How do you keep track of times brass has been fired?

[amlevin]

For pistol or .223 I shoot it until I get tired of it. With over 10,000 pieces of brass it will be a few years until I get more than 4-5 loads on every piece.

For my .308 or 30-06 I merely mark each case head with a little "hash-mark" using a dremel tool with a fine burr when I'm prepping cases. The mark is not much more than a scratch but it doesn't polish or wash off when cleaning the cases. I then count the marks to determine the number of loads.

Used to do this with shotshells, using a fine sharpie, making a mark from primer hole to rim.

 

[THe Dove]

I don't keep track of the times reloaded. But then again, I don't shoot competition or anything like that. Don't know if I should keep track or not???? If the brass passes inspection, then I load and send the boolit down range. If it doesn't, it goes in the scrap bucket.

The Dove

 

[GLShooter]

I mark the loaded box and return the empties to it. I load them in batches and remark the X fired part. I do my loading of "special" ammo in 100 lots. The cannon fodder stuff just gets loaded and dumped in a box and I'll keep that brass separate.

I mark my 9X21 brass with a magic marker and track the number of times it is fired up to four. Then when I shoot a"lost brass" match that is the ammo that gets left behind. I've never noticed a degradation in accuracy in the brass so it doesn't impact the scoring results as far as I can tell.

Greg

 

[jcwit]

I mark my 9X21 brass with a magic marker and track the number of times it is fired up to four. Then when I shoot a"lost brass" match that is the ammo that gets left behind. I've never noticed a degradation in accuracy in the brass so it doesn't impact the scoring results as far as I can tell.

And probably never will with handgun brass. I've used and know of others who have used handgun brass so long that one can hardly read the headstamp.

But don't stop what you're doing, it gives others brass to use.

 

[GLShooter]

I only mark it so I don't leave the nearly new stuff. I'm kind of cheap. Also a major reason is that when I pick mine up off the range I can tell it's mine and not mix in the odd 9X19 or 38 Super case.

Six of us in Oklahoma ran 9X21's in our group and I was not shooting pocket rockets and my brass will last almost forever as opposed to guys only getting four loadings on theirs.

Greg

 

[Slamfire]

Maybe it is the way my brains works, or don't work. Maybe it is compulsive behavior disorder.

I could not be consistent on how to categorize new brass that I sized, trimmed, primed, and set aside. Was it sized once?, reloaded once?

So for rifle brass I created a two tier system. How many times sized, how many times reloaded. Empty sized brass ready to go has one more tick mark in the Sized category than in the Reloaded category. Once it is reloaded the sized and reloaded categories have the same number of tick marks.

 

[BADUNAME37]

I watch for signs like primers going in a bit on the easy side. I always measure and/or trim all brass I shoot as for consistent lengths. If I notice I am taking a lot off a case, I will eyeball that case. If I see a ring around the base, just where the case tapers to hollow in the bottom, I will mark it.

Any brass that I am not sure of, I crush with pliers and trash. Any that I am not quite sure of, I will mark the entire base with a broad black Sharpie Marker (like they use in packing rooms in warehouses).

The black bottom means I get one more firing out of the case, then don't bother looking for it, or just toss it out if I happen to find it.

I guess I have a good system down as it has worked well for me since 1982 when I started reloading!

If the primer went in a bit on the easy side, I will run a bead of fingernail polish around the indentation radius of the primer where it meets the brass. Then, when the fingernail polish is dry, the black Sharpie marker makes the bottom BLACK.

 

[Buzzard]

My brass goes into containers sorted by caliber. On the lid is a 3x5" card with four lines of info: maker, times reloaded, caliber, number remaining. At a glance, I can tell you that my Starline .45 Colt brass has been reloaded five times and I'm short four cases (96 left).

In my gun binder, along with accuracy records, I also note when I start using a new lot of brass. If the accuracy goes south or pressure signs suddenly appear, I can usually trace that right back to a new batch of cases.

 

[GLOOB]

I only reload for pistol. Instead of keeping track, I give my case mouths a nice generous bell. My goal is for the neck to split before a worse problem occurs. Tossing pistol brass? Meh, who cares. There's more where that came from.

 

[BigBob3006]

gregj,

I like to start with 100 loaded cases. After firing, I ready the cases for the next loading and return them to the ammo box which holds 100. I don't load again until I shoot them all. I then mark the blank label stuck inside the box lid. Makes it easy to keep count.

 

[MEHavey]

I started this after picking up an M1A, but it's become standard practice for all now.

~~~~~~~
Loaded ammo goes into a 50-round MTM plastic box w/ a 3x5 card in the top naming the (1) specific Rifle/Cartridge; (2) Case Manuf; and 3) Firing#
~~~~~~~
Unless whole box is uniformly loaded, a small loading slip goes into each 5-Rnd row of cartridges -- which gets scotch-taped into the firing log when shot (aren't computer/printers wonderful?)
Example:
| 168SMK/IMR4895*/42.5/BR2/WW(2nd)/2.800"/02.11.11 |
| Chron2,593fps(+/-05)/QL'49,400psi/55.6cc/* Lot#2094 |
~~~~~~~
Fired cases go into a 2-Quart ZipLock baggie Sharpie-marked w/ (1)Cartridge; (2)Case Manuf; and (3) #Times fired; (&Anealing info if any)
~~~~~~~

Since all cases get (Giraud) trimmed after resizing/before firing, I don't worry about case length/trim info

The MTM boxes can be full / partially full / partially fired / even have separate histories in a running firing sequence.
It's still easy to see where/what you have.

 

[brickeyee]

Pistol brass? I am right with you on that. Scrap it when it fails.

I have something around 8,000 .45 ACP shells.
I run through all of them before starting on their next loading.

When I start getting more than a few percent failures I scrap the entire lot and purchase another.

These are all TZ & TZZ marked, and they are going strong at loading 4-5, and not with 185 grain target loads.

It is nice to have some idea when I will need to budget for a new lot of brass.

 

[dodge]

For my rifle brass I just mark on the labels how many times I've reloaded it. Pistol brass load it until it fails.

 

[BigN]

Keeping track of fired brass, IMO, is just making something more complicated than it has to be. If that's the way you like to do it and it seems to be working out, you should keep doing it. I personally don't keep track. I DO inspect each fired case before reloading though, and if it doesn't look serviceable, it gets tossed. That seems to work for me.

 

[Lariatbob]

I don't keep count, just inspect and keep an eye on it. Haven't had any rifle failures on the range. Lucky I guess, but I seem to catch problems before the next reload.
I do have an occasional pistol case split, usually on my .357 or .38 +p but no big deal. Toss them upon inspection.

Just my $.02 worth....

 

[Hondo 60]

I use the MTM case tags

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=168892

 

[kennedy]

I only mark failed cases that I throw into the recycle bucket so I don`t come back a year later and wonder what that case is doing in the bucket. otherwise I don`t care how many times they have been reloaded, life is too short to keep track of it, I tried and gave up.