What is this and what else can you tell me about these?

It's Russian, don't reload it. Especially if you aren't running a light load.

As far as the primer strike, does it look like the case on the right?

If so, that's a case from a Glock. The striker fired guns leave weird primer hits.

like this? ?

https://forums.brianenos.com/topic/237712-maxxtech-stepped-to-a-whole-new-level/

It's called stepped brass. Probably best to avoid loading it. Toss it.

Some are Ammo land, some are branded as fm, and I've seen INI with the internal ledges.
Don't reload them, just throw them away. Several members have reported that they shear off at the ledge when fired and leave the front (mouth) of the case stuck in the chamber.
Dudedog said he had one break off in his chamber and tie up his gun until he finally got it dug out of there.

It’s stepped brass. It’s really good for reloading if you want to cause a catastrophic jam in a gun that takes many minutes to clear. If that sounds good, it’s just the kind of brass you want.

If you do NOT want it fracturing inside your chambers and jamming your guns, throw it away.

The case is ejected up or out while the firing pin is still forward. It's called firing pin swipe. I have two striker fired guns that don't leave these marks though.
One is a Ruger SR-9 and the other is a S&W Shield, both are striker fired and neither leave and pin swipes on the primers.
I agree that the Glocks and some other brands do this.

It doesn't mean much.

Firing pin swipe? Meaningless. Step inside the case? Totally unrelated and to be avoided.

ATLDave said:

It’s stepped brass. It’s really good for reloading if you want to cause a catastrophic jam in a gun that takes many minutes to clear. If that sounds good, it’s just the kind of brass you want.

If you do NOT want it fracturing inside your chambers and jamming your guns, throw it away.

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I saw the pictures of the stepped brass and would like to know if your or other people have experienced the issues you are warning about. If the stuff is steel case or aluminum case, I do not and would not reload the stuff. But if it is brass, what's the problem? Is it a design problem or a manufacturing problem.? It looks like the sidewalls are really thick, and I think that is good as long as it provides a gas seal. I could believe it might be hard to size. A reloader would have to cut charges because the interior volume is less, and I don't know the variability of that.

Stepped brass can cause unsafe pressures for reloading because of reduced case volume and several members have reported stepped brass breaking off at the step in their pistol’s chamber preventing function. There is a thread all about it.

Slamfire said:

I saw the pictures of the stepped brass and would like to know if your or other people have experienced the issues you are warning about. If the stuff is steel case or aluminum case, I do not and would not reload the stuff. But if it is brass, what's the problem? Is it a design problem or a manufacturing problem.? It looks like the sidewalls are really thick, and I think that is good as long as it provides a gas seal. I could believe it might be hard to size. A reloader would have to cut charges because the interior volume is less, and I don't know the variability of that.

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The right angles inside the case cause stress risers. The brass fractures in the chamber under pressure. The rear half comes out (with the extractor pulling the rim like normal) and the front portion, broken at the step juncture, stays lodged in the chamber.

And, yes, I have seen this happen in-person many times to shooters. I have helped to clear more than one of these jams.

If people don’t believe it, they can just load away until they learn for themselves. Because it WILL happen.

“Stepped” brass, there is a ledge inside the case that gives it a “notch effect” as a perfect place to fracture and spilt into two parts.



It also changes internal volume enough to set off my powder check dies.



Some people reload and shoot them but sooner or later they stop, once their firearm does.

Per post #2 the rectangular impression on the primer is likely from a Glock breech face that is no issue but I don’t reload the stepped brass.

ATLDave said:

The right angles inside the case cause stress risers. The brass fractures in the chamber under pressure. The rear half comes out (with the extractor pulling the rim like normal) and the front portion, broken at the step juncture, stays lodged in the chamber.

And, yes, I have seen this happen in-person many times to shooters. I have helped to clear more than one of these jams.

If people don’t believe it, they can just load away until they learn for themselves. Because it WILL happen.

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Good to know. Thanks for the reply.

Ditto, great information. I learn something new and valuable almost every day here.

Why would they even make something like this? What advantage to mackine over drawing?

Jmorris's picture is so much better than mine.

You might also read this recent thread on interior belted cases.


https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...mm-ammoload-again.850524/page-2#post-11114074

Mine split right at the ledge. Lucky it was practice not a match.
I toss all the stepped stuff in the recycle can.
My feeling is it may not split the first time but it will sooner or later so unless you are really hard up for 9mm brass toss it.
(or give it to someone you really don't like)

No that's not High Road even if you don't like them, just toss it.

There have been many threads here on THR about this issue, so it's definitely not a new discovery. It should be noted that there are at least 3 variants of stepped cases that I have peraonally run into.

The first is the one @jmorris so nicely displayed in his post. These have the step near the bottom of the case. This appears to be to aid in the manufacture of the case, but I can't prove that.

The second consists of a thick sidewall running about 3/4 of the way up the interior of the case.

The third has a step up closer to the case mouth (as compared to the first mentioned variant). This particular variant will typically cause any bullet over 115gr to crush the case when reloading. As best as I can tell, this and the second variant have the intent of preventing bullet setback, although I can't prove this either.

As mentioned there are a handful of headstamps for these. The only way to truly weed them out is to look into each case mouth. It might be a good idea to document any headstamps found with these, but it won't save much time since you have to look at something either way.

Alf

alfsauve said:

Jmorris's picture is so much better than mine.

You might also read this recent thread on interior belted cases.

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/uh-oh-cheerios-well-actually-9mm-ammoload-again.850524/page-2#post-11114074

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Sote dosn't work.......

PWC said:

Sote dosn't work.......

Click to expand...

Fixed. I think.