Is it important to sort brass by manufacturer?

M

maillemaker

New member
So I have finished tumbling my first batch of brass ever. About 1000 cases of .45 ACP in my rotary tumbler, using dish detergent and lemi-shine and steel shot. Brass came out brilliant.

I then sat down (my 5-year-old daughter helped me) and sorted all my brass by manufacturer.

Is this important? I'm just using the ammo for plinking.

Thanks,

Steve
 
H

huntinaz

New member
Is this important? I'm just using the ammo for plinking.
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In all likeliness you won't notice a difference. For long range rifle stuff it would be a lot more worthwhile, but for plinking with a 45 handgun...I don't sort and I shoot well. But if you dig it, there's no reason not to either.
 
S

Shane Tuttle

Staff
Absolutely not. The only important item is to sort out the garbage brass such as AMERC. Other than that, for plinking it isn't worth the hassle...
 
4

44 AMP

Staff
I like all the brass in each box to have the same headstamp, if I can do it.

For .45ACP and many other pistol rounds, it won't make much, if any practial difference, (discounting the junk brass, like AMERC), providing they are all the same length.

For magnum pistols, and rifle rounds, it can make a huge difference. And that is because you are working with much higher pressures, and loads that may be at or near maximum. Different brands will have slightly different case capacities, and that has an effect on the pressure. That can be enough to push a near max load to unsafe over max pressures.

You can sort by weight, once the brass is sized. IF they are all the same size on the outside, heavier cases will have less room on the inside.

Best practice is to sort and segregate brass. For plinking it makes little difference, but once you get serious about accuracy and or power, its a good habit to get into.
 
M

maillemaker

New member
Thanks for all the replies. It turns out it was actually a good father-daughter thing to do. My little girl came out (she's 5) and wanted desperately to help me put the shiny cases in the little holes of the plastic carriers.

Turns out I could sort them faster than I could put them in the carriers. So I would sort them (most are R-P) and put the R-P in a small bowl that she could draw from to stick in the carriers, and I'd put the rest in other carriers as we went. She was very good at it and was proud to be helping.

Steve
 
G

gregjc9

New member
Lately, I've gotten several NT stamped brass, which I believe is small pistol primered. So now I sort my 45 ACP brass for these and for 45GAP. All others get thrown into the bucket to be tumbled, reloaded, and shot.
 
A

AlaskaMike

New member
She was very good at it and was proud to be helping.
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I've got a 3 year old daughter that likes to help me sort brass too. She's to the point now where she can put tall and thin (.357 mag) in one box and short and fat (.45 auto) in another, and she has a blast. I have more fun watching her sort the brass than anything else!

Well, I have to admit it's also great fun knowing that it seriously irritates my mother in law that my daughter comes anywhere near that evil stuff. :D
 
F

Florida Cracker

New member
It turns out it was actually a good father-daughter thing to do. My little girl came out (she's 5) and wanted desperately to help me put the shiny (clean) cases in the little holes of the plastic carriers.
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That's good stuff. I wish my daughter had some interest.
 
A

AlaskaMike

New member
I don't like my kid messing with dirty brass. Too much exposure to heavy metals from the priming compound.
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We always wash hands afterwards, so it's no big deal. Besides, the brass is relatively clean after coming out of the tumbler before she ever touches it, and it's not like I have her sort brass weekly, or even monthly.
 
M

maillemaker

New member
I don't like my kid messing with dirty brass. Too much exposure to heavy metals from the priming compound.
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All the brass had just been wet-tumbled with water and detergent, and then rinsed in clean water. It was all squeaky clean!

Steve
 
E

Edward429451

Moderator
Sorting brass by headstamp made a diference when I checked it my chrony in 5.56 and 7.62, I assume it to be true across the board for rifle cartridges.

I already made good 45 ammo and never sorted it before but decided to test it too and sorted way too much 45acp brass. I tried a few different headstamps and none could better the original loads with mixed brass (ww-231)
 
H

howlnmad

New member
All you did there was spend some good quality father-daughter time together. As low pressure as 45 acp are, you don't need to sort them.
 
S

Slamfire

New member
Sorting brass by headstamp made a diference when I checked it my chrony in 5.56 and 7.62, I assume it to be true across the board for rifle cartridges.

I already made good 45 ammo and never sorted it before but decided to test it too and sorted way too much 45acp brass. I tried a few different headstamps and none could better the original loads with mixed brass (ww-231)
Click to expand...

Same as my experience though .223 military is a lot more weight uniform across manufacturers than 308.

Even within manufacturers 308 brass can vary significantally. I was given over a hundred once fired Gold Medal Match Federal 308 cases. I weight sorted the stuff into at least five different weight groups of 4 grains spread. The lowest weight stuff was around 155 grains, the heaviest 170-175 grains.


As for 45 ACP brass, I believe it is more important to find the right powder than anything else. Bullseye and W231 have given me tight standard deviations regardless of cases. However a powder like Blue Dot, intial testing was not as promising.

Code: 
[SIZE="3"]

45 ACP M1911

230 gr LRN  4.5 grs Bullseye Mixed Brass WLP taper crimp .469"  OAL 1.250"	
25-Feb-07 T = 68  °F	
				
Ave Vel =	792					
Std Dev =	14.38		 			
ES	74.67		 			
High	829.3		 			
Low	754.7					
N =	27				 	
V. Accurate

						
230 gr LRN  7.7 grs Blue Dot  Mixed Brass WLP		25-Feb-07	
		OAL 1.250"	taper crimp .469"	T = 64  °F	
		Accurate, hard recoil, violent ejection		
Ave Vel =	809.2					
Std Dev =	45				 	
ES	153.1				 	
High	890.6				 	
Low	737.5				 	
N =	12				 	[/SIZE]
 
S

SL1

New member
Safety issue, not accuracy issue for pistol brass

While it makes no detectable difference in accuracy to use mixed brass for plinking loads in pistols, there is a potential safety issue that needs to be considered.

Some brands of brass have been coming through with unusually thin case mouths, particularly Remington. YOur sizing die will leave the the inside diameter of these cases larger than it will for normal thickness brass. IF your sizing die does not make the cases small enough that the expander needs to expand it a little, then it WILL affect the neck's grip on the bullet. That can be a safety issue in auto-loading pistols, because impact on the feed ramp can push the bullets back into the cases and DRASTICALLY raise pressure IF the grip isn't tight enough.

So, it pays to know what your case mouth thickness is, and whether your dies can handle the thinnest that you have.

SL1
 
A

amamnn

New member
The wise handloader sorts all brass by manufacturer if not also by lot#. The experienced loader knows that **** happens and that at some point you may lose track of the powder charge in a case. If the worst happens and you get a squib, or *** preserve us a double charge, at least you can look at the weights of the rest of your batch and see if there are any more.-- If your brass is all the same maker--they will be at least withing a couple of grains. If they are a licorice all sorts-- you don't know what the hell you have. You may think this cannot happen to you---think again.


Oh come on Firing line------grow up **** gets a ****????!!!! you think americans can't handle ****???!!!! Obviously you were not in the Marines....................
 
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