How Do You Manage Your Case Use?

For handgun cases, I generally do not try to determine the number of times a case has been fired. I shoot them until they fail or disappear into the Twilight Zone.

Some ammunition like 45 ACP or 9x19, I have a large quantity of cases in rotation. I'll load 500-1000 rounds at a time. As the cases get shot up, I'll resize, clean, then store away for a future reloading session. Lost cases will get replaced during reloading.

Some cartridges that I do not shoot as much, my batches will be smaller, 200-300 rounds in a batch, but the process will be the same.

Even when I was shooting IHMSA Handgun silhouette, I did not track number of times a case was fired.

I do fire mixed head stamp batches but the number is dwindling. I've stopped buying once fired cases and I do not shoot where mixed cases are left laying around. Virtually all cases I reload today are from factory new ammunition that I have bought or factory new cases.

I know this thread is about handgun cases but I do track some of my rifle cases.

Cartridges used in competition or high consumption hunting activities like prairie dog hunts, I do track that ammunition. The cases have a definite life and I want to remove them from service before they cause issues.

I usually pack the ammunition in Zip Loc bags. Card in the bag that records the load recipe also has the number of reloads of the cases on it. After firing, the cases are returned to the bag and they are kept segregated through the reloading process.

Sometimes, a few cases will be placed in the wrong bag but it is not a big deal. For competitions, I have enough cartridges with the same number of firings to cover the needs of the match.
 
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CQB45ACP said:
I’m trying to figure a better method of circulating my 9mm & 45acp brass usage and could use suggestions.

Until recently I’d just shoot, clean, throw in container of like headstamps and grab a handful later for priming/loading. No rhyme nor reason. FIFO was theoretical but not managed in any real way.

I shoot about 100 rds of each caliber weekly and am thinking of keeping just a couple hundred of each in circulation—shoot them until they fail and replace individually as they do.

I’m sure at least one of you will suggest a spreadsheet or other formal records keeping system, but knowing me as well as I do, I’d never sustain something formal.

Thanks for your suggestions.
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I've been shooting / reloading handgun for 50+ years and your system is the one I use ... The no rhyme nor reason , as you call it , works just fine for range use fun and practice .
I reload them untill a crack appears or they get lost . As I pick 50 or 100 out of my box-of-brass to reload , I inspect each for any defects , cracks , torn rims ... Put them in plastic ammo box and move to loading bench .
I don't see a need to do anything else ... I'm just shooting for pleasure and not shooting for money or blood . As long as the brass isn't cracked it will make decent range fodder for tin cans and targets .
My Advice ... Keep On Keeping On and to heck with spreadsheets ... who needs more paperwork !
Gary
 
Fyrstyk said:
I mark my lots of brass with a small groove filed into the rim of the case (using a dremel tool). In my reloading records book I keep track of the number of times each lot has been loaded. Once I start to see case failures, I discard the remaining brass of that lot. this may be too formal for you, but at lease mark the brass, or keep each lot separated in bags so when failures start you can dispose of the remainder of the lot.
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I use a small swiss file to file a "nick" in the rim each time I trim a rifle case. As Fyrstyk says I also note the # of trims along with other pertinant data. Fifth trim is loaded, shot and scrapped.

Handgun is the same, but usually, reload records only show one trim. I trim only to get uniform bullet seating.
 
I have no earthly idea how many firings I have on my pistol brass. I have found the failure point to be loose primer pockets. If I feel like a primer fell in, I pull it and toss the case. If I feel that it seated, just easy, I Sharpie the head and toss it after firing. Other than that, I lose more than I toss. I know you are talking about pistol brass, but I trim rifle brass every time, and inspect each time. Never had a case head separation, but I toss when it cracks. These methods have served me, but I don't run hot loads, either.
 
PWC said:
I use a small swiss file to file a "nick" in the rim each time I trim a rifle case. As Fyrstyk says I also note the # of trims along with other pertinant data. Fifth trim is loaded, shot and scrapped.

Handgun is the same, but usually, reload records only show one trim. I trim only to get uniform bullet seating.
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That’s some labor intensive stuff.
 
gwpercle said:
I've been shooting / reloading handgun for 50+ years and your system is the one I use ... The no rhyme nor reason , as you call it , works just fine for range use fun and practice .
I reload them untill a crack appears or they get lost . As I pick 50 or 100 out of my box-of-brass to reload , I inspect each for any defects , cracks , torn rims ... Put them in plastic ammo box and move to loading bench .
I don't see a need to do anything else ... I'm just shooting for pleasure and not shooting for money or blood . As long as the brass isn't cracked it will make decent range fodder for tin cans and targets .
My Advice ... Keep On Keeping On and to heck with spreadsheets ... who needs more paperwork !
Gary
Click to expand...
I had an idea…print the spreadsheets and use em as targets.
 
I do as per post #7. For handgun I do not sort and store my brass seperately by headstamp because when I set up to run a load I use mixed brass and load them all the same [ I stay w/in safe pressures ] I have not found my shooting ability to be precise enough that I realize any benifit from working up loads by different brass. However, when it comes to shooting I will load up my pistol/revolver with the same headstamp brass because I have found the POI relative to the POA will be different enough at the 25 yd line to justify doing so.
 
AJC1 said:
Never seen a match marked 45acp case before... did someone convert 308 or 30-06.
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A local shop had a few boxes of 45 ACP match ammo show up a number of years back and they were reasonably priced so I snagged them. I have shot one of the boxes and since the head stamp is unique I was able to segregate and keep those with there unique box. D1504E77-A1D8-423B-BF35-BE6D3F3ADF49.jpeg F0506B6F-19B9-4325-9015-3EB135104B02.jpeg The attached item are not the reloads. Those are the factory rounds.
 
reddog81 said:
A local shop had a few boxes of 45 ACP match ammo show up a number of years back and they were reasonably priced so I snagged them. I have shot one of the boxes and since the head stamp is unique I was able to segregate and keep those with there unique box. View attachment 1154351View attachment 1154352The attached item are not the reloads. Those are the factory rounds.
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I think wcc is winchester cartridge company... so win.
 
I have a dirty bucket and a clean bucket for each type of brass. I clean and process all the brass in the winter when shooting outside is no fun. Then as I need the cleaned and perhaps sorted brass next spring/summer,...
I use it and return it to the now empty dirty brass bucket until I have cycled through all the brass. Next fall I start to clean and process again if I need more brass of that type. I do have a bit more brass than I cycle through each year.
 
CQB45ACP said:
but knowing me as well as I do, I’d never sustain something formal.
Click to expand...

You answered your own question... just keep doing what you are doing. Straight walled handgun brass will just run until it fails... throw that case out and keep on truckin'

Personally, I segregate all my brass by headstamp... rifle and pistol. That satisfies my OCD, and I even have spreadsheets to keep inventories on all my components and loaded ammunition, so I know how much I have at any given time, and in what stage of the process. Beyond that, I do not keep track of how many loadings each lot of brass has had, let alone 100 pieces... or one piece. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter to me.

I have scrapped entire lots of brass, however. Back Home, Years Ago, when I was just starting to load for the .41MAG, we had a mish-mash of brass from different sources, and we were running it pretty hard. I decided to start with an entirely new lot of .41 brass, because I was starting to get cracks... so I junked all of it and bought a 1000 box of RP .41 brass that I'm still using 30 years later. I did very much the same thing with .45ACP, although I did not throw out the older stuff, I simply segregated it into the 'probably get lost' lot of brass, and that's how I used it. Oddly enough, the new lot of .45ACP brass, after 30 years, is starting to fail (work harden...) so that now goes into the 'probably get lost' lot, and I'll source another 1000 .45 cases from somewhere. Waste not, whatnot.
 
I find more old brass that needs scrapped, on the press, by how hard it resizes, than I do by looking at it. If it resizes hard or has a loose primer pocket, it goes to the scrap bucket no matter how good it looks.
I also throw out Atlantic Arms cases out as soon as I see them because they make 9mm major ammo for sale and I can't tell it from their 9mm minor.
I won't reload their cases.
 
My loads are stored in 50 cal ammo cans with the last 200 in a sealed bag at the bottom of the can. I put the empty cases in that same ammo can in large ziplocks. When I get to the last 200 I start reloading that can. I have multiple cans on some calibers label 1 , 2, 3.
 
You have many choices.

You can choose to keep meticulous records, so that you know how many times each case has been fired.

Alternatively, you could mark each "generation" with a unique color fingernail polish painted around the primer.

Or, you can mechanically mark each case.
 
I used to use the most obnoxious fingernail polish color I could find, thinned 50% and use a drop on a small nail (toothpick absorbs the polish) to dab on edge of primers. It will flow around the primer and act as a sealer, but most importantly it identifies YOUR brass.
 
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