PWGUNNY
Member
Not sure what brand this is, but it does not like my CCI primers. I want to avoid these in the future.
WMA ?
WMA ?
Can someone identify this 9mm brass for me?
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Ifishsum
Member
I think it's Winchester but it definitely had crimped primers in the original loading, and the crimp needs to be removed before repriming. Not worth the effort for 9mm brass. Pretty much anything with the NATO cross is going to have crimped primers regardless of brand
"Per Paul Szabo at Winchester: "“WMA” stands for Winchester Military Ammunition
We use “WMA” shellcases sometimes in commercial loads so the headstamp is not a clear indicator of military ammunition."
The other marks are the "site" made
We use “WMA” shellcases sometimes in commercial loads so the headstamp is not a clear indicator of military ammunition."
The other marks are the "site" made
SlowFuse
Member
WMA is the same as the Winchester WCC that we have been seeing for a while as far as i'm concerned. It's been showing up in the past 10 years or so. Most of it has the ring style crimp but i've had some that did not have a crimp on both of these head stamps.
There are a few methods to remove the crimp, I like swaging and some people like to cut crimps out with a specific tool or even a properly sized flat head screwdriver. I try to keep them separate and just load other headstamps that aren't crimped, minor inconvenience. When I get enough crimped brass will run them all through the swager. I think tight primer issues happens often with common auto pistol rounds. Many people just mix all of their brass together with no sorting and run it, I like to keep them separate. It's an extra step but worth it to me.
If you dont already have a swager or other tool scrapping all of your crimped brass as @Walkalong mentioned may be the way to go, 9mm brass is cheap.
There are a few methods to remove the crimp, I like swaging and some people like to cut crimps out with a specific tool or even a properly sized flat head screwdriver. I try to keep them separate and just load other headstamps that aren't crimped, minor inconvenience. When I get enough crimped brass will run them all through the swager. I think tight primer issues happens often with common auto pistol rounds. Many people just mix all of their brass together with no sorting and run it, I like to keep them separate. It's an extra step but worth it to me.
If you dont already have a swager or other tool scrapping all of your crimped brass as @Walkalong mentioned may be the way to go, 9mm brass is cheap.
OP
OP
PWGUNNY
Member
Thanks again fellas. I learn so much from this site. I have plenty of 9mm brass, so I will discard these when I come across them.
I separate the NATO brass headstamps I find, and and later, when I have plenty of handloads and am bored, I use a countersink chucked in my hand drill and cut out crimps (I have been using a counter sink since I first encountered a primer crimp, '90, and zero problems). It takes about a half second and when removing crimps, with a glance, I can sort brass by headstamp if I choose...
lightman
Member
To keep or not to keep? Some calibers like 9mm are very plentiful now. But they can get scarce during shortages. I have sold off surplus brass and sometimes I would wish that I had it back. How much storage space do you have?
Removing a crimp is just 1 more step in your loading process. And you only have to do it once. I've found Nato brass to be pretty good, usually.
cougar1717
Member
I had a few in a mixed lot of 9mm brass that I sized. There weren't too many, so I just cut the crimp out with a chamfer tool. After that, even euro primers seat. Good brass - it is on the thicker end of the spectrum. I could feel the difference in sizing and belling. No problems with the handful I dealt with. Obviously, if you're dealing with more than a few, you would want to seek out a higher volume means of removing or swaging the crimped primer pocket.
Yep, I once bought a Winchester box of 100 with WMA headstamps at wally world.
SlowFuse
Member
In that case it may stand for Wal Mart Ammo
RikSors
Member
NATO cross. I pull them out of circulation for now. They’re not worth the effort.
I don’t toss them. I just put them in a separate container.
I don’t toss them. I just put them in a separate container.
Here's an additional help:
https://afte.org/resources/headstamp-guide
https://afte.org/resources/headstamp-guide
Toprudder
Member
I believe all NATO rounds, regardless of caliber, have crimped primers. That has been my experience with anything that has the NATO symbol (circle with cross).
sparkyv
Member
Correct. These go in my trade or scrap pile.
OP
OP
PWGUNNY
Member
I think this came from a box of 100, loose in the box with no cartridge box inside.
RockRat64
Member
Thanks for this post. I have also recently discovered this brass and hate it. Catches me by surprise when a primer won't go in.
armoredman
Member
9mm is so widely available as either range pickup or from buddies that when I run into one of these that won't seat a primer, I scrap 'em. Took three shopping bags of bad brass to the recyclers the other day, got $27. Had a nice lunch.
I have only found 9mm, 45 ACP, 5.56, 7.62x51, 7.62x54r and 30-06 or at least these are the only ones I reload. Dunno any other for civilian use, maybe 50 BAR?
I would keep the brass in a large container until you fill it up and than transfer it to a 5 gallon bucket. Once it's full you can take a few days of depriming and swaging the bullets to remove the crimp. I do stuff like that in the patio while enjoying the morning breeze listening to the birds chirp and drinking a cup of coffee...very relaxing. When you are ready to reload you can do the other steps like cleaning and so forth a little at a time.
stillquietvoice
Contributing Member
Save them and offer for sale or trade.
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