Sorting handgun brass...worth it?

I do for my special calibers, such as 45 Colt, 44-40, ect, yes, I keep them separated. But for my bulk ammo, 45acp, 40sw, 9mm, 357sig, nope. I have thousands loaded in ammo cans loaded up for plinking/SHTF shooting, no need to separate. I have found that mixed brass all loaded to the same powder/bullet makes no difference, because thats how I did the load development.

Any time you can work " Consistency " in your reloads you will have better reloads .
The more consistent the brass , primer , powder charge , bullet , neck tension / crimp ...
The better /more accurate your ammo will be .

Now if you are just popping tin cans at 20 feet ... mixed range brass is fine ... I use it .
If I'm shooting at a match for Money , trophy / prizes or blood is envolved (hunting) ... I get all anal-OCD and sort brass , weigh bullets and do everything I can to have every round as consistent as possible . Consistency = Accuracy & Performance .
Gary

Only hand gun brass i separate . Is the 9mm with a partial double wall. Those i load different because of the lower case volume.

It comes down to task/purpose:

Bullseye shooter, going for best groups possible.. definitely sort.
IDPA, 3Gun etc. going for "zero pts down".. not worth the effort

Revolver and Contender brass gets sorted by lot and brand. I never have had a problem with length but I do trim any new brass after resizing the first time in my dies if any are out of line with the rest of the batch. That’s a pretty rare occurrence, though.
At handgun hunting range I can’t shoot the difference but sorting and keeping batches together makes it easier to shoot well enough mostly.

I was loading some odd .45 Colt rounds in 3 different headstamps the other night. It's amazing how different 3 different headstamps can be even in something as common as .45 Colt.

Yes, I segregate all my brass by headstamp. Part of that is because of my above comment, part of that is because I'm OCD and segregating brass is part of my handloading process. Granted, I don't pump 1000 rounds out of my guns every week, so I'm not reloading for sheer volume.

Wondering if anyone has data on the difference in accuracy with sorted vs mixed brass in a handgun.

fxvr5 said:

Wondering if anyone has data on the difference in accuracy with sorted vs mixed brass in a handgun.

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I’ll bet @LiveLife does.

I sort for different weights so if things get mixed by accident or loaded in the wrong magazines, I'll know just by looking at the stamps. As for what I don't keep, they're either given away or used for matches and training where I consider them to be sacrifices to the ammo gods.

CoalCrackerAl said:

Only hand gun brass i separate . Is the 9mm with a partial double wall. Those i load different because of the lower case volume.

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Yes ... That's true !
Let me add ... look at primers , some 45 acp comes with large and some primed with small primed ...
there may be other calibers too ... but the 45 acp is one I know of ... keep those seperated !
Gary

I have run across some 10mm with small pockets too.

I know when using mixed brass in my wife’s 686, I was getting 3” groups at 15 yards and when single headstamp it went to 1.5”. I sort it and ain’t tested with mixed brass farther.

Though I will load and shoot mixed brass, it’s always for plinking and not at paper. Though even with plinking I’ll get into small stuff like cutting a weed with a bullet, or hitting a 22 casing.

I sort brass when working up a load so that everything is as consistent as possible. I also sort 45acp for large and small primer pockets.

I try to load each batch with the same headstamp, but sometimes don't have enough of a single type of brass so end up with a mixed batch.

My sorted rounds are more consistent, and I have less fliers and smaller groups from 10 yards out to 25 yards.

chris

Zendude said:

I’ll bet @LiveLife does.

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I think we need Ransom Rest data for any argument on accuracy to be valid.

fxvr5 said:

Wondering if anyone has data on the difference in accuracy with sorted vs mixed brass in a handgun.

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Actually... I'm fixing to find out.

After my episode the other night with my .45 Colt loads... and it was only 32 rounds! ...I've decided to see if I can see any difference on paper, and over the chronograph. Some bullets seated easily (WW,) some not so much (Starline.) There were differences in crimp tension I'm sure. These will be fired out of a H&R Classic Hunter, not a pistol, so the accuracy differences will be fairly evident. This just for my own learning experience... nothing rock solid definitive.

Boy I’d love a rest. A ransom or even a lee. With inserts for k frame square but and Ruger XR3-red. Been pondering on making one out of wood. Maybe I ought to explore that farther.

Bazoo said:

Boy I’d love a rest. A ransom or even a lee. With inserts for k frame square but and Ruger XR3-red. Been pondering on making one out of wood. Maybe I ought to explore that farther.

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Reverse kydex is an idea. Mold the grips only so you'd have two halves that you can screw together, built in to the wood chassis.

Sorting is just another attempt at maximizing consistency. Does it matter at 15 feet on the pistol range probably not. But it does effect seating depth so factors compound. I do it because my brass can be used for hunting in a lever and I believe that's worth it.

I don't do it. I can't shoot good enough enough anymore to tell the difference if there is any.

I sort 45acp but not 9mm. That’s all I load.

I sort 45 because I started for some reason and I can’t stop now.

It's complicated. Do you plan to shoot close groups on paper? Are you willing to toss out some of the "found" range brass that is arguably garbage? Are you aware that some brass is thicker, and considered by many as better quality?

I usually mix all calibers (and headstamps) from the "not clean" supply and tumble them before any sorting. Clean brass are culled for rejects that get trashed, and separated by caliber in groups of Winchester, Federal, mixed with a label on each container. Depending on quantities involved, you could use ziplock bags, quart bins, or big buckets.

CQB45ACP said:

I sort 45acp but not 9mm. That’s all I load.

I sort 45 because I started for some reason and I can’t stop now.

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When you have 99 federal do you a. Leave the last spot empty. B. Put in a nickle federal case or c. Anything to fill the spot. It's an ocd nightmare.

I separate Winchester federal and R-P. I prefer R-P I think. The others get lumped together for mixed or traded or gifted.

Bazoo said:

I separate Winchester federal and R-P. I prefer R-P I think. The others get lumped together for mixed or traded or gifted.

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I like rp a lot and favor them in rifle. I do have problems when deep seating cast over 158 in 357. Only issue I ever had.