Question about sorting for the Truly Organized

[JohnMcD348]

OK, still new guy questions here. I know there are some out there who sort and weight everything in search for the ultimate round and consistency. I'm just curious how and what do you look at? Do you sort your cases by manufacturer and weight of case, do you do the same for each bullet prior to loading? Do you check consistency of weight of each primer, etc.

I was reading a few posts where people were asking about the weights of teh cartridges and the fact came up that it is not a consistent standard. While another I had read someone was weighing and found that one of their cases was double charged. I'm still looking at how far and deep I want to get into reloading and if I decide to go this route, better to do it now than after I have 1000's of cases and bullets to weight and sort.

Thanks

 

[Luggernut]

I think there are at least a few reasons to be REALLY organized:

1) Quality control/safety
2) High accuracy
3) Anal

I personally think if you adhere to basic safety measures that you can reload safely and easily. Checking loads regularly, checking primer seating, checking brass. (Option number 1)

Sorting brass and measuring every component seems to fall under number 2 and/or number 3.

I sometimes sort brass by manufacturer because I've noticed some primer pockets are tight and some aren't- and I want consistent seating. I also notice that different brass tends to bell slightly more or less at the same setting. I bell the least as possible to allow the bullet to be inserted.

I shoot a fair amount of pistol rounds so volume is important... but not enought to measure brass, bullets, primers, and weigh every load.

YMMV.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Luggernut has it nailed. Though I do sort by head stamp and weigh every powder charge dropped in a case. But that's about all...

 

[JohnMcD348]

I was wondering also becuase I notice in alot of reloading manuals, they specifically list the case and primer combination for each round and wondered how much that plays into the effectiveness of the round built. Such as if I see a load in a manual using Federal cases with CCI primer, would there really be a noticable different if I used the same bullet/powder combination in a Winchester case usinf Federal Primers or Winchester primers or using either in Rossi cases, etc, etc.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Unless you are loading maximum powder charges I doubt you will have any problem. I never have. I don't even keep track of it when loading maximum powder charges. Now days I doubt that it really makes a difference unless you are going for maximum accuracy. Even then I really doubt that it has much to do with it. Everyone is anal about something when reloading...

 

[jfh]

My experience mirrors The Bushmaster's. I use Winchester standard Primers (Large or Small) for virtually everything, and my cases are typically (used) Starlines, and I use these no matter what the typical recipe calls for (I do NOT load Magnum powders--e.g., 296, H-110) in 38 Special, 357 Magnum, 10mm and .45ACP.

For my .45ACP practice brass, I do have it segregated by headstamp, except for the really old plinking stuff.

So, I made a conscious decision to 'standardize' on certain components (primers and cases) while I treat others as variables (bullet weight and composition).

Jim H.

 

[evan price]

I load everything conservatively until I get things where I want them. Therefore minute variances in individual components don't stack to the point of becoming dangerous.

I don't sort anything except for caliber. Oh, and type of projectile. I have loads for SWC versus JHP for example.

Unless you are needing bench rest accuracy, (And we're talking competition-level contenders) the variances between individual units of commercial brass and projo lots is not anything that will be noticed.

If we're talking blasting ammo, make sure you are delivering consistent charges, measure samples periodically through the process to verify your part in the procedures, and make ammo.

The guys that do the serious accuracy shooting, things like the humidity level of the powder matter. They will buy several lots of powder and blend them to make a large uniform lot. Bullets are weighed to high tolerances. A lot of work, lot of record keeping.