Sorting Brass

[ryknoll3]

How important is it to sort brass by mfg? I am loading plinking ammo in 9mm, 45, 223 and 308. I'm not really shooting for max accuracy or running at max loads.

For my precision loads I have brass from FGGM or Black Hills match, and I sort those, but do I need to bother for plinking stuff?

 

[billybob44]

Each to His Own...

For ME--I like to sort, per headstamp all of my brass..I DO have the time..HA HA..

When I load, either single stage, or on my Dillon 550, I like all of the operations to "Feel" the same.
With sorted brass, seating primers, bullets, and the crimp (In handgun loads) for the most part feel the same on that batch. If something feels different then time to check..Bill.

 

[JStang314]

I do not sort my brass by anything but caliber. Unless I'm loading for bench rest shooting. I can see Bills point about them feeling he same though. Some are tighter in the sizing die and have tighter primer pockets etc so it would be nice to do in batches of the same brand but especially 223 takes me long enough as it is (single stage). im just too lazy and don't bother to do it for plinking loads.

 

[dieselrealtor]

sorting not needed for plinking,
load away

 

[red_zr24x4]

Never sorted brass by head stamp, caliber only

 

[ctbreitwieser]

Add me to the "never sort my brass" list. Only time I do is when I want to load some accurate stuff for my precision AR. Then I dig through the brass and pick out the Lake City's.

 

[Lee S. Forsberg]

I had a batch of 223 mixed headstamp mostly military that needed the primer pockets swaged. I use an RCBS swaging die. Things were going along just fine till I noticed some pocket were swaged and some weren't. Then things went really bad I found a case with a very thick web. Put an "S" curve in my stem assemble. From then on I sort brass according to headstamp if I'm swaging the primer pockets.

 

[SSGSAD]

Plinking, I just load ..... .223 "Match" I buy brand new brass, and after 3 loadings, it goes into the "pile" .....

 

[sgreen3]

I don't sort any of my brass that Im just going to load for blasting ammo. For my match loads I will sort by headstamp.

 

[sloughfoot]

For 200 yards and under, the bullet is still rising so no sorting is needed. For 300 yards and beyond, the bullet is descending. I sort by weight. Weight varies in the same headstamp. So sorting by weight is needed for consistent velocities. My frame of reference is bullseye shooting with a rifle out to 1,000 yards.

I have never sorted my pistol brass. Maybe that is why I have always sucked at pistol bullseye.

For rifle plinking, I use what I don't want to use in matches. It doesn't matter.

 

[Chumley]

i sort it all by head stamp just like i sort brass from nickel plate casings. i like organized ammo boxes. But always end up with a few boxes of mixed casings

 

[sloughfoot]

Chumley, I feel for ya. I went to the range last Friday with some handfuls of 357 reloads thrown into a Ziploc bag. When I loaded the revolver, I tried to make it all six nickle plated or all six brass. Totally illogical but I did it anyway.

 

[ljk]

only on 300BLK. some brass, i.e. GECO head stamp, the case wall is too thick causing failure to chamber.

 

[OutdoorDad]

IMHO, 9mm and .45acp don't worry about it.

Rifle ammo, I would cull the flyers. And that will probably come up during sizing. I suspect that different case thicknesses will aggregate by head stamp.

 

[billybob44]

+1 Here....

I had a batch of 223 mixed headstamp mostly military that needed the primer pockets swaged. I use an RCBS swaging die. Things were going along just fine till I noticed some pocket were swaged and some weren't. Then things went really bad I found a case with a very thick web. Put an "S" curve in my stem assemble. From then on I sort brass according to headstamp if I'm swaging the primer pockets.

I buy LEO range brass..Most Lake City, Lake City (NATO), F.-C., and Hornady.
When I swage the primer pockets, I have to adjust my Dillon SuperSwage 600 for each different headstamp, for proper crimp removal.

They DO have different web thickness that makes a difference in swage rod depth.

YES, this IS another sorting step, but I feel a proper step to keep the tool in good shape, and to get a proper swage.

To me this is another case of "Each to His Own"..HA.HA.HA...Bill.

 

[sloughfoot]

only on 300BLK. some brass, i.e. GECO head stamp, the case wall is too thick causing failure to chamber.

Huh? Why would case wall thickness effect chambering? The resizing die sizes the outside of the case. So the external dimension is set. It is the internal dimension that changes.

 

[oldpink]

As long as you're not loading at or near maximum and just for plinking, it's safe and okay to not bother sorting.
If near maximum or for accuracy, always sort by headstamp.
In fact, many folks who shoot long range competition not only sort by headstamp, but also weight sort before loading.

 

[AmmoManAaron]

Huh? Why would case wall thickness effect chambering? The resizing die sizes the outside of the case. So the external dimension is set. It is the internal dimension that changes.

He's talking about .223 Geco headstamped brass that was made into .300BLK. That brass is thicker in the region of the new .300BLK neck/mouth, so when you seat your .30 cal bullet, the neck expands a bit and creates a round that is too wide to chamber. You can fix the problem by neck reaming the brass after forming it into .300BLK.

 

[AmmoManAaron]

How important is it to sort brass by mfg? I am loading plinking ammo in 9mm, 45, 223 and 308. I'm not really shooting for max accuracy or running at max loads.

For my precision loads I have brass from FGGM or Black Hills match, and I sort those, but do I need to bother for plinking stuff?

For plinking I do not sort handgun brass. I only sort rifle caliber brass between "commercial" and "military" because military brass is thicker (less case capacity, higher pressures and velocity with the same load). Depending on your plinking load, you might be safe with the same load in both types of cases, but regardless of that, they will shoot differently in my experience. FYI - I also take care to sort out the oddball commercially made and headstamped brass that is known to be the thicker "mil-spec" (old Norinco, some PMC, etc.). When in doubt weigh some samples and compare them with known "commercial" and known "military" like Lake City. Sometimes (when it's safe) I end up doing the same load in both types of cases, but I still keep them separate for shooting purposes. I guess I'm a little bit picky about consistency/accuracy even when it comes to my plinking ammo...to the point that I will not shoot low-priced steel case ammo except in an AK or SKS. YMMV, but I think the difference between commercial and military brass is still something worth being aware of.

 

[U.S. Patriot]

For 9mm or even .223, I don see a point. When I had my .308, that was a different story.