Brass

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Metalman1

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Do you have to separate your brass by manufacture or can I put all my 9 MM in one can, 40 caliber in another can etc.? I thought I read somewhere that you have to keep your brass with the same lot # together. I found lot #'s on two
boxes of 40 Caliber and that's it. Getting ready to start my first reload. Thanks.
 
I sort pistol brass by head stamp, there is to much variation in weight and thickness between different head stamps.
 
You guys are wasting time! Reload and shoot! It's not rocket science!
Click to expand...
I have found that sorting brass gives lower SD #s and tighter groups on the target, so I sort my brass.
 
For plinking loads does not matter to me. For serious target/hunting or anything close to a max load, it matters very much.
Case capacity varies by mfg. Fill 2 9mm cases from different manufacturers with water and weigh the water. Different. That will affect the burn rate of your powder, chamber pressure and velocity. You will not notice with a midrange load in a handgun not in competition.
Try keeping the cases that you have separate lot numbers for, apart. See if you can make reloads that are super accurate. Do everything you can, and keep records. Trim your cases, use the same lots of powder and primers. Weigh each powder load as accurately as you can. Weigh bullets and select those that weigh as close as possible. Keep complete records. Those 2 boxes will teach you more about reloading than cranking out 2,000 plinking rounds.
 
If you're shooting high precision matches, yes it makes a difference.

If you're punching paper, it does not.

BTW, nice to see another reloader in NJ.
 
I'm a bit OCD when it comes to reloading, but I don't usually sort pistol brass by headstamp unless I pick up range brass of unknown provenance - then I usually keep that separate from the stuff that I know I shot the first time.
 
Match-grade rifle brass I sort by headstamp, then size and trim, then sort by weight.

Pistol or plinking rifle rounds, big bucket of each caliber, done.
 
I sorted by headstamp the first time i shot it. Now i have a couple hundred of quite a few different headstamps so i usually only load 1 at a time. No need to sort anymore...
 
Thanks a lot for all the advise. I did separate the brass by head stamp. I am going to try out my Lee auto power measurer and see how accurate it is. Then reload 50 rounds with 5 different loads. I hope I'm on the right track.
 
For handgun cases, i do not bother sorting but then most of my handgun shooting is not precision.

I was shooting in matches, i probably would shoot just one head stamp.

Rifle is a different story.
 
I sort bottle neck, but not always with my handgun brass, it depends more on the cartridge and firearm I'm working with. An example is, if I'm working up for an AL that isn't fully supported chamber, I like to use a few of matched head stamps of each load increment so I can determine which, if any head stamps hold up best in that firearm. But for handguns I have been loading for some time for, I don't bother sorting.

GS
 
The only sorting of straight wall pistol brass I do is to sort by caliber. I then reload. The only exception is when I have crimped primer brass. I sort this so that I can swage. I then reload. I don't make this any harder or more time consuming than it needs to be. I have sorted by head stamp in the past and concluded it was a waste of time. It did not improve accuracy or anything else. I never load to max but to mid levels and sometimes slightly higher than mid level. I try to control my OCD and anal impulses.
 
My pistol brass, I sort if it I can, but I have plenty of boxes of mixed brass. My AR plinking brass, basically the same.

My hunting rifle brass....I pick a brand and stick with it...I don't do range pick up on that.
 
I don't for pistol, but I will for rifle when I get there. The only exception is .45 ACP, where you want to be sure the large and small primer versions are separate.

Posted from my car phone.
 
For pistol, never.
For rifle, I used to, but quickly realized that I'm not good enough to tell the difference. So I don't bother with that anymore either. I'll take a box of handloads to the woods and there will be 3 or 4 different headstamps among them. If you miss a deer, the headstamp isn't going to be the reason.
 
all357mag said:
You guys are wasting time! Reload and shoot! It's not rocket science!
Click to expand...
True. When I started shooting 30 years ago I sorted by headstamp, to eliminate as much variations as possible. But I wasn't a target shooter, didn't need that kind of precision even though my eyes were better then. Then I read some magazine articles (more than a couple) about sorting brass. The jist of the info was no measureable difference in accuracy when handgun ammo is used with a single headstamp or mixed brass. So while I often sort my brass (OCD ya know), most times I use mixed lots of various headstamped brass, and find no difference, especially with my semi-autos, in accuracy, functioning, etc...

But I like to inspect all my brass for defects and it's no big deal if you wanna add a glance at a headstamp...:p
 
I don't usually sort pistol brass, but I mostly stay in moderate pressure territory. If you load anywhere near your manual's max loads, it is a good idea to sort. Different case capacities produce different pressure levels.
 
Everyone has to decide based on their caliber, range, needs and the resources available to them.
If you shoot pistols at 25 yards, there's no need to sort for anything more than split necks, etc.
If you shoot pistols at 100+ yards and want to have a reasonable chance of hitting a 9" paper plate, you'll find that component selection does matter.
I've learned the hard way over the years, once you have a recipe down, and are happy with it-don't make substitutions.

If you shoot paper plates at the 15 yard line, don't worry about it.
 
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