never shoot at a formal "range", we built our own on the family farm so we try to clean everything up whenever possible. I figured even if I only got a couple bucks out of it, it'd be worth it to help keep someone else shooting with what would otherwise go to waste. I'd love to start reloading just as another relaxing hobby, but right now it's not in the cards (getting married, still looking for a house with a garage/shop to set up in)
But in the future, I'd absolutely love to. I can see it being like cleaning my weapons, very relaxing Edited June 15, 2013 by KKing

[BigK]

Oh I agree it's certainly not worth it financially to pick it up to sell, but I try to pick all ours up anyway just to keep our property cleaned up. I never shoot at a formal "range", we built our own on the family farm so we try to clean everything up whenever possible. I figured even if I only got a couple bucks out of it, it'd be worth it to help keep someone else shooting with what would otherwise go to waste. I'd love to start reloading just as another relaxing hobby, but right now it's not in the cards (getting married, still looking for a house with a garage/shop to set up in)
But in the future, I'd absolutely love to. I can see it being like cleaning my weapons, very relaxing

I'm jealous. I wish I had a private place like that to shoot. I didn't realize you were just cleaning up after yourself.

I'd be glad to come out and make a big mess with all my brass and then clean it up when I'm done. :D

[KKing]

Oh I agree it's certainly not worth it financially to pick it up to sell, but I try to pick all ours up anyway just to keep our property cleaned up. I never shoot at a formal "range", we built our own on the family farm so we try to clean everything up whenever possible. I figured even if I only got a couple bucks out of it, it'd be worth it to help keep someone else shooting with what would otherwise go to waste. I'd love to start reloading just as another relaxing hobby, but right now it's not in the cards (getting married, still looking for a house with a garage/shop to set up in)

But in the future, I'd absolutely love to. I can see it being like cleaning my weapons, very relaxing

I'm jealous. I wish I had a private place like that to shoot. I didn't realize you were just cleaning up after yourself.


I'd be glad to come out and make a big mess with all my brass and then clean it up when I'm done. :D

I've actually been thinking of having some buddies (tngo members included) out to have a good day of shooting. With wedding plans and everyone kinda holding on to their ammo due to the market it just hasn't happened as of yet. My goal is to at least have one this summer. If it does happen, I'll be sure to post a thread.

[gun sane]

As long as the brass is serviceable (that is, no evidence of overpressure, cracks or deep knicks) you can reload it many times over.  Wall thickness will vary depending upon the manufacturer, but it doesn't really matter if it's all one brand or mixed.

Edited June 15, 2013 by gun sane

[glock55]

There was once a company, I believe out of Florida who sold ammo. I do not think they are still in business. I have no knowledge of the factory ammunition, but their brass was headstamped "A-MERC". It is of the devil! You will have every sort of imaginable trouble trying to reload it. Primer pockets out of spec, some pieces get hung in your resizing die, heads pull off, etc.

thanks for the info. i will be out the look out for this

[Raoul]

If you can afford to shoot large volumes of 9mm and you're 100% sure you'll never start reloading, saving your brass is barely worth your trouble to pick it up. That's not to say I don't save brass in calibers I don't reload too. Difference is, I'm already picking it up, hauling it home, and sorting it out.

If I've made it home with some odd pcs of brass, I hang onto them until I get 500 (if they're valuable) or 1000 (if they're something fairly worthless). The problem with 9mm range brass is that it's hard to find somebody willing to give you more than 3.5 cents each for them. Arranging a sale for $35 is barely worth all that stooping, sorting, and driving to me. :)

There's better reasons to reload than to save money and they make it much more worth it. It makes shooting more fun IMO. I agree with gregintenn, you ought to consider it.

 

I'm not so sure about that. While it's a little trouble to clean, package and ship, I sold enough brass the last couple of years to fund purchases of powder, primers, and bullets.

Of course I had been picking up brass for a few years. Just seems like a waste to leave it on the ground.

[TNMTBik3r]

If you plan on reloading in the next couple of years, just hang onto the brass. That is my opinion, I was saving brass a year before I ever got my press and stuff. In fact, I had 1k 9mm brass deprimed and cleaned before I ever had my press (hammer and punch to deprime).

 

My experience with buying brass is that it is usually mixed headstamp and most people are ok with that. I sort all of mine by headstamp but don't keep my brass seperated from range pickup.

[BigK]

I'm not so sure about that. While it's a little trouble to clean, package and ship, I sold enough brass the last couple of years to fund purchases of powder, primers, and bullets.
Of course I had been picking up brass for a few years. Just seems like a waste to leave it on the ground.

I guess I don't really mind the picking up and sorting so much, since I'm already doing that to recover my own brass (plus a few more, on a good day). Hanging onto the strays until I have enough to be worthwhile isn't any more work, really. I just don't think I'd bother to bring it home, if I didn't reload and didn't plan to in the future.

[LngRngShtr]

as long as it hasn't been loaded to 9mm MAJOR for a USPSA shooter  you should be fine to load them again and again and again...

 

A-MERC excepted that stuff is best saved for the scrap man.

[Patton]

I have found some brass that is thinner than others. This matters in the resizing when I go to seat bullets. I don't bother to flare it more but I hold the bullet on going into the seating die. I never noticed what brand the brass was though. I have bought a lot some 9mm brass lately for $5/1lbs(about 115 pcs)

[gun sane]

I have found some brass that is thinner than others. This matters in the resizing when I go to seat bullets. I don't bother to flare it more but I hold the bullet on going into the seating die. I never noticed what brand the brass was though. I have bought a lot some 9mm brass lately for $5/1lbs(about 115 pcs)

 

Every now and then I get a bullet that will setback because of this.  Takes a bit more crimp.