How many of our readers find themselves scouring the internet for 9mm brass to reload? I’ve searched every day on all of the sites I use for ammo, brass, and other components (powder, bullets, and primers) with very little luck.
There are a few things that I’ve done the past year that have saved me well over $1,000 in training with my 9mm.
Not only have I saved a lot of money, but the tools and methods I use have saved me hours in preparation and energy wasted on searching for ammo every day.
9mm Brass Vs. Aluminum & Steel
Before you start worrying about crimping, trimming, and priming cases, you need to worry about the types of cases that can be reloaded and the cases that can’t. For example, brass cases should look very shiny and gold in color.
Aluminum and steel will look silver or grey in color and should be avoided at all times when reloading. Brass is the only case that I would use when it comes to reloading.
As often as I go to the ranges around my area in Virginia, I see hundreds of brass cases laying around the firing line almost every day. All of the ranges I go to are run by the National Forest Service and are always undermanned and often not maintained very well.
This is no knock on the Forest Service, just a great opportunity to save money and time searching for 9mm ammo. I’ve collected thousands of cases that people leave behind with my 9mm brass catcher and as you could imagine, I’ve saved thousands in brass as well.
How Do I Save Time and Energy Gathering 9mm Cases?
The Caldwell Brass Retriever is my go-to tool for the range, once I’m done shooting. I’m not saying I’m an old man, but bending over picking up cases for an hour crushes my back and I’m not as nimble as. used to be.
The Brass Retriever saves me from bending over and allows me to pick up brass exponentially faster than I could ever do it by hand. It also keeps my hands cleaner and healthier from the oil and grease from firing.
Tip: At most ranges, you’ll find many different calibers of cases, but it will save you a lot of time in the end if you just pick it all up and sort it out later. I will all rifle and pistol caliber cases and I organize them in different buckets at my house.
I follow the 7-step guide that Frankford Arsenal recommends following for acceptable brass to reload. It’s incredibly important to inspect each case thoroughly because mistakes made with defective cases can lead to serious injury or death when fired from a gun.
Make sure the case matches the type of ammo you want (I.E. 9mm case for 9mm pistol).
Don’t ever try to reload steel or aluminum cases.
Check the Headstamp (this is the engraving on the bottom of the case that shows the manufacturer, caliber, and sometimes the date it was created). I prefer to reload only major brands that I would trust to carry with me, such as Federal, Hornady, Winchester, Remington, etc…
Feel every case and see if it has any bulges or dents on the side. If so, discard and never reload!
Don’t ever reload a Berdan brass (2-hole primer). If the brass has 2 holes, discard it.
Examine the case for any cracks or splits from the explosion. If you notice any cracks or splits in the case, discard them.
Finally, always look for crimped primer pockets. You’ll see these in military-issued ammo and some pistol cases to help keep the primer locked into the case during transport and firing.
How Many Times Can You Reload 9mm Brass?
Above, I stated that I prefer to load brass from the major companies that I trust to carry in my CCW. The reason is quality of the brass is normally better with the major brands. Above all, I prefer to load Lapua brass over any other brass case because of the quality.
With any of the companies that I listed, I can normally get 5-20 reloads for each case, but it also depends on the tools you use. For example, if you have a case trimmer and prep tool, you can get the most out of each case and exponentially increase your savings.
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9mm Case Trimmer
The Frankford Arsenal Case Trimmer and Prep Center is one of the most important tools you can have in your arsenal to properly reload cases multiple times. The Case trimmer and Prep Center allows you to round out the edges of the brass that have become rough or sharp from shooting (chamfer) and then smooth out the edges once you resurface the edges of the brass (deburring tool).
You’ll need to inspect each piece of brass after each time you shoot it to see if the edges have become rough, splintered, or sharp. Normally for me, it takes about 3-5 uses before I need to chamfer and deburr the cases for my 9mm brass.
As you inspect your cases for the 7 things listed above, you will come across some cases with crimped primer pockets. In short, you can’t reload crimped primer pockets, until your prep the cases to remove the crimp and clean the pocket. I’m sure there are different ways to do this, but the easiest and best way that I’ve found is to use the Frankford Arsenal Primer Pocket Swager.
I have this tool attached to my workbench near my M-Press Single-Stage Bullet Press. I set it up like an assembly line to allow for an easier transition from one tool to the next.
When I get ready to clean my 9mm brass, I always inspect each case, trim, chamfer, deburr first. This may be the wrong order for some people but it works for me. I do it this way because I don’t want to clean cases that I can’t use later on. I use the Frankford Arsenal Platinum Series 7 L Rotary Tumbler because it works for every caliber that I have and will fit up to 500 9mm cases with ease at one time.
Unless you’re one of the lucky few that don’t have to worry about money, finding the balance between training to proficiency and saving money can be difficult. As you can see online ammo sales, you could spend at least $400 on a crate of 1,000 rounds of 9mm FMJ ammo.
However, if you use the tools I shared in this blog and take the time to properly inspect and gather reusable brass, you could spend as little as $10/box of 50 rounds. Learning to clean, trim, chamfer, and deburr spent brass will not only save you money but will give you the motivation to train more often.
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