Reloading mixed brass

[Plaz]

I am reloading 45 acp using Hornady bullets and guidance from the Hornady Reloading Manual. I am using all once fired mixed brass.

I understand from previous information that I should separate the brass by manufacturer before reloading. Brass from different manufactures seem to be of different lengths. That means I will be reloading the same Hornady bullets onto different brass lengths.

Do I use the same amount of powder as specified in the Hornady manual regardless of brass length?

Should I set my press to give me the same OAL specified in the Hornady manual regardless of brass length?

[rc]

It only will affect your consistency with target loads but for all practical purposes makes little difference. Do I sort? Yes, sometimes. Do I feel it's critical for target practice? Not really, I'm just a perfectionist when it comes to loading ammo. The more consistent, the better.

[Crankylove]

I sort my brass into reloadable, and not reloadable. My pistol reloads are almost always mixed brass of various manufacturers, case type (nickel and brass) and number of times fired. If you were shooting benchrest competitions, it may make a difference, but for varmits and soda cans, it will never matter. For me, it is a waste of time, but if you feel the need, there is nothing wrong with it.

[Dannyl]

Hi,
I mix cases in all my handguns (0.357, 9mm,0.40 S&W, 0.357 Sig and 0.45 ACP).
For plinking, metallic Silouhete (with the 0.357, up to 200M) Pin-Shooting and IDPA, no problems whatsoever.


I set my dies to the COL that I want (within recommended specs and that feeds & chambers well in my guns) and reload without checking what cases I have.

Regards,
Danny

[Randy 1911]

Unless you are wanting Brenchrest accuracy, it really doesn't matter. I have never sorted handgun brass and have never been able to tell a differfence.

[joneb]

I prefer using the same head stamp, and the brass has been loaded the same number of times. but with semi-auto brass I don't always get what I want.

[armoredman]

I started out sorting everything, keeping meticulous records for each batch, then tried going mixed, and can't tell the differance...except when trying to prime S&B brass!

[Plaz]

Do I set the dies to the Hornady OAL and use the same powder amount regardless of which brass I use?

[Dingoboyx]

But thats just me, I am a bit anal that way I also hate it when I have a 100 round range box with only 99 rounds in it :barf: Sometimes I look for hours for one more case to reload, to make the box look full & purdy

What I do is sort it into headstamps, then while the primers are out, I get colored sharpie pens and color the circle where the primer meets the case with different colors, so once primedyou can easily see the colored ring around the primer. For example, next time i sort, all the red rings are starline, all the blue rings are winchester..... and so on.

So next time I get them out of the tumbler/vibrator, I just size & decap.... green ones go in that box, red ones go in this box, blue ones in the other. Then I reload them in their color/headstamp batches.... just checking the first few of each new batch for tollerances.

This is also good for claiming/proving used brass as your own if you are shooting with mates who also reload.... no arguements

[mongoose33]

Do I set the dies to the Hornady OAL and use the same powder amount regardless of which brass I use?

Once I work up a load, I don't concern myself w/ the headstamp. I did some testing early on to see what difference it all made, and I couldn't discern any. By far, the single biggest factor affecting accuracy is...me, the shooter.

As far as OAL goes, you really need to ensure that the OAL you're using works well in your gun. Make up a dummy round (no primer, no powder) at the OAL and drop it into the chamber and ensure it fits properly. Compare to a commercial round, and if it is set up properly, then using that OAL is fine. You may find, depending on your pistol and the specific bullet, that a particular OAL will feed more reliably than another.

While there may be a little influence of the length of the brass in terms of neck tension on the bullet, I believe what you should be more concerned with is case volume under the bullet. And if you think about it, the case volume under the bullet has nothing to do with the length of the brass. So long as OAL is the same, slightly shorter brass means a bit more of the shoulder of the bullet is exposed, but the case volume should be unchanged (everything else being equal).

In sum, I wouldn't worry about it.

Further, if I were you, I'd purchase an inexpensive chronograph to determine your velocities as you work up loads. I believe it's really the only good way to understand what you're getting, and once you see in the numbers what difference various parameters make in your reloads, you'll be more informed and comfortable about it.

You can get the Competition Electronics Pro-Chrono for around $100-110, and considering its (or any other chrono's) value to the learning and load-development process, I consider it a bargain.

[SL1]

yes, you use the same amount of powder and load the bullets to the same overall cartridge length no matter how long the pistol brass is. Loading to the same length leaves the same amount of space inside the case, which is why you can load the same amount of powder. The taper crimp used in pistol cartridges is not sensitive to case length.

With respect to sorting brass, it is usually not necessary. But you should inspect your brass to make sure that each case is good for reloading. Besides the obvious things like cracks, crushed mouths, etc., there are some things that are most easily determined by headstamp. One that has already been mentioned is abnormally tight primer pockets in cases by S&B. If these tie-up your progressive press or take some special step to load on your single-stage press, then it is best to sort them out and either scrap them or reload them with a special set-up. And, there are now apparently some .45 cases that use SMALL pistol primers, so you need to separate any of those from the ones that use large primers for at least the priming step.

Another difference that can be important to safety is the thinkness of the case at the mouth. Recently, some batches of cases have been found to have unusually thin mouths, which tends to make them get sized and expanded to a different internal diameter that does not grip the bullet as tightly as desired to prevent set-back when the cartridge is auto-fed into the chamber. Avoiding set-back is important because it can DRASTICALLY increase pressure by substantially reducing the powder space before the cartridge gets fired. So, it is a good idea to detect abnormally thin cases that affect bullet tension in your particular set-up. (How thin is too thin will depend on the EXACT dimensions of YOUR dies.) Because it is easier to read a head stamp than use a caliper to measure a case mouth, people tend to avoid specific head stamps if they find some cases with thin mouths that decrease bullet pull too much for them. It IS important to make sure that your reloads have adequate bullet tension, because one severely set-back bullet can ruin a gun and maybe more than just the gun.

SL1

[dlb435]

I took the time to seperate out my brass. I then weighed and did a cc check of the cases. Result: There is not enough difference in cases to take the time to seperate the cases.
FYI - Sellier & Bellot are usually the heaviest cases have have slightly less interior space. Not enough to change the ballistic to any significant degree.
Now I just cull out the bad cases and reload.

[schmeky]

I suggest you sort any A-Merc cases . . . . . . . before it's to late:barf:

[darkgael]

I have never sorted handgun brass and have never been able to tell a differfence.

+1.
Pete

[ZeSpectre]

At this point I've reloaded and fired over 2k of mixed-brass reloads in multiple handgun calibers. Never noticed enough impact to pay any attention to.

[Dragon55]

Dingo I bet it's really psychodelic around your feet near the end of your session.

[Plaz]

I hate to drag this on, but I am new at this and i would like to be sure of what I am doing.

I note that the Hornady reloading manual uses a colt gun and the the Speer manual uses a gun like mine which is a Sig 220.

I am using the bullets and powder loads listed in the Hornady manual.
But I am using the gun used in the Speer manual.

The Oal prescribed for each is different.

If I am to be concerned about a cartridge working well in my particular gun where do I put my preferences?

I want to use the Hornady loading data and the cartridge that is best for my Sig 220 gun. Should I use the Hornady OAL or the Speer Oal?

[Farmland]

First I would follow the bullet type for the OAL. Then if needed I would slowly adjust from that if needed. Just make sure to start at the min powder charge.

Sometimes a certain gun can have problems feeding a round then you can very slowly adjust the OAL. Never go below an OAL listed for a round except with caution checking for pressure signs.

Personal I love hardball or RN lead in my 45 but as you can figure from this I use it target shooting and with these rounds it feeds every time.

[ballardw]

I am using the bullets and powder loads listed in the Hornady manual.
But I am using the gun used in the Speer manual.

The Oal prescribed for each is different.

If I am to be concerned about a cartridge working well in my particular gun where do I put my preferences?

I want to use the Hornady loading data and the cartridge that is best for my Sig 220 gun. Should I use the Hornady OAL or the Speer Oal?

The gun shouldn't matter too much if ammo is within spec.

The different bullets have different OAL because the bullets are made by different companies and likely are not the exact same length even though of similar profile. With out specific bullets listed I'd be surprised if they were very different if of similar shape and weight. Many pistols won't notice a difference of a few thousandths and with some profiles like FMJ may be tolerant (i.e. will feed) of more difference of length. With that in mind, I would start with the bullet makers recommendation. If you were to check one of the powder makers like Alliant, Hodgdon or Vitavouri and they used one of those bullets you're likely to get yet another difference.

[SL1]

So, it is best to work from the pressure-tested data you have for the bullet and powder that you are using. That includes starting with the COL listed in that data. IF it doesn't feed well, then you can try adjusting the length in short increments. If you are making it longer, then you are reducing pressure (unless you are making it so long that you are sticking the bullet into the rifling), so you can do that wth loads near max. But, if you are making it shorter, then you are increasing pressure and you should not experiment in that direction with max loads. Back-off the charge weight a little but not so far that the gun does not cycle. A change of just 0.010" can have a substantial effect on the pressure for short pistol cases. The .45 ACP does not have as great a change with COL as higher pressure rounds like 9mm and .40 S&W, but it also is not designed for pressures that high, either. So, with whatever pistol cartridge, it seems to be a good idea to be careful with reducing COL below the value used in the pressure-tested data.

If you end-up with a shorter COL in order to get reliable feeding, you can ask here and somebody can use QuickLOAD to guestimate a new max load for you.

SL1

[margiesex]

All my boxes have labels as to what is contained therein - aka cal., powder, primer, etc.

And, all my headstamps match - anal perhaps, but if you are trying to get the folks you shoot next to involved, your family and friends involved in this sport and the hobby - well - when you pull out a box of reloads that look (and shoot) better than what they're using off the rack - the extra time is worth it.

Very seldom do I go to the range and someone not ask me about my ammo - and, I'm not ashamed of it. It's a hobby I love and try to encourage other's to join.

Oh, and in separating headstamps, I get a chance to toss out bad brass - and find "NT" brass, berdan primers, nickel, crimped, etc., so I think it helps me in the long run.

God bless.

Margiesex

And remember: Hug your God and your guns - 'cause he's coming for them both, and soon!