Pain in the Brass

[Bmac1949]

I think I'm making the management of my brass too complicated. I've got quantities of four or five different kinds for each of the 5 calibers I load. I'll develop a load let's say using Winchester brass. So am I locked into that load with that brass or if I want to change brass do I need to back up and maybe bracket the Winchester load in the new brass? As I loose brass and it wears out I'm having to mix in new brass so that presents another problem. I've quit dumping in all the brass in the tumbler when I get in from the range and tumble each caliber by its' self. If I have a large amount of one type of brass I'll even do it by maufacturer. I've started doing most of the sorting before I leave the range and that saves me a little time at the bench messing with brass. I guess what I'm trying to find out is there any way to make this simpler other than going out and buying a large quantity of one kind of brass? For the last couple of afternoons I've been sizing and trimming brass and have just about every piece of brass I own ready to prime and load (you know the fun stuff) so at least I won't have to worry with it for awhile. Later

 

[Hondo 60]

Bmac - you don't say whether this is for rifle or handgun.

If it's for a handgun, quite a few reloaders use mixed headstamp & don't bother trimming.

For rifle, I haven't redone a load for each headstamp. I just use the same recipe.
Now, I'm not trying for 1/4" spread at 300 yards, but I'm very happy with the results I get.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Most commercial rifle brass is the same for the same caliber. Military brass usually has less a capacity so the pressures will rise if you use the same charge weight as you do with commercial brass. I usually sort my rifle brass by manufacturer but I don't change the recipe when I change brass maker. (unless I'm using military brass)

 

[Bmac1949]

Two hand guns and 3 rifles. I've started mixing brass for plinking rounds in the hand guns but I want to be consistant with the rifles. I'm actually thinking about pressure differential when changing brass. Will using the same powder load in say military brass cause enough pressure increase to be conserned? The reason I ask is that I'm fixing to load some military brass and am wondering if there is a need to back off the charge a little, maybe half a grain and bring it back up.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

In some cases the decrease in case space is enough to raise the pressures to what I would be concerned about.

Example, I charge 25.0gr Varget in a .223 case under a 55gr Sierra bullet. When I use commercial brass like Winchester or Remington the powder is just below the neck. When I use the same charge in LC or FC brass the powder is more than half way up the neck and will be a fairly heavily compressed load. I have gotten rid of all my military .223 brass in favor of commercial brass. Luckily a friend loads for a AR-15 and wants all the military brass he can get so we trade.

With military 30-06 brass I reduce the H4895 powder charge by a full 2 grains compared to what I charge in commercial brass. (for my Garand)

 

[Bmac1949]

So, ArchAngelCD it sounds like you developed a new load for the 30-06 military brass if you reduced by 2 grains. I would have the same conserns for the .308 if there can be that much difference in pressure. Do the military brass and the factory brass preform comparable in your rifle?

 

[ArchAngelCD]

The only military brass I use now is for my Garand. I use only military brass for my Garand ammo because I bought well over 1000 rounds of military 30-06 ammo for my Garand and I keep the commercial 30-06 brass for the several bolt action 30-06 rifles I have.

As for the results with each, yes they both work well because I use a Chrono to set the performance to the same velocities. That's how I decided to use 2 grains less powder in the Greek military brass I have. I Chrono'd the original ammo and played with the charge weights until I matched the velocity with that brass and commercial brass.

I didn't mean to make it sound like I use the same load with military and commercial brass, I don't. I do however use the same load in commercial brass of different manufacturers. I mentioned the military brass so that you know that most of the times it has a different capacity than commercial brass.

 

[Bmac1949]

Good pointers. I'll work up some of that military brass for the .308 until it matches the rounds made with the factory brass and see how it does. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[FROGO207]

I pretty much mirror with ArchAngel as to the rifle brass. In my experience the more care you take with matching components (ie brass weight,trim length, charge weight, bullet weight) the more REPEATABLE your results. I am not anal like some members are but that is due to time spent vs wanted results. More time spent shootin paper rather than building rounds, so not looking for 1 hole in the paper cause I know I can't shoot that accurately.

 

[cfullgraf]

My match service rifle AR-15 rounds are all loaded with the same headstamp.

My AR plinking loads are mixed headstamps. I do not load near max so I do have problems. Accuracy is easily minute of soda can.

Same for my Garands. My Garand safe loads are not near max of 30-06. Since Garands are the only 30-06 rifles I own, most of my brass is military. I do load batches with the same headstamp cases, but I use the same load in different headstamp cases.

For my other rifles, I usually buy one brand of brass although i do have a couple brands for certain rifles. i separate brass by brand because i keep track of number of reloads on those cases.

Finally, military brass is not necessarily lower capacity than commercial. Several years ago I weighed 400 each LC and Winchester 223 Rem brass. The Winchester brass was 8 to 10 percent heavier. Heavier brass sized to the same outside dimensions indicates less internal volume.

 

[gamestalker]

I trim all my brass regardless of it's type, rifle or handgun. Doing so eliminates that variable if issues develope. But so far as sorting is concerned, I usually just load mixed headstamps for revolver and high powered rifle. For the 9mm and other AL handguns, I load with matching headstamps. Because of the small case capacity with most AL cartridges, pressures can change noticably from one headstamp to the next because of the difference in wall thickness, or other dimensional variances that can effect pressure. But I also load with hefty charges of slow burning powders that are in the higher working pressure range for a given cartridge. Lighter loads probably won't have a significant impact on pressures, or at least not enough to be concerned about.

 

[243winxb]

Components-Primer-Brass-Bullet-Firearm-Powder lot Number

When a component used in a maximum loading is changed, reduce your powder charge and work up to maximum with the new components. Mid-range powder charges may not be a problem.