Importance of Case Separation

[schmeky]

I have noticed an occasion lght report with some of my .45 reloads. I began checking these rounds and found they are predominately some military marked cases. I have concluded the case wall thickness may be thinner resulting in less than optimal tension on the bullet.

I realize loading a specific brand of case should result in improved consistency. How many of you sort brass by make?

 

[Kentucky Jelly]

I do.

 

[ReloaderFred]

My experience has been that military brass is normally thicker walled, depending on the manufacturer, of course. I'm referring to .45 acp brass, but it also holds true for other calibers of military brass as well.

For the .45 acp, I do sort out Winchester and Federal brass, since those two brands do have thicker walls. I use Winchester to form .400 Cor-Bon with, since it holds up better. My second choice for this purpose is Federal brass.

For my plinking and general range loads in .45 acp, I just load and shoot. I'm not a bad shot, but truthfully, I can't tell the difference on paper between sorted brass and mixed brass. Of course, I don't shoot much on paper past 25 yards these days. My eyes are no longer good enough for precision pistol work at 50 yards, so my shooting is for fun. I can still bounce tin cans at 50 yards, but the X-ring is now just an occasional accomplishment, so sorting brass isn't necessary.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Walkalong]

Nope. I just make sure my sizer is sizing all brass down enough. My first RCBS sizer would not size Remington enough to get good neck tension. They replaced it free. Just sent me another one. I also have a Redding sizer now and it is good to go as well.

I shoot a horrid mix of range brass. Maybe one of these days I'll sort out some head stamps into big batches, maybe. The mix pretty much shoots better than I can though.

 

[The Bushmaster]

I sort by head stamp and if possible by lot. I'm a neat freak...Must be the military training that generates the uniformity requirement in me...

 

[supham]

I never sort by head stamp. Currently loading 40, 9 and 45.

 

[Mt Shooter]

I always sort my brass, its all winchester. When at the range or shooting a match I usually end up with odd brass that I sort out, usually ends up in the recycle box.

 

[bottom shelf]

I sort mine by headstamp, but just because the final product looks better in those little plastic boxes when they're all the same. Hmm... Maybe I'm a neat-freak too.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Yup...Looks like....

 

[wally]

I only sort the head stamps if I'm shooting for group size, and then I try to insure verified once fired cases.

For speed shooting at steel plates, quantity has a quality of its very own

--wally.

 

[ReloaderFred]

I'm a neat freak...Must be the military training that generates the uniformity requirement in me...


Naw, you're just old. That's what old does to you.........

Fred

 

[Walkalong]

I don't know Fred. I'm getting less anal and picky as I get older. There was a time I would never mix headstamps. It wasn't too long ago you and The Bushmaster convinced me to mix large flash hole 45 brass in with the rest.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Senility is setting on Walkalong. I never said to mix Winchester NT with standard brass. I only did a test with them and found they were reloadable and good brass, but I never said.........

 

[Walkalong]

OK. Then it was Fred, but I thought you said the flash hole made no difference too. Now the small primer brass, that's another thing entirely.

 

[The Bushmaster]

It, too, is good brass. Just have to sort them for the small primer pockets...Those I found to be (on average) 25 fps slower then standard cases with larger primer pockets...

 

[depoloni]

I agree it's not critical to sort your brass by headstamp, unless you're really nitpicking on accuracy or pushing the very limits of upper-end hot loads, where different (slight) case capacity could push things over the edge.

I DO sort all of my range brass by caliber and headstamp however. Just a "neat freak" that likes to play with the big buckets full of golden brass I stopped trying to count pistol brass a long time ago though, now I ballpark each caliber in "pounds" hehe

 

[Walkalong]

I do sort revolver brass by head stamp, even though I have been known to work up loads with mixed revolver brass, often untrimmed at that.

 

[rcmodel]

I sort by headstamp.

Just seems like the thing to do while I'm inspecting each one for defects anyway.

rc

 

[ants]

I think case prep is more important

I never found that sorting pistol brass by headstamp made a dang bit of difference to me for USPSA shooting.

I don't sort 223 rifle for USPSA 3-gun unless I'm doing some special experimenting with a new powder or a new bullet, or I intend to shoot beyond 300 yards. Rifle accuracy at 300 yards and beyond requires attention to every detail, but proper case preparation makes a bigger difference than headstamp. Poorly prepped cases can be all the same headstamp and it won't be accurate.

 

[jjohnson]

NO, I don't sort by headstamp

Nope. I've been reloading for nearly 40 years now. I do sort rifle brass when it counts - that is, I do have some 7.62 x 39 that's mixed military, and apart from the 7.62 x 39 from commercial. Same goes for .223 - they are sorted into commercial vs milsurp.

When it gets to handgun cartridges, I'm in it for quantity. I haven't loaded under 500 of anything handgun in a looong time (12-15K per year loaded).

I do handle the casings though - after they're cleaned - and I've learned to be very attuned to that 'broken bell' sound when you have a handful of brass and ONE of them is split

If I buy new brass to load - which happens now and then - I load 'em up, segregate them into marked ammo boxes, and trust them for the hot, 'top end' loads. I don't see how much I can get away with using tired brass and then going to the top end of allowed pressure.