Brass differences

[cdoc42]

I bought 500 new .270 cases in 1995 for $73. Now they are over $400, forcing me to look to load other brass I have. I've always used Remington cases. I have Winchester, Hornady and Federal on hand. I understand they may all have a different internal capacity but if one is not a bench match shooter, does it really make a difference in a huntingor fun-target load?

[JimDandy]

You'll still want to start your load from scratch to check for overpressure, so your final load may end up being different.. i.e X.Y grains of Superfun Powder, vs A.B grains of Superfun powder... but other than that, yeah, not so much.

[cw308]

Try and keep brands seperate. Remington & winchester are close but federal & hornady are thicker, will reduce load in those cases by 1. grain. Test a winchester case to the max, take the powder out of the winchester case into a federal case and see what happens. Be Safe Chris

[jepp2]

I understand they may all have a different internal capacity but if one is not a bench match shooter, does it really make a difference in a huntingor fun-target load?

If you bought the same brand brass today that you bought in 1995, there is no assurance they would weigh the same. And you can weigh the cases to determine if there is sufficient difference in internal volume (as defined by weight) that you need to adjust your loads.

Unless there is something vastly difference between the case weights, I would approach it the same as I do when I change lots of powder or bullet type of the same weight. Caution says to reduce your load from your established maximum and work back up.

But even if different "brand" cases weigh the same, I still segregate by lots as the brass life may be significantly different.

[m&p45acp10+1]

Try water weighing cases. This gives a better indication of internal capacity, and will be a better way of finding out.

Someone will come on and tell the formula for figuring out case capacity using water weight.

[schmellba99]

If you want some 1x fired .270 brass, I have a fair amount I'll sell you for cheap. Most is Remington to boot.

But to answer your question, unless your loads are at the max loads for the charge weight, no, it's really not going to make a noticeable difference if the Remington case is .0001 cc more or less in volume than a Hornady or Winchester case.

Keep in mind that many reloaders are OCD, which makes for great reloads, but often the processes and procedures one reloader goes through is not necessarily a requirement for every reloader.

[hounddawg]

if you have a fine grained powder such as TAC, use that to check the volume of the cases. Just fill one to the brim with the powder, use a charge funnel to transfer it to case 2...3...etc. A lot less mess than using water.

Best and safest thing to do though is start back at the bottom and rework your load from scratch

[cdoc42]

Thanks to all. I suspect water-weight determinations should be done in a case fired in your rifle and before resizing (to keep the spent primer in to hold the water).

That said, let's assume a fired Remington case weighs 300gr and when filled with water, weighs 380gr, thereby having a case capacity of 80gr.

A Federal case may weigh 310gr but with water weighs 388gr. It therefore has a case capacity of 78gr.

In this case, whatever my load in the Remington case is, I should reduce by 2 grains in the Federal case.

Is that correct?

BTW, I appreciate the recommendation to use a fine powder. That would seem less sloppy but you need to be sure the "meniscus" is equal (the level at the top of the mouth of the case)

[schmellba99]

In your scenario, unless you are loading at the high end or slightly over the load table for your round, no, I wouldn't reduce the load charge.

[Brian Pfleuger]

Originally Posted by cdoc42

In this case, whatever my load in the Remington case is, I should reduce by 2 grains in the Federal case.

No, that's not correct. Powder charge doesn't not correlate 1:1 with water capacity.

A few grains difference in case weight is irrelevant. Even with one brand, in one lot, from one bag, you can get variances of 3-5 grains or more.

UncleNick has said to expect 0.06-0.07gr charge weight difference per grain of water capacity difference, assuming outside dimensions are identical. That means a 2gr water difference would 0.12-0.14gr powder.... irrelevant.

[hounddawg]

BTW, I appreciate the recommendation to use a fine powder. That would seem less sloppy but you need to be sure the "meniscus" is equal (the level at the top of the mouth of the case)

Ok menicus is my new word for today ::::grin::::

Honestly though a year or two ago when I got into precision shooting I did a lot of case volume experiments and found almost no difference in FPS or accuracy from sorting cases even in LR shooting. For hunting/plinking rounds I would just go down a couple of grains and a new workup. I just switched from Hornady to Winchester cases on my .204 and that is what I am doing at least

[F. Guffey]

2 @ $22.00 would be $44.00 per hundred would be $440.00 per thousand.

http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/product/11989

They are out of stock at that price, when they are out if stock they could advertise the price at .05 cents each, so, I do not know the price when they have them in stock.



“I bought 500 new .270 cases in 1995 for $73. Now they are over $400.00”

1,000 cases for $800.00 seems high, I have not checked case prices recently because I have all the cases I will ever be able to shoot with one exception, I will need 338 Winchester magnum cases when two rifles are completed.

F. Guffey