38 special brass??

[savagelover]

Question. I know the importance of trimming the brass to uniform length. But what about mixed brass. On in this case nickel cases. I have so darn many different brands. Plus I want the most accurate as I can get. Thanks.

 

[CoalTrain49]

I've never trimmed any revolver brass. They headspace on the rim and length isn't critical. You may or may not want to trim cases that headspace on the mouth of the case.

 

[savagelover]

Well,I trim all of mine to get the same oal and crimp the same.

 

[1KPerDay]

If you are looking for the utmost accuracy you won’t be shooting mixed brass to begin with. But yes IMO you should trim your brass to the same length if you care about “the most accurate as you can get”.

Personally I can’t shoot my .38s or see well enough to keep doing it. I trimmed a bunch once and haven’t bothered since.

 

[1KPerDay]

Well,I trim all of mine to get the same oal and crimp the same.

So what exactly is your question then??

 

[e rex]

I've never trimmed handgun brass, but then I'm not a Bullseye shooter either. If I were I think I'd buy one brand of brass for that purpose.

 

[unclenunzie]

I am a relative novice - but I will say that consistency is the starting point for good results. I would sort the brass by headstamp and go from there.

 

[savagelover]

So what exactly is your question then??

About using mixed brass. Should I be sure to use the same head stamp or is this not an accuracy factor?

 

[Smaug]

If you want the best accuracy, sort the brass by headstamp, then trim if it is too long. It'll probably never need trimming though, and you'll just be reducing the case life for no reason.

Unless you're shooting from a rest, you'll never see the difference.

 

[Seedy Character]

I used to sort by headstamp, but I don't now.

I trimmed them to the same length, for more uniform crimps. After first trimming, never trim, again.

I don't shoot Bullseye, I shoot Cowboy Action. Accuracy is acceptable for my needs.

Hunting loads are seperated by headstamp.


Pursuit of "most accurate" means being anal towards uniformity and consistency.

To the point of weighing bullets and separating by weight.
I bought a box of .452 cast bullets, the guy had them divided into zip-lock bags. 199.8, 199.9, 200.0, 200.1, 200.2, 200.3 grains.
He about stroked out, when I dumped them into the box, together.

Matter of choice, how much effort you want to put into each round.

 

[Old_Grouch]

I've never made any effort whatsoever to sort .38 brass (or any non-magnum brass). If it says .38 Special on it it goes in the same bucket as every other one.

 

[mcb]

I mix 38 Special brass (I do separate out the nickle plated). I have batches of ammo that has new once fired Winchester mixed with Peters head stamps from the 1940's I also never trim it since I am not a big fan of crimps. That said if your trimming all you brass to the same length then mixed brass should not be much of an issue. That said if you going for maximum accuracy and consistency of velocity then all the brass from the same batch is the best way to go. But for most applications mix brass (trimmed or not) is just fine.

 

[unclenunzie]

The reason for sorting is variations in case volume (brass type, thickness, internal, shape, etc), brand to brand, even lot to lot. This would affect pressure for a given load so with mixed brass and everything else the same, results could differ among them (I think).

 

[.38 Special]

I have seen velocity and accuracy affected by mixed brass. Vertical stringing is the most common issue, I suspect caused by different case volume, different crimp strength, or both. For plinking it doesn't matter much, but for the best accuracy - especially if using a scope and/or a rest, sorting is a good plan.

I almost never trim straight walled handgun brass - but I almost never use mixed brass either. Most of my brass is kept sorted not just by headstamp, but by lot and number of firings, ie. I'll buy five hundred or a thousand pieces and use them exclusively until it is time to toss them out. That way, even if they are changing dimensionally during their lifespan, they should at least theoretically be doing it all in the same way.

 

[westernrover]

It's hard to quantify the difference various factors make, especially in handgun ammunition components where the results are measured at relatively short ranges. Something that makes a quarter MOA difference can be seen at 500 yards, but seeing it even at 50 yards is hard, and at 25 yards, it's not practical to see it on the target. It may show up on the chronograph in standard deviation, but it's not simple to get consistently low SD with handgun cartridges.

Brass is going to determine the case capacity, and the bullet tension. The simplest way to ensure consistency in these things is to use brass that is manufactured uniformly. Case capacity determines the combustion chamber volume and variations in case capacity due to the brass wall thickness, especially around the area of the head and web will result in variations in pressure with a given powder mass. You can measure case capacity using primer pocket plugs (21st century sells some). With the plugs in, the cases are filled with water and the mass of the water from one case to the next is compared. Needless to say, it would be tedious to do this for every handgun case. You could, however, use it to determine whether the variation between different headstamps is acceptable or not.

The thickness of the brass walls at the neck and mouth will determine the finished inside diameter after a resizing die is run over them. A more uniform inside diameter can be achieved with an expanding mandrel, but variations in neck wall thickness will still affect how much tension is on the bullet.

The main reason to trim revolver cases is so that the roll crimp goes into the crimp groove on the bullet consistently. Variations in case length can result in missing the crimp groove entirely or forcing variations in seating depth to hit it.

The practical way to get consistency in handgun brass is to establish tolerances for meaningful measurements and then sort your brass. For example, you can determine a rough median for your case length. Discard the first quartile as short. Trim everything above the third quartile to the median, and the other half of your cases will simply pass without being touched.

 

[wcwhitey]

Sort the brass by maker it will make things more consistent. One cylinder with the same load with 4 different types of brass will just not be as consistent, just makes sense. With regards to trimming I measure all brass that is new to me, it does vary. Anything that needs trimming I trim. It’s never too many but it helps in the loading process, consistent crimp and helps with die settings. Just a good habit. You don’t have to but it’s a good habit to get into. Unless you are loading top end heavy crimped magnums it will rarely ever need a second trim. Just seems that the variance is more about how the manufacturer produces them.

 

[savagelover]

I appreciate the answers.. thanks..

 

[.308 Norma]

About using mixed brass. Should I be sure to use the same head stamp or is this not an accuracy factor?

Unless you're a lot better shot with a 38 Special revolver than I am, you're never going to see any difference in accuracy by making sure all of the brass you're using has the same headstamp.
I do however trim all of my revolver brass to the same length - once. That's because I like consistent roll crimps, but I'm not a fanatic about it - I've noticed that even though all of my revolver brass was the same length once upon a time, some cases just seem to "grow" a little faster than others, and I don't care about that. I just load them until their mouths split anyway.

 

[PapaG]

If you’re good enough to tell the difference among TTL, weighing each powder charge and bullet using a match grade barrel and receiver, you are wasting a lot of time.
I’ve shot bullseye since the 50’s and with K guns, Nat Match guns and M52s, the only time case length mattered was with the semi-aurtos. Taper crimping for them was critical but roll crimp in revolvers was just fine.
Don’t obscess, just shoot

 

[savagelover]

This is 40 yards unmatched brass

 

[.308 Norma]

This is 40 yards unmatched brass

That's better than I can do with any revolver I have.

 

[J-Bar]

This is 40 yards unmatched brass

Worry about something else.

 

[willb]

Nice target. If you're doing this offhand you should be booking your flight to Camp Perry/2023.

 

[edwardware]

Plus I want the most accurate as I can get.

No you don't, or you wouldn't have asked. You'd already be sorting brass by weight. . .

For your purposes, trim so that you can crimp consistently, and likely only once. The cases will shrink, but slowly.

 

[cfullgraf]

I trim my straight walled handgun cases depending on the use of the ammunition and the crimp I use.

Full power rounds that need a roll crimp, I trim the cases to the same length to get a uniform crimp from case to case. It makes a difference in the uniformity of the rounds.

I load alot of 38 Special wadcutter loads for a fun afternoon of plinking. I use mixed cases, do not worry about uniform case length and use a taper crimp to remove the case mouth bell.

If I was competing in some kind of bullseye competition with a 38 Special revolver, I’d use same head stamped brass trimmed to the same length.

Any way, for the past 30 years I have been able to shoot out back behind the house so the ability to collect a variety of head staped cases has dropped to zero. I’ve decided fooling with mixed head stamped cases is not worth the effort. With Starline brass, I buy 500 or a1000 cases at a time and I’m suplied for years (note, I do not compete where I cannot retrieve my cases).

Previous to moving to my current residence, I shoot where I could pick up cases and I’d buy lots of mixed cases.

Of course, the last couple years have been taxing when it comes to reloading component availability.