I'm a total reloading noob, but I've accumulated a fair bit of my brass so planning on setting up a workbench this winter.
So far I have .30-40 Krag, .308 Win, .45 and 9mm. But I need to order some more 9mm FMJ ammo so I'm wondering what's a good ammo to get that has decently reusable brass.
I've searched a lot but it seems I can't get the right keywords and mostly what I find is people just buying empty brass.
I've read rave reviews of Norma brass, which I have a good bit of ammo, but reading about issues with the 9mm and the flash hole size.
Long winded way to ask what people like, and especially why you like it. Also, the average number of reloads you get per shell.
I'll be using it in a Ruger P89.
Regards,
Tom
At our range we have a lot of very rich old retired guys, they just throw their brass away. I have picked up as many as 500 in one day. I mix every brand that I get for free. Of course this is not without problems as 9mm brass varies in dimensions to a great degree almost too numerous to mention but because its free and almost always once fired I would be a fool not to use it.
As far as bullets, do not waste your money on jacketed bullets. I have used hard cast bullets for decades. If you have only one or two 9mm pistols you can often try oversie bullets if you cast your own as an oversize bullet (contrary to what you might have read by the blow hard gun writers) creates far less leading and superior accuracy. The problem is 9mm chambers also vary wildly. I have so many 9mm handguns I settled on a size .355 which will chamber in all of my 9mm handguns. Yes, I do get a bit of leading but only after I fire at least 100 or more rounds out of one pistol and its cleared out with Hoppe's No. 9 and a few passes with a bronze brush. A small inconvenience considering how cheap it is to buy or make your own lead bullets.
Its also a blow hard gun writer myth that lead bullets in pistols do not shoot as well as jacketed bullets. At our club people win matches with home brewed cast bullet loads and have done so there since 1923.
The best bullet shape when using cast bullets is the conical nose bullet. The original classic was Lyman's 356402 which usually drops them at about 120 or 121 grains. This Lyman bullet was specifically designed to feed through the finicky German Luger so it's been around for a long, long, time.
In the "old days" before Bullseye Powder became almost extinct and was reasonable in price and you could buy primers for 2 cts apiece I usually shot up 400 rounds with every trip to the range. Usually 100 rounds through 4 different pistols. Today since I can no longer even find Bullseye powder (my buddy paid $100 for 1 lb of it) I am using some Red Dot Powder given to me by my brother who no longer shoots trap and although loading info is scarce as hens teeth I managed to work up a load that shoots the antenna off of a fly at 25 yards.
I remember back in the 60's an Old Man once thought I was nuts to even fool with the 9mm as he considered it an "odd caliber" and since corrosive ammo was to be had for little more than a song and a dance he could not understand why I took up bullet casting. I told him " I do not shoot corrosive ammo out of my guns period". I said nothing more as if he did not understand why he never would.
By the way you can cruise the gun shows or go online and buy once fired 9mm brass in bulk. Its not the brass that makes accurate shooting rather its the bullet diameter, the powder and the quality of your handloads. I have used almost every brand of brass made since the 1920's and although its more convenient and gives you less handloading problems to use just one brand of brass its a heck of alot more expensive too and for little or no gain in accuracy. Unless you are going into extreme competition use any brass you can find and then go "knee deep in brass and still shootin fast". I love the smell of gunpowder in the morning.
