Some more questions, sorry.

[RugerSteve]

I notice a lot of people sort their brass for reloading into brands. I started doing that, but how far do you guys take it?
I presently have mine sorted in containers of clean Win, FC, RP, and mixed.
The mixed has some Speer, Blazer, Tulamo, GFL, PM , CBC, Perfecta, etc.. How far do you take this sorting? Container for each and every one?
#2. Before I sorted them, I had reloaded a bunch and was going through them because I had found several 380's, and two 9x18 Makarov's that I had run through the press and reloaded, thus this is one reason I am going to sort my clean brass from now on, but, I cannot fire those two 9x18's through my 9mm' s can I? I know I can't the 380's of course, but just curious about the 9x18, because I did see according to the books, there is a slight difference in diameter and length .

 

[Toprudder]

Well, if you run the 9mak case through the 9x19 resizing die, it will be the right diameter. However, it is 1mm shorter, and since it headspaces on the case mouth, it won't properly headspace in a 9x19 chamber. But, if the extractor is not gapped too large, it will probably still fire.

I say sort them out and get them right.

I've started sorting my brass by headstamps. For the brass that I find a large quantity of, like Winchester, RP, CBC, etc, I keep those seperate. For the smaller quantity, I throw them all together in a mixed-brass container. I will use the sorted brass for load workups, and the mixed brass I will use for plinking ammo.

 

[LiveLife]

If you reload with mixed range brass, sorting by headstamp is kinda moot.

IMO, as you reload your brass more times, variations from headstamp (brass quality/mix, wall thickness, etc.) get overshadowed by work hardening (malleability of brass to hold shape) which may increase brass spring back. Since it's difficult to keep track of number of firings for semi-auto brass at the range as they get all mixed with other brass, I just toss all of them in the same bucket and just cull out any that looks questionable or have obvious damage.

Some European cases (like S&B?) are actually steel underneath the brass finish so you can check these with a magnet.

I keep verified once-fired brass (ones I have seen go from factory new boxes to the range floor) separate and use them for full-power/max loads.

#2 - Actually you can. Many of us shoot 9mm in 40S&W pistols by accident and the case neck expands to 40S&W chamber dimensions. As long as the 9x18/380 rounds chamber and fire, they will expand to 9mm chamber dimensions which you can resize down or cull/recycle forrom bulk brass if you don't load those calibers.

 

[hanno]

I started out sorting pistol brass and keeping track of the number of times reloaded. It wasn't too long before I concluded that for me this was a waste of time. They all go into the same bucket now. Some may have been fired 20 times, some only 2 times. I don't know and don't care, I toss them when they split or show any defects.

For me, life is too short to spend time sorting brass. If I loaded rifle, I would probably sort.
YMMV

 

[ATLDave]

I sort by headstamp, but don't try to track number of times used. I sort by headstamp so that: 1. I can use total cartridge weight as an additional QC measure against double charges and no-charges and 2. so that if a particular brand of brass proves problematic I can quickly pull all the rounds made with that brass.

Like you, I sort into piles (in either containers or ziploc bags) of headstamps that I have many of, and then have a miscellany pile for the less common headstamps. I generally don't load out of the miscellany pile unless I'm just totally out of brass or something. When I eventually accumulate a large number of a former-miscellany-status headstamp, I pull that out and it gets its own bag.

 

[hanno]

Some European cases (like S&B?) are actually steel underneath the brass finish so you can check these with a magnet.

bds,
I've loaded thousands of S&B cases - .38 Special and .45 ACP. I've never run across one that wasn't brass. In my experience, very good brass. Some folks don't like the tight primer pockets but I hand prime and it has never been an issue for me.

 

[Sam1911]

No great benefit to sorting pistol brass for 97% of handgunning uses.

Pick them up, clean them, shoot them ---> repeat until you lose them, or you find they've cracked at the mouth.

9x18 (Makarov) and 9x19 (Parabellum/NATO/Luger) are two completely different cartridges. DO NOT mix them.

 

[LiveLife]

hanno, I am not sure if it was S&B headstamp but several members have posted in the past of finding brass finish cases that were steel underneath verified by magnet

If it was not S&B, my apologies.

Yes, I do like S&B cases as they are good brass cases and I shot my matches with S&B/PMC factory ammunition before I started reloading.

Yes, they do have tighter primer pockets but not as tight as RWS cases (while I will reload S&B cases as primer takes more effort to seat, I won't even bother with once-fired RWS cases now).

 

[Walkalong]

I've loaded thousands of S&B cases - .38 Special and .45 ACP. I've never run across one that wasn't brass.

They at least make some in 9MM, because my magnet has caught a few. I always check 9MM range brass with a big magnet because the brass colored steel S&B 9MM brass looks like the real deal.

 

[hanno]

They at least make some in 9MM, because my magnet has caught a few. I always check 9MM range brass with a big magnet because the brass colored steel S&B 9MM brass looks like the real deal.

Well there you go, I just learned something. I've never loaded 9mm so have never run across one.

Thanks

 

[lightman]

In rifle, I sort by caliber and brand. I'm mostly interested in the big name stuff like Rp, Fc and WW. Most of the lesser known brands become plinking ammo in my AR or H&K, or get scrapped. In pistol, I also sort by caliber and brand. My hunting ammo gets the name brand stuff and everything else becomes "other". Any brand that proves to be problematic gets scrapped. The scrap bucket funds my Lapua and other new brass purchases.

I find that the newer style of plastic coffee can make great storage containers for brass. They are air tight, stack well and are easy to get.

 

[mdi]

What's the point is sorting by headstamp if you don't keep each mfg. separate? I have 1 qt. plastic bags with different headstamps, and different stages of reloading.

I keep many of my handgun cases separated by HS, but for most it makes very little difference (45 ACP, 9mm, 38 Specials get mixed brass loads, while my .44 Magnum brass is kept separated by HS, and number of times fired). All my rifle brass is sorted and separated by mfg. and number of times fired. I use a lot of plastic shoeboxes to hold brass and zip-lok bags for further sorting).

 

[ljnowell]

bds,

I've loaded thousands of S&B cases - .38 Special and .45 ACP. I've never run across one that wasn't brass. In my experience, very good brass. Some folks don't like the tight primer pockets but I hand prime and it has never been an issue for me.

I actually have found S&B steel cases that were copper washed so they looked like brass. I found them accidentally. I was showing a new reloader how brass wasn't magnetic and ran my big magnet through a bin if 38 special and fished a few out.

They had been reloaded countless times too. That's one of the things that made me experiment with steel 45 acp range pick ups. When I could still shoot action pistol I used to take steel case reloads with me to lost brass matches.

 

[vaalpens]

For us that load using a single stage press, it does not take much effort to sort by headstamp since you have to handle each case in any case. I just have a few plastic containers in from of me and as I do the resize/decapping, and throw the case into a container for the specific headstamp. Since I then load by headstamp, I normally shoot in headstamp groups also, so sorting becomes easier. Everything non-standard will go to a mix container, and when I start seeing plenty of the same headstamp going to mix (range brass), then I will just add a new container and start separating those.

 

[Walkalong]

No great benefit to sorting pistol brass for 97% of handgunning uses.

I agree. Or is it at least 97% of us can't shoot the difference.

I know I can't.


A couple of S&B cases on my magnet.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

Never, ever sorted pistol brass. Never saw the need. I shoot it until it splits or I lose it.

 

[vaalpens]

After I saw the posts from bds and Walkalong regarding the steel S&B brass, I pulled out my ziplock bag of 9mm S&B brass and waved the magnet over them. None of them stuck to the magnet. I then pulled out my ziplock bag of mixed headstamp brass, and by golly I found two that stuck to the magnet. Both were S&B. So it looks like my sorting is not always perfect and some of the S&B brass has steel underneath.

 

[RAT807]

I went through load development for some local 3 gun bullseye matches. I probably tried anything I could think of, loaded it and shot it as far as brass prep goes. Head stamp sorted, weight and lengths were tried as well as varying amounts of crimp and seating depth. So after months of testing the most accurate load had a list of details. Brass was trimmed to the same length. The weight of brass varied no more .3 grains for the rounds needed to shoot the match. The amount of bell for the case mouth, matching powder charge to primer so the speed fell into a specific range. I even checked the concentricity or run out of the loaded rounds. As for the load shooting at 25yards from a bench I could get clover leafs and multiple bullet holes touching and single digit extreme spread velocities.

While brass prep does play a part in consistent accuracy, there are several other things you can't over look.

 

[gamestalker]

Regarding handgun stuff, I only load full throttle, so I'm pretty anal about sorting by head stamp. But if I were loading light to mid range stuff I probably wouldn't be too concerned about most of it, though there are some head stamps I simply won't load. But one should consider that I also trim all my handgun brass.

My bottle neck brass is always sorted by head stamp. I will also sort by weight if it is random range pick up brass, or if that particular lot is really inconsistent.

GS

 

[ljnowell]

To add to this, when I load my ammo for Bullseye shooting I use mixed cases for practice, however I inly use one headstamp and case style for my competition ammo and that Winchester 38 special wadcutter cases. There are several reasons for this and I have proved the advantage of it.

 

[Walkalong]

I have no doubt some of those steel S&B cases get loaded and not even noticed. I may have loaded some myself before learning of them here at THR and I started using the magnet. I don't find many, but do pick one up occasionally.

 

[Garrobo]

It's neat but

a waste of time.

 

[mdi]

I enjoy reloading. I enjoy shooting. I don't consider any method/process I use to reload my ammo for my guns a waste of time. Last night I even trimmed some flash holes from the inside for my Garand brass. Waste of time? Mebbe for you. Fun and keeping me busy with my hobby, yep, you betcha! I would even paint Happy Faces on my cast/PCed bullets if I thought it would be fun.

My last job was 8 years ago and I retired while I was making $43.70 per hour + perks, and nuttin' I do today is worth that much...