Sorting .45 ACP brass by number of loads...

Status
Not open for further replies.
B

bumm

Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2005
Messages
546
Location
small town Iowa
I have been reloading for a number of years, but don't consider myself "experienced" since I only load one cartridge, (.45 ACP,) and stick with very few loads, once I find one that works well.
I always sort by headstamp, and probably always will. However, in the past, I've tried to sort somewhat by number of firings, thinking that this might be somehow advantageous. However, as the years go by, I'm winding up with quite a few different groups of brass to try and keep separate, and life is getting overly complicated.
I reload mainly moderate target loads, so I'm not pushing the thin edge of disaster. Would you guys recommend I quit being so persnickity and just dump all my brass with the same headstamp into one sack, whether it's been fired once or 15 times?
Marty
 
I sort by case head stamp and keep track of number of firings of each set. .45 ACP is soo forgiving and you said that you are loading light to moderate loads that I doubt that it will make any difference one way or the other...I have litterly shot .45 ACP cases until you couldn't even read the head stamp and they were still in spec...
 
I used to obsess over things like that, but now I just sort them by headstamp and look for any obvious defects. It doesn't seem to have affected anything to take a more relaxed approach to this particular phase of reloading.
 
I shoot my .45s with whatever brass I happen to have or pick up, mix it in and load it. My guns told me they didn't mind as long as they got fed regularly.
 
I did a little test with .357s once, I loaded six different headstamps, all picked up at the range, equal weight of powder, same bullets, same primers, I shot 6 rounds of highly uniformed brass, weighed each charge of powder, weighed the bullets, I shot them in one hole at 25 yards.Then I shot the mixed brass with thrown powder charges etc. Useing the same 686 S&W with 8 3/8" barrel, equipped with a 4X Leupold scope off sand bags at 25 yards. A very pretty little one hole group took shape on the target. I decided that uniforming straight walled pistol brass was unnecessary, my favorite 1911 .45 ACP would faint if it had all one lot of brass used in it.:)
 
Why sort by headstamp? I can see if we're talking about long range rifle rounds (.308, .30-06, etc)..but geez,.45?

What difference does ±.01 of OAL matter in a .45ACP cartridge?

I pick up brass at the range and unless it has a crack in it, it goes in the tumbler and gets reloaded. Good enough for headshots on a IDPA target at 25 yds and that's about all the accuracy I imagine I'll ever need.

Must be a bullseye thing.
 
neoncowboy was saying
>Must be a bullseye thing.

Yup. :) Slow fire bullseye shooting has about as much to do with combat as it does golf, but it's just fun to see how close all the little holes can come together. (That said, I don't play golf, or know which end of the bat to hang onto.)
Marty
 
Geeze guys...Sorry...I'm just finicky and sort by headstamp. I have never trimmed a .45ACP case unless it was over .898 and I have NEVER seen one that long...All my cases are in a set and the set is numbered and logged in a book and a record is kept of the loadings. That's right...Pistol/revolver in sets of 50 and rifle in sets of 20...I DO pay attention to detail.:scrutiny:

Anthony...Glad to see you still here.:)
 
I sort out the military for primer pocket work, sort out the A-Merc into the scrap bin, and the rest of it goes into my stash of cases. For practice or range rounds, I use mixed brass.

For match rounds I use new Remington nickel cases, once fired for practice and then used until it splits. The only reason I use nickel is to make it easier to sort from the other guys' brass.

Sorting by headstamp or age is fine for rifle brass, but a waste of time for .45 ACP, IMO.
 
JDGray said:
Shoot em till they split!
Click to expand...

But don't shoot 'em after they split.

We've all seated a bullet in a cartridge that seemed to seat too easily -- and found the reason was an unnoticed split. I had a friend who would shoot these rather than dissassemble them. One day he had three or four, loaded them all in the last magazine of the day -- and the first one ruptured and set off the ones in the magazine.
 
The Bushmaster said:
I noticed, Vern, that you said "had a friend"...I would be afraid that he would do something else that may endanger MY life....:(
Click to expand...

He's calmed down quite a bit since then -- reminds me of my horse, who is a lot better mannered since he had his "operation.":D
 
The Bushmaster said:
Ooh...That worked for yours? It didn't for mine...He's still a pain in the a$$...
Click to expand...
You should hear him talk -- "Look at that jerk! Walks around here like he owns the place. Doles out feed like it was made of gold. And you think he could walk on his own flat feel? Hell, no! He puts that saddle and bridle on me, and I have to carry him around. And you can't say nothin' to him -- he'll cut your b*lls off!!":D
 
I inspect 'em as good as I can before tumbling, and when I feed 'em in the machine.
I sort out all the non-matching headstamp brass before I tumble 'em.
I do that not so much for accuracy, but for safety and peace of mind.
If you buy brass from about the same time, and it all starts splitting, maybe it's time to retire the batch to lower power stuff.
Also with careful but determined loading the feel should be very uniform.
 
neoncowboy said:
Why sort by headstamp? I can see if we're talking about long range rifle rounds (.308, .30-06, etc)..but geez,.45?

What difference does ±.01 of OAL matter in a .45ACP cartridge?

I pick up brass at the range and unless it has a crack in it, it goes in the tumbler and gets reloaded. Good enough for headshots on a IDPA target at 25 yds and that's about all the accuracy I imagine I'll ever need.

Must be a bullseye thing.
Click to expand...

+1

Shoot em, pick up what's laying around, clean em, load em, repeat.

I've got several buckets of .45 brass and unsorted, mixed caliber brass, and cannot imagine sorting them. The only sorting I do is when I pick them up, I 'jingle'around in my hand and if I hear a cracked case I'll look through an flatten and toss it, other than that, they get loaded and shot.
 
I sort 45ACP brass for a couple of reasons.

I use Federal and WW for the 625's!

I use PMC and RP for the USP's!

I use all the off brands for loading ammo where there is high probability getting lost!

I have never trimmed a pc of 45ACP brass, and I shoot the brass till it splits!

I have brass that a fellow can not read the headstamp!
 
JDGray said:
Shoot em till they split!
Click to expand...
or until you lose the case. I had some 45 auto brass several years ago that had no headstamp left and had been reloaded over 25 times. Who knows, I may still be using it.
 
neoncowboy said:
Why sort by headstamp?
Must be a bullseye thing.
Click to expand...

That sure is NOT a bullseye thing. Most of the bullseye shooters I know, myself included are aware that sorting by the headstamp does not help the accuracy in any way. It has been tested many times, Take a gun that shoots 1.5 inch @ 50 yrds and use the same load with mixed headstamps and guess what?? you still get 1.5 inch groups. So why bother??

There are some shooters that are very picky about there brass and that is fine if they dont mind the time/effort.

As others have mentioned, we shoot them till they split or we loose them.

Adam
 
Okay, I'm not sorting brass anymore

I was doing the same thing, sorting by headstamp and loading in batches. I was ending up with several once fired, twice fired sorted bags.

After reading this thread, the heck with that. Simple is better, and not sorting means more loading. And that equates to more shooting.

From now on I save my sorting time for loading more target rounds....woohoo.

I'll save the anal retentive stuff (i am in engineering, its a prerequisite in this field) for rifle loading when I get there next year. But my 45, I'm just gonna start pulling it out of the bucket and filling em up with primer, powder and bullets. I don't benchrest a 3" 45 anyway, don't see the need.

On that note, I would like to benchrest a few just to see how accurate this little gun it. I can hit 2-3" groups offhand from 7 yards, suspect that's good enough for a concealable defensive gun.

Thanks folks, I learn so much in here.

Happy plinking,
jeepmor
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

L
  • Locked
Sorting 9mm brass by case length
Replies
9
Views
880
subierex
S
Lizzie Borden
  • Locked
Sorting brass
Replies
11
Views
475
Lizzie Borden
Lizzie Borden
J
  • Locked
Sorting brass
2 3
Replies
52
Views
3K
mcb
mcb
tittlet
Sorting Brass by Headstamp
2
Replies
27
Views
1K
Arkansas Paul
Arkansas Paul
H
  • Locked
how detailed do you get with your pistol brass?
2
Replies
32
Views
2K
Chris Rhines
C
Back
Top