Tricks for Sorting .380 and 9mm

[Stockwes]

Hey all, I was wondering if anyone had a trick to sort out .380 from 9mm brass. I have a couple buckets of 9mm range brass and like 1 out of 100 is 380.

does anyone have a trick other than sorting though 1 at a time?

 

[jmorris]

They are different diameters.



and different lengths.



I suppose they are still sorted one at a time just not by hand...

Before I built devices to sort them, the trick I used was to setup the powder measure so it would charge a 9mm case but would not charge the shorter 380 case. My powder check die would alert me to the zero powder charge and I would remove it from the shell plate.

 

[entropy]

Eyeball, Mk I, aimed at headstamp. Works everytime.

 

[12Bravo20]

Eyeball, Mk I, aimed at headstamp. Works everytime.

That usually works quite well. I still get the occasional 380 case slip by.

I like to set out 100 cases at a time on the bench next to my turret press. That is when I catch the stragglers that have slipped past me. When you have cases lined up in rows the shorter cases stand out. Another benefit of setting out 100 at a time in rows is that it gives the cases yet another inspection to catch any bulged or cracked cases that I missed when I deprived and then cleaned them.

For those wondering why I set out 100 cases at a time. It makes it easy since primers are 100 per sleeve. I like to do 100 at a time to make sure I can be left alone and not disturbed while reloading.

 

[1KPerDay]

You can bulk sort them with the plastic shell sorter sorter buckets with the Optional aluminum .380 insert.




it may be just as quick and is certainly cheaper to do this method which is what I’m doing now with all my 9mm to sort out the brass with internal steps or military crimps.

 

[Espy42]

I found this video to help with sorting.

 

[Toprudder]

I found this video to help with sorting.

Yes, I use a method very similar to that for sorting 9mm. Instead of a tray, I use a MTM 100 round 45 acp ammo box. I drop all the cases in that will fit, which allows me to look from the side and pick out all of the 380, 9 Mak (shorter) or 9x21 and 38 super cases (longer). I can look down inside and quickly spot the internal step cases. Then I can close the lid, flip the box over, place on the table, open it back up (so I'm now looking at the headstamps) and I can easily spot the NATO cases with crimped primers. Standard procedure for range pickup stuff now.

I mark all of my reloads with a swipe of a Sharpie, so I know I don't have to inspect or do any special processing for those cases, since it has already been done.

 

[Texas10mm]

I use the shell sorters https://www.shellsorter.com/index.html with the 380 plate.

I'm a brass whore. I've spent as much time picking up brass at my club as I have shooting. It all goes into a five gallon bucket.

When the bucket is full and it's cool out I sort brass. The three trays make it quick to get the 45 ACP and the revolver brass out. The 380 plate gets the short stuff out of the 9mm. As long as I don't overload the plate it's 100%.

For me it's much quicker and more accurate than eyeballing the brass.

 

[TonyAngel]

I don't bother sorting the .380s out before hand. I catch them when I'm loading. Although they look similar when you're looking into a pile of brass, they certainly feel different when you pick them up to slide into the shell holder and seeing the height difference at that point is pretty easy.

 

[Texas10mm]

I don't bother sorting the .380s out before hand. I catch them when I'm loading. Although they look similar when you're looking into a pile of brass, they certainly feel different when you pick them up to slide into the shell holder and seeing the height difference at that point is pretty easy.

They play hell with a progressive press. They eat primers.

 

[Metal God]

The trick is not to mix them , don’t shoot 380 on the same day you shoot 9mm .

Same idea about brass . If you sort your brass don’t shoot multiple headstamps on the same day .

 

[Texas10mm]

The trick is not to mix them , don’t shoot 380 on the same day you shoot 9mm .

Same idea about brass . If you sort your brass don’t shoot multiple head stamps on the same day .

That's kind of hard to do when you're picking up the gold nuggets others leave on the ground.

 

[Metal God]

Not hard at all if you’re picking up others . Keep it separate as you pick it up . It’s on you that it’s a little more difficult to see the difference between 9 mm and 300 WinMag .

In that “case” experience is going to play the biggest role although I don’t get them all out on the first try I can pretty much at a glance see the difference . Sure it’s a little harder than 45 ACP and 9 mm but it’s doable .

I should add that I have hand separated thousands of cases so over time I see those differences and it becomes more like a muscle memory thing . I can just see it I don’t know how to explain it it’s just experience I guess .

I can give another example maybe not apples to apples but maybe similar. This seems to me to be not to unlike inspecting brass in general. When I first started looking at brass for defects I would take each piece of brass and examine it very closely and at times use a magnifying glass. Now after years of experience it just needs a quick glance and I can tell if it’s good to go or not .

 

[Toprudder]

My goal, when at the range, is to pick up as much brass as I can in a given amount of time. I will try sometimes to pick out certain calibers, like 45acp or especially 10mm, but I don’t waste time keeping them separate, I throw them all in one bag. Conditions back home are better than at the range for me to sort brass. (Sitting at the bench in my climate controlled reloading shack vs on my knees in the sun).

 

[Metal God]

I didn’t mean to say sort them all as you pick them up but you are picking up one or two at a time it’s at that time you should separate the 380 out .

 

[LiveLife]

anyone have a trick other than sorting though 1 at a time?

I have found the fastest way to identify 380Auto/9x18 brass from 9mm/9x19 brass is to stand them up on the bench and shorter brass becomes obvious.

 

[AJC1]

My way is low tech, but the sizing die will tell you every time. I found 4 in my last batch of 400. Range pickups and I just toss them in the trash.

 

[Bwana John]

Eyeball, Mk I, aimed at headstamp. Works everytime.

not anymore without reading glasses Mk + 2.5 or greater

 

[PWC]

I should add that I have hand separated thousands of cases so over time I see those differences and it becomes more like a muscle memory thing . I can just see it I don’t know how to explain it it’s just experience I guess .

So you espose the "banker's theory" of sorting. Banks teach cashers how to ID counterfeit money by having them handle real money then slip in counterfeit....it feels different. Thus, handling thousands of pieces of brass of one caliber will let you distinguish between cals.

I don't have time, to "practice" identifying, nor do I shoot or pick up 1K's of rounds of the mixed brass to go thru. I like, and use, hand sort for small batches or volume sort by plastic trays.

 

[Metal God]

It’s not practice when you have buckets of brass you need to separate , it’s just what it is . A necessity that results in Experience

My buddy is RSO and I’m currently training to be and a member at the range I shoot . I don’t need to pick up brass I get it by the bucket full if I want . I just recently separated a 5 gallon bucket full of very mixed brass . This is how I know it’s way better to separate them when you only have one or two in your hand rather than a 5 gallon bucket full of crap

 

[kmw1954]

I use an aluminum baking pan. dump it in and shake at an angle. The brass stands up, pick out the short ones.

 

[WestKentucky]

Run them through a 9mm decap/resize. 380 is the loose fit. Works for me.

 

[bersaguy]

I hand prime all my brass, so when I'm priming 9mm and a shell pops out of the priming tool out onto the bench, I just found a 380. Just started with loading 9mm, so for now that seems to work. I try to sort at each step. I hand sort by caliber when I get back from the range. Catch some of the 380s when I'm depriming, a few more after tumbling. But I catch all the stragglers when I'm priming. Wish I could find a few more. I think they eject from the gun directly into low earth orbit....

 

[GW Staar]

I ran into an interesting thing last weekend.....200+ 9mm cases to deprime and wet tumble and 20 or so were 380.

You see, I was depriming on my new Lee APP from its tube case feeder! You set up the tube over the shuttle so that there is about a little less than 1/8" gap between. So during the feeding it would jam when a 380 case fed into the shuttle.

Look at the picture: You can see why. the next case comes down below the shuttle so it can't advance.

That made it easy. Just remove the 380 case on the track and the next two cases come down correctly and you motor on.....unless there's two in a row, then remove that one too.

I didn't know there was 380 mixed in my Grandson's brass, and I at first didn't know what was causing the hangup. Once figured out, I didn't worry any more about the .380's....the shuttle would catch every one!.....and it hardly slowed me down!

 

[sparkyv]

+1

I found this video to help with sorting.

10mm! Wow, I've only ever picked up a couple or three of those critters. Nowadays, either noone leaves their brass at our club or someone is cleaning up (RSO?) when nobody's looking. BTW, I found an excellent solution to chasing down all my 10mm brass over in the next county. It's called a S&W 610.

My goal, when at the range, is to pick up as much brass as I can in a given amount of time. I will try sometimes to pick out certain calibers, like 45acp or especially 10mm, but I don’t waste time keeping them separate, I throw them all in one bag. Conditions back home are better than at the range for me to sort brass. (Sitting at the bench in my climate controlled reloading shack vs on my knees in the sun).