Identifying military 9mm brass

[Fooped]

Hey folks,

I was on the phone with Dillon yesterday, and they said the 9mm brass with a "FC" headstamp was military brass with the crimped primer. They said that I should look for the FC and then a two digit number denoting the date of manufacture. I.E. "FC 08"

I found a couple of pieces in my bin that were labeled as such, but also a bunch that simply were stamped "FC 9mm luger" but no date.

Are these also mil-spec?

Thanks!

 

[drgrant]

Look for a few things...

Most of these have the little NATO cross on the headstamp/base area..... which is a circle with a plus in the middle of it...

Look at the primers, if you see a rim or crimpage, it's definitely military.

Military 9mm brass also has slightly less case capacity.

The name/number scheme sounds about right.... I have a bunch of "WCC 92" military 9mm brass.

If you're not processing em, weed them out and set them aside... trying to
jam a primer in one if the crimp hasn't been removed is real fun.

-Mike

 

[Steve_P]

The "FC 9mm Luger" headstamp is commercial federal ammo.

I have quite a few "WCC 0x +p" headstamps mixed in with my range brass, but i have not yet had a problem inserting a primer. Must have been swaged/reamed before I got to them.

 

[NavyRedneck]

I have some marked WC 1987 (and no other marking) which I assume is military but it deprimes, sizes, and loads up real nice.

Tonight I found one that looked like it had a berdan primer in it? I wasn't even sure berdan primers were used with handgun ammo.

 

[Finalygotabeltfed]

Any 9mm cases with crimped primer pockets are going to be a major pain in the ass to reload as the crimp will have to be reamed out or swaged.

Big difference in time consumption (two to three times as long)doing this with pistol brass than rifle brass.
I highly recommend sticking with commercial, uncrimped 9mm brass unless you just enjoy fumbling with the stuff and wasting your time.

Experience from one who shoots and reloads 9mm by the multi thousands.

EDIT: "Mil Spec" in 9mm casings is pretty meaningless. Most any 9mm casing can be reloaded a dozen times or more without any problems. I don't know why the primers were crimped in 9mm ammo anyway....the high pressure +P+ Hirtenberger subgun ammo isn't even crimped and having run thousands of them through open bolt machineguns, I've never had a primer move from the pocket even the slightest bit.