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Posted: 12/15/2010 3:05:27 PM EDT
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I've got quite of bit of LC brass for 223 reloading.
1. Do I need to sort it by year or can I just size, trim, and load? 2. Is it normal to be able to use any given headstamp (manufacturer) brass from different years in the same reloading batch? Most of the other brass I've got besides the LC has no way to tell how old it is. thanks, Benji |
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Quoted: I've got quite of bit of LC brass for 223 reloading. 1. Do I need to sort it by year or can I just size, trim, and load? 2. Is it normal to be able to use any given headstamp (manufacturer) brass from different years in the same reloading batch? Most of the other brass I've got besides the LC has no way to tell how old it is. thanks, Benji For my plinking ammo I take all the brass and send it through the motions. There's a mix of LC, Federal, Lapua, Remington, Winchester, etc, etc. For my precision ammo I sort by year, weight, and volume. This can reduce 1000 once fired rounds by quite a bit but the outliers just get used as plinking rounds. If you're only interested in making economical plinking rounds there's no point in spending the time trying to increase the accuracy potential if you'll never utilize it. |
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Gixxer described about what I do.
I don't bother sorting LC by year, but I weigh the empty cases to find consistant accurate loads. Everything else gets loaded as plinking ammo. I do sort by head stamp, and number of firings. I try to work through all my brass per firing before moving onto other brass. |
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Can you guys explain why case mass uniformity would cause a difference in accuracy (and if it does, by how much)?
I can imagine that differences between mass and batches might cause different rates of expansion, but is it significant enough to be worth the effort? I'm just wondering and not trying to troll or anything. |
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I sort my LC brass into three groups:
LC07 w/Nato circle. I use this for my precision brass. Uniformed primer pockets, deburred flash holes. The majority of my brass is LC07 so I single it out for my precision brass. LC mixed years w/Nato circle. I use this for plinking/stockpile LC mixed years w/o Nato circle. I use this for times when it isnt likely that I'll be able to pick up my brass. Ive had a higher amount of loose primer pockets with non nato brass. Not sure why but I have. |
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Quoted:
Can you guys explain why case mass uniformity would cause a difference in accuracy (and if it does, by how much)? I can imagine that differences between mass and batches might cause different rates of expansion, but is it significant enough to be worth the effort? I'm just wondering and not trying to troll or anything. since the outside dimensions are the same (they have to be) a heavier case means a smaller internal volume. this means that the same powder charge will have higher pressure in a heavier case |
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Quoted:
Ahh. Thanks- learn something new everyday. So is higher pressure ideal or is lower pressure? And what kind of tolerances are we talking about when you sort out your brass by weight? [Everything within 5 gr? .5 gr? .05 gr?] its more a question of consistency. higher pressure as compared to the previous round will result in a higher impact. not ideal when chasing tiny groups. generally higher pressure means more velocity which means more bucking-the-wind-ability |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Ahh. Thanks- learn something new everyday. So is higher pressure ideal or is lower pressure? And what kind of tolerances are we talking about when you sort out your brass by weight? [Everything within 5 gr? .5 gr? .05 gr?] its more a question of consistency. higher pressure as compared to the previous round will result in a higher impact. not ideal when chasing tiny groups. generally higher pressure means more velocity which means more bucking-the-wind-ability And more velocity means a higher point of impact vs. a lower velocity. When seperating cases by weight everybody is different. Most benchrest shooters will want 40 or 50 cases exactly the same, or at least w/ in +/- .1 grains. If you are looking for accuracy, but not benchrest accuracy, I would say +/- .5 grains is plenty. That being said, the difference in accuracy is pretty small, you will only notice if you are a benchrest shooter, the difference is there, but it is small. |
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My LC brass sorting method,
If I have a lot of once fired of a certain year, I sort to the year and load as a batch. Put it away for a rainy day. LC 06 and 08 here. LC range brass, I sort to Nato cross or no Nato cross, any year. These are my shooting loads. Nato cross get loaded with SS-109's. No cross gets a 55 gr FMJBT. |
| For my accuracy loads I sort out by year (07 because that's what I have most of) and then weight. But I will say that I'm amazed at how uniform the weights are for LC brass, even when crossing different years. Beats my Hornady 204 brass by a long shot. Some of my hornady has a difference of 7 grains! I had to weigh a lot of 07 LC to find more than 1 grain difference... |
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Quoted:
Ahh. Thanks- learn something new everyday. So is higher pressure ideal or is lower pressure? And what kind of tolerances are we talking about when you sort out your brass by weight? [Everything within 5 gr? .5 gr? .05 gr?] On weight tolerances: After I have a load that looks promising for my precision guns, I'll put a large sheet of paper on the table and start laying brass out by weight. I write the weight down on the paper and start rows of brass behind each weight. You should see a pattern develop, with most brass being towards the center (typical curve). If i want 20 pieces of brass, I may weight until i get 20 at the exact same weight. If I want more, then my tolerance will expand. Sometimes it's up to 1.5 grains spread. It all depends on how much brass I have to pick from, and how many rounds I'm going to handload. *I only do this for a few select loads. I'd consider it the least important step to accuracy, but will still ensure your squeezing everything out of a cartridge from an accuracy standpoint. |
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