Tip for QC'ing Large Amounts of Pistol Brass

[Phlier]

I apologize if this has already been posted here. A quick look around didn't find it, so here it is...

It's one of those forehead slapping moments... "Why didn't I think of that?"

This guy shows one of the best tips I've seen for QC'ing large amounts of pistol brass. His little trick has cut my QC time by 3/4's, at least.

Works especially well for those guys that wet tumble.



Edit: Now that I think about it (which is amazing that I can think of *anything* at nearly 3:00 a.m., I think it was recently posted here on the highroad. Ah well, for those that missed it, here it is.

Another edit: Yup, found the thread: https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/sorting-380-from-9mm.812718/page-2#post-10397691 post 32. Thanks to Jo Jo for first posting it. You've saved me a ton of time!

 

[KansasSasquatch]

This video popped up after watching the one you posted. I had never seen these100 round ammo gauges before. At about $100 per gauge they're fairly expensive, but I'm seriously considering getting some for the common pistol cartridges (9x19, .40s&w, and .45acp). I know there's cheaper gauges, but they typically only check 1 to 7 cartridges at a time, and since your thread is about speeding up the reloading process.....

 

[Reefinmike]

This video popped up after watching the one you posted. I had never seen these100 round ammo gauges before. At about $100 per gauge they're fairly expensive,

interesting tool. I find that if the piece of brass made it through my sizing die, it will fit my chamber 100% of the time over the past 35,000 reloads so ive never bothered gauging empty brass.

I sort my brass in a pan sorter, clean it, inspect nickel 38spl for cracks(90% of splits are these). During sizing i can feel most every split case pretty easily. If i miss one, they are usually easy to hear when you throw the brass in a bin. Any splits that are missed by this point are very easy to feel in the ptx die.

I figure the only time i would ever have a chambering issue would be if i picked up and reloaded someone's excessively thick brass. I no longer pick up other's brass

 

[Phlier]

Yeah, nice to be able to case gauge 100 rounds at a time. Definitely on my buying lisr

 

[Phlier]

interesting tool. I find that if the piece of brass made it through my sizing die, it will fit my chamber 100% of the time over the past 35,000 reloads so ive never bothered gauging empty brass.

I sort my brass in a pan sorter, clean it, inspect nickel 38spl for cracks(90% of splits are these). During sizing i can feel most every split case pretty easily. If i miss one, they are usually easy to hear when you throw the brass in a bin. Any splits that are missed by this point are very easy to feel in the ptx die.

I figure the only time i would ever have a chambering issue would be if i picked up and reloaded someone's excessively thick brass. I no longer pick up other's brass

The top video makes it cake to look inside the case quickly to find incipient case head separation rings, Berdan primed cases, tumbling media, splits, and brass of other calibers.

 

[Jesse Heywood]

One more thing that I do. Where you flip your cases onto a board for head inspection I use a second tray. Without the tray I cannot keep the cases standing. I use the Frankford Arsenal loading blocks.

 

[jmorris]

I find that if the piece of brass made it through my sizing die, it will fit my chamber 100% of the time

Yes, the "plunk" test will check that ammunition will fit your chamber, the problem is that 100% of the ammunition that "plunks" won't always function 100%. Many competition shooters have found this out over time and when a single malfunction can drop them several spots in results they take extra steps that might be considered a waste of time to many plinkers and paper punchers.

The problem comes from the fact that unless you are shoving the brass all the way through your size die there is a portion that remains untouched by a size die because it is in a shell holder/plate. It also happens that a plunk into a barrel will not detect an imperfection in this area but a case gauge can.

Most cases that fail a casegauge fail at the rim portion of they case. The same cases could pass a plunk test then fail to enter the breech face/extractor due to an imperfection and the shooter is left wondering why his "tested" loads failed to feed.

FWIW even a push through size die can't iron out all imperfections but they can mask them from a case gauge. A roll sizer that gets into the extractor grove, while sizing the rim has the best shot of making the case as perfect as can be.

 

[KansasSasquatch]

interesting tool. I find that if the piece of brass made it through my sizing die, it will fit my chamber 100% of the time over the past 35,000 reloads so ive never bothered gauging empty brass.

I sort my brass in a pan sorter, clean it, inspect nickel 38spl for cracks(90% of splits are these). During sizing i can feel most every split case pretty easily. If i miss one, they are usually easy to hear when you throw the brass in a bin. Any splits that are missed by this point are very easy to feel in the ptx die.

I figure the only time i would ever have a chambering issue would be if i picked up and reloaded someone's excessively thick brass. I no longer pick up other's brass

I've rarely, maybe 10 "pistol" cases total had empty brass that wouldn't fit a chamber. But loaded rounds are a different story. I can remember one particular batch of .45acp that gave me some major fits. It was early on in my reloading "career" but a tool like this could have certainly prevented my issues. And when I load up ammo for an auto-pistol it is seldom less than a 500 round batch and 1000-1500 is more common. Plunk testing EVERY round just isn't feasible for me.

But if your current system works for you I won't try to convince you to change it.

 

[9mmepiphany]

This video popped up after watching the one you posted. I had never seen these100 round ammo gauges before. At about $100 per gauge they're fairly expensive, but I'm seriously considering getting some for the common pistol cartridges (9x19, .40s&w, and .45acp). I know there's cheaper gauges, but they typically only check 1 to 7 cartridges at a time, and since your thread is about speeding up the reloading process.....

The Shockbottle case gauge is well worth the money, it makes fast work when gauging 1k+ rounds. I case gauge every round that I load, be it for practice or a match

What is nice it that they are faster to load, allow a quick visual comparison of proud primers or loaded rounds, and then flip over into a MTM box. You can wait for sales or keep an eye out for blems to get the price down to $70.