Marking brass with a tiny punch

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rhinoh

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Greetings,

I use a dremmel and the slimmest cutting round thing and make a small mark on the rim. Easy, fast and minimal damage. I think yours does less damage if done on the foot of the brass, but how will it resist the handling of the brass (cleaningm etc)? I am curious if it will work. Also, it will be slower to do than using the dremmel.

I do that only on my 357 mag, 44mag, 500 mag.

Thank you
 
Small centre punch marks on the headstamp will not cause any issues, after all it's a similar method they use to put the headstamp markings on there.

But it seems a very time consuming task to me, it may all depend on the quantity your processing.
 
I just use a file notch the side of the case. Easier to see that way. :)

Seriously, I think an automatic center punch would put a nice dimple in the headstamp area. Just place it mouth down on a wooden block. I'd think holding the case in your hand would absorb too much of the ineria.

Would there be any harm in punching the thick part of the web right above the rim groove? That would be easier to find than another dot on some of the busier case heads.
 
I've had one of those spring loaded punches for over 35 years. Only mine is made of steel.

I never thought of doing that...And I'm not thinking of doing that now...:rolleyes:

Keep a written log...
 
Well the logs and zip bags don't work for me..often I shoot with others that don't want their brass, so I'm picking up all of it from various sources, the marks would help me ID mine as well as know how used it is.
I'm gonna try it and see how it goes..I'm not concerned about slowing me down reloading, I'm slow anyway, not in any hurry reloading. I used to get bored reloading but my work and stress has been stepped up a notch, I rather enjoy retiring to the reloading room to relax now and have some quiet time.
 
Then use a sharpy to mark your cases. Are the cases your friends shoot fresh factory ammunition? If so...Learn to tell the difference from hand loaded cases and once fired cases...
 
I segregate my Bolt Rifle brass by firings in ziplocs and keep a log.

Batches are marked with different color Sharpies
 
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I only keep track of certain cases for certain uses.
Those are easy to segregate and log because there aren't very many.

Everything else gets reloaded until it fails inspection.
 
Lordgroom...PM on the way...
Click to expand...

Would you mind posting the info for all to see? I'm kind of curious myself. I know some of the basics like colors of primers, lack of sealant in the primer area, and the crimp but I would like to know other pointers as well.

Thanks...
 
...how do you tell once fired from handloaded by looking at them?
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After a while the loading action and die marks become too obvious not to notice, and fresh brass has a nice clean fresh factory tooled look almost a 'glaze.' Also, with my reloads I have a fairly clean edge on the necks - I tumble them right after I re-size. Any reloading cutting and tooling comes later. :)
 
In pondering how to keep track of how many times brass has been fired I thought of using one of those small spring loaded punches to put a very tiny dimple for each firing on the case head next to the embossed lettering/primer.
Anyone see any problems with this? Anyone else doing it?
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...Seems like you'd need to get a lot of 'prick-punch' marks onto a pretty small area. Depending on a lot of things, you can get an awful lot of reloads out of one piece of brass. Some people claim over 40-50 per piece, but I've never gone that high - I'll toss them much sooner. And, once I see a neck crack or any signs of shell separation the whole lot goes into the scrap barrel at the range.
:confused:

For what it's worth keep separate bags and a log, or index cards in the bag, makes the most sense. I usually do ranges of reloads per bag - ie. once fired, two to five, five to ten, etc., etc.

:)
 
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I think it is a waste of time to keep track of how many times a case has been fired. if a case is worn out I find it in the sizing and flaring operations because that is when the crack will show up.
 
I guess I can't say that I worried much one way or the other if I started out with a new case or fired one. I had over 20 loads on some Federal nickel 45 acp cases. the punch marks or file marks would have worn out the cases before the actual firing of the cases would have worn them out. I had some Winchester 45 acp cases that had been shot so many times the "Winchester" was worn off. in both cases I think I lost the cases before I ever really found out how times they would have lasted.
 
Again, what's the point? Why go to the trouble?

All my brass is mixed together, range pickups and some I've shot many, many times. If I see it's split it gets rejected.

I put in a lot of hours at work and I shoot a lot on weekends most of the time. Don't have time for such........I hate to say it......... foolishness.:)
 
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