Hello all,
I am new here and new to reloading. I have some questions that I have not been able to find answers for.
I am reloading 9mm luger on a lee turret press. I just started, and have already become addicted, plan on a Dillon 650 some time in 2006. The ammo I reload is mostly just for plinking.
How do you know if the once fired brass really is just once fired? Most of my ammo is pumped through a Glock 19 so I think I want to reload only one time. Is this a good idea or is it overkill? (to only reload once).

Of the 1000 or so rounds I have reloaded I measured the case diameter at the widest point. Most of my new factory cases are around .386. The same size that my resize die makes them. My store bought “once fired†brass measures anywhere from .388 to.395 (That's .002 to .009 expansion.) So far I only reloaded brass that was .391 or less (.005 or less expansion.) The measurements were taken with a Starrett no.436 so they are accurate. Is this a pretty good way to judge the brass? The guys at the reloading place said “just don't reload it if it is cracked!†Can you believe that? Old school I guess. They also did not know about the Glock case support.

I only take these great pains with the brass because of the Glock. MY GOAL IS NO CASE FAILURES, AND RELIABLE CYCLING. According to the chart my rounds have less than 30,000# of chamber pressure, this was important to me again because of the Glock. If I didn’t love it so much I would get rid of it because of the chamber.
Also my G 19 exposes about .185 to .195 of the case at the ramp.

So I guess my questions would be:

1> How can you tell if once fired brass is really once fired if you did not do the firing?

2> Is .005 a good expansion limit for reloading, or is .008 or.009 ok too? There are far more .008 and .009 than .005.

3> Is only one reload per piece of brass overkill in a Glock 19, or would two reloads be ok?

4> Should I just get a new barrel and not worry so much about the brass?

Thanks for taking the time to read this, It turned out much longer than I intended.
Filter

quote:

1> How can you tell if once fired brass is really once fired if you did not do the firing?

You can't.

quote:

2> Is .005 a good expansion limit for reloading, or is .008 or.009 ok too? There are far more .008 and .009 than .005.

I've never measured my cases.

quote:

3> Is only one reload per piece of brass overkill in a Glock 19, or would two reloads be ok?

It's throwing money away. I've reloaded 45 ACP cases 50 times without cracking a case. 9mm. 45 ACP etc. are such low pressure rounds that it doesn't stress the brass much. I usually have to throw them away because I dent the cases badly, or I just lose them at the range

quote:

4> Should I just get a new barrel and not worry so much about the brass?

Why would you want to to get rid of the barrel that you have? If you are getting good accuracy shoot it forever. Just full length resize the cases and shoot them.

Like Frank said, there is no way to tell how many times piece of brass has been fired. Military brass would still have the primer crimped in place, other than that, you are guessing or trusting.
I have loaded & fried 9mm brass in my Glock many, many times. I usually lose the brass before it fails in any way, stop worrying. Load sensible loads from reliable material & you will be fine.
Measuring the brass on a GLock fired round doesn't tell you too much because the case heas is unsupported & the cases deform/stretch abnormally.
The stock bbl. is ok for jacketed or plated. If you want to shoot a lot of lead loads, then an after market bbl. like a Barsto would be my choice.

Thanks for the advice Frank.
I brought up the barrel because there are a few aftermarket that have a full 100% case support, This eliminates the .190†or so unsupported area at the ramp. I should have said that before.
I'm glad you posted Fred I was hoping to hear from a Glock man. It makes me feel better to hear from some one who has reloaded brass fired in their Glock “many, many timesâ€.
If I'm not mistaken, the Barsto barrel has 100% case support and is not polygonal. I just wonder if it would feed as reliably as the factory barrel...I mean the feed ramp would have to be steeper, right?
I think I’ll go and load up another hundred...or two

Koolfilter

I am glad that you are paying that much atention to detail , but it is way overkill to think about reloading 9mm only one time .

Most of my 9mm have been loaded over 20 times and like the others said i loose them long before they wear out,

As far as case size , as long as you FL size you will not have a problem ,

Just load shoot and enjoy , When you start to load rifle that will be a diffrent story.

For the most part I load my 9mm and 45 ACP until I lose the brass.

While you can't tell if the brass was once fired. Most of it comes from ranges, law enforement, military and public. There is very little reloaded that gets mixed in. Most reloaders will pick up what they can.

.391" is what standard factory ammo expands to in my guns. +P+ expands to .393-.394".

You can tell once fired from multi-fired brass. Just look on the inside and outside. Once fired brass will still have brass showing through the carbon on the inside. Twice fired will be solid black. This is not a reliable method, however.

I reload my brass until I loose it. If you want to reload 9mm to Major Power Factor, then use new brass for every load.

Unless Ralph, the brass has been thoroughly cleaned.

What is the likelihood of him picking up my brass?