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Posted: 6/2/2009 8:57:31 AM EDT
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I am fairly new to reloading but I have produced several groups of 50 shells that I have I have been happy with.
I think that I am now ready to reload about 4,500 on my Dillon as soon as I get the power trimmer. I have the bullets, primers and powder. I will be reloading 55 grain FMJ-BT bullets with 25 grains of H-335. I am not looking for precision loads but something that comes close to the military loads so I don't have to use up my stock at the range. I have about 6,000 spent cases that I have saved up over the last few years. They are various manufacturers. Probably about 10 different ones. I bought a couple of thousands rounds from Georgia Arms so therefore have reloaded LC brass. Right now I am in the process of sorting the brass and I have a question for the experienced reloaders. How important is it to sort out the brass according to manufacturer? Does it really make that much difference for non precision shooting? I am looking for about the same level of accuracy I would get from typical military ammo. Right now I and separating it out into three piles; 1. Georgia Arms, 2. what looks to be military crimp and 3. all others. Should I sort it any more? |
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I ONLY sort once fired by crimp/no crimp. The case volume variances are negligible on almost all the commonly available .223/5.56 brass out there.
Basically, sorting your brass by headstamp for practice ammo is a waste of time. I would strongly recommend AGAINST loading a huge volume of your brass until you get experience and find a load you like. Load a few hundred rounds at a time and shoot it and stuff. You wouldn't want to have thousands of rounds assembled and then figure out that there's something you want to change in your load. |
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I ONLY sort once fired by crimp/no crimp. The case volume variances are negligible on almost all the commonly available .223/5.56 brass out there. Basically, sorting your brass by headstamp for practice ammo is a waste of time. I would strongly recommend AGAINST loading a huge volume of your brass until you get experience and find a load you like. Load a few hundred rounds at a time and shoot it and stuff. You wouldn't want to have thousands of rounds assembled and then figure out that there's something you want to change in your load. Yup...so you rebuilt your 350 and have the rudimentary tools to rebuild another...HEY! Let's contract out to Ferrari to rebuild their Formula 1 fleet!!!! Kind of overstating it, there, but oyu get the point. Get some skills under your belt before you start cranking out 1k's of rounds. |
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I would strongly recommend AGAINST loading a huge volume of your brass until you get experience and find a load you like. Load a few hundred rounds at a time and shoot it and stuff. You wouldn't want to have thousands of rounds assembled and then figure out that there's something you want to change in your load. Of course that is good advice. After I get the Dillon trimmer I was planning to prep the brass and then do it in batches of a couple of hundred, like you suggested. I did not plan to do all 4,500 at the same time. |
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Voice of experience...
I loaded up 50 test rounds and shot them. Accuracy was acceptable for blasting ammo with no signs of case stress so I loaded 200 more. This weekend I shot ~100 of these with 5 blown primers, 1 almost case sep. and all primers were flattened with dimpled primer strikes. I'll knock off half a grain and load 50 more. Before you load up 4500 rounds, shoot several hundred and see how they fare. |
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I would sort out the PMP and FC.
PMP is very heavy brass. I load it 2 grains less than LC. FC can have thin webs, I don't load it for an AR. Lots of threads about this. Once crimp is removed LC, WCC, RA, loads the same as Win, RP, PMC, Hornaday. Load a few, insure they chamber and extract, shoot a few. If all is good, then load a large batch. |
| Lots of good recommendations. I usually sort for my golt action riifles that I am expecting good accuracey from. For my AR, I seperate one of the head stamps and keep that as my base line brass that I use for load development and shooting times that I know I will be able to retireve my brass. I also then test the other various head stamps and make sure they have no issues and then add them to my misc. brass pile that I use for 3 gun events so I don't feel so bad if the brass doens't make it home with me and the accuracy is not as good (but 1" is still acceptable for 3 guns) |
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FC can have thin webs, I don't load it for an AR. Lots of threads BAD INFO about this. Minor correction. 
Once crimp is removed LC, WCC, RA, loads the same as Win, RP, PMC, Hornaday.
I don't find any of those to load similar. They each have their own characteristics. Perhaps sorting wouldn't be a bad idea for the OP.... at least until he gets used to how the different kinds of brass prep out. LC, WCC, and W.C.C. for example require trimming before you can even load it once. |
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FC can have thin webs, I don't load it for an AR. Lots of threads BAD INFO about this. Minor correction.
Once crimp is removed LC, WCC, RA, loads the same as Win, RP, PMC, Hornaday.
I don't find any of those to load similar. They each have their own characteristics. Perhaps sorting wouldn't be a bad idea for the OP.... at least until he gets used to how the different kinds of brass prep out. LC, WCC, and W.C.C. for example require trimming before you can even load it once. That is part of the story. It's clear from measurement of actual cases that some FC brass has thin webs, and those thin webs cause the primer pockets to have short lives in the best case. It's also clear that more recent brass has normal thicknesses comparable to other makes of brass. This leaves a reloader in a quandary. He can follow markm's lead by shooting FC brass without concern and hope it all works out, he can reject all FC brass knowing that some might be okay, or he can measure the cases to find out where they fall. The weights of .223 Rem brass vary about 10 grains from the lightest to heaviest cases. I mix WCC, Winchester, and LC brass without too much concern, and I know I have a few Lapua cases mixed in, too. In a pinch, I would add Remington cases, but I prefer to keep them apart. Everything else is suspicious until it has been checked out. Well, maybe not Norma, but I don't have any for .223 Rem. |
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That is part of the story. It's clear from measurement of actual cases that some FC brass has thin webs, and those thin webs cause the primer pockets to have short lives in the best case. It's also clear that more recent brass has normal thicknesses comparable to other makes of brass. This leaves a reloader in a quandary. He can follow markm's lead by shooting FC brass without concern and hope it all works out, he can reject all FC brass knowing that some might be okay, or he can measure the cases to find out where they fall. The weights of .223 Rem brass vary about 10 grains from the lightest to heaviest cases. I mix WCC, Winchester, and LC brass without too much concern, and I know I have a few Lapua cases mixed in, too. In a pinch, I would add Remington cases, but I prefer to keep them apart. Everything else is suspicious until it has been checked out. Well, maybe not Norma, but I don't have any for .223 Rem. Since I am fairly new to reloading I would like to ask a newby question. Why do you mean by "thin webs"? How do I measure it? I have not been advised on this by my friends that have helped me get into reloading nor have I seen the reference in any of the manuals I read. About 10% of my brass is FC. It wouldn't kill me to discard it but I don't want to do it if it is safe to shoot. |
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This pic supposedly shows the web difference between Fed AE brass and a "standard" case. I snagged it off here or another site. The question is WHAT FC brass? FC has been loaded in a lot of different brass over the last 20 years. I have an old box of Department issued ammo that my Dad gave me that's in the shitty brass. I got a sample of what appeared to be the old crappy stuff (judging by head stamps and lack of primer crimp), but it loaded up nicely. The primer pocket has really decent tension. I'm on my second loading of it now. I have it isolated for research purposes. |
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Does the difference between .047 and .070 present a risk for once or twice fired brass? Read the threads linked through my post in the tacked Gateway thread and in the FAQ's. The thin web brass has separated on at least one member, and all of it is good for at most one more shot with high pressure loads, then the primer pockets are done. This brass has to be decrimped, and that's a lot of work for one shot. Part of the problem we have is we don't have a demarcation of time when the brass changed to the thicker webs, although I'll guess sometime in the last 24 to 30 months at the out side. You'll also find methods for measuring this thickness in the linked threads. |
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I would strongly recommend AGAINST loading a huge volume of your brass until you get experience and find a load you like. Load a few hundred rounds at a time and shoot it and stuff. You wouldn't want to have thousands of rounds assembled and then figure out that there's something you want to change in your load. Of course that is good advice. After I get the Dillon trimmer I was planning to prep the brass and then do it in batches of a couple of hundred, like you suggested. I did not plan to do all 4,500 at the same time. You got your GAUGE? Aloha, Mark |
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FC can have thin webs, I don't load it for an AR. Lots of threads BAD INFO about this. Perhaps you missed the posts and pics on this subject. Here are a couple again. 
Example of a thin web. 
Example of a normal web. 
Side by side. For me it's a choice, measure the webs of FC brass, or don't load. You can choose for yourself. I chose to not load them for an AR. I do load FC 223 in my 223 bolt rifle. Minor correction.
Once crimp is removed LC, WCC, RA, loads the same as Win, RP, PMC, Hornaday.
I don't find any of those to load similar. Our experiences differ. They each have their own characteristics. Perhaps sorting wouldn't be a bad idea for the OP.... at least until he gets used to how the different kinds of brass prep out. LC, WCC, and W.C.C. for example require trimming before you can even load it once. All brass requires trimming if over 1.760. OP did not ask about trimming. |
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Read the threads linked through my post in the tacked Gateway thread and in the FAQ's. The thin web brass has separated on at least one member, and all of it is good for at most one more shot with high pressure loads, then the primer pockets are done. This brass has to be decrimped, and that's a lot of work for one shot. Part of the problem we have is we don't have a demarcation of time when the brass changed to the thicker webs, although I'll guess sometime in the last 24 to 30 months at the out side. You'll also find methods for measuring this thickness in the linked threads. AeroE; Please don't confuse the newbies, case head failure is not the same as a separation. 'Borg |
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