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thedaddycat · February 6, 2012, 12:30 AM

Over the last couple of weeks I've been doing case prep so that I can get started in reloading with a friend who has done it for several years. He had a bunch of brass that I worked, decapping, cleaning and swaging (as needed) primer pockets, and trimming (which I learned should be done after sizing, not before, so I guess I just got a lot of practice at trimming), chamfering, and deburring. He has a vibratory tumbler but I did the last 180 .30-06 cases in my Harbor Freight sonic cleaner just to see how well it would work.

I paid my "bored and needing something to do" and "always interested in making money" 15 YO daughter a penny a piece to sort the brass by headstamp. Where noted as red it is milsurp with primer sealant and was sorted to check for primer crimps. The numbers following the headstamp are how many of each there were.

Here is the list of .223:

R-P 182
F-C 76
F-C red 172
W-C-C 15
W-C-C red 78
P-M-C 6
P-M-C red 19
P-U-U 1
P-U-U red 5
R-O-R-G 13
FIOCCHI 17
MATCH 7
WINCHESTER 3
MAL 2
TAA 2
T-Z 1
C-J 2
A-T-I 1
P-S 1
T-N-M 117
HORNADY 52
L-C 130
1/27/12 TOTAL: 902

Here is some 6.5X55 Swedish Mauser with 21 7mm Mauser that somehow got put in the wrong bin. All the brass gets checked probably three or four times before I'm done with it.

R-P SWEDISH 24
R-P MAUSER 21
PPY 40
WIN 4
8-7 16
P-M-C 71

Some .30-06:

R-E-M 6
L-C 2
WINCHESTER 19
WESTERN 2
R-P 61
SUPER-X 8
F-C 77
1/28/12 TOTAL: 351

And .45 ACP

R-P 303
WCC 51
WINCHESTER 227
FEDERAL 20
NICKEL 26
WOLF 4
T-Z-Z 6
*--* 1
R-A 2
C-B-C 3
SPEER 8
C-C-I 5
COR-BON 5
W-W 5
S&W 2
PMC 6
CARROLL 1
S&B 1
F-C 1
G.F.L. 5
1/29/12 TOTAL: 682

This is just part of all the brass I've done. All told there were around 1000 each of .223 and .30-06, a couple hundred each of 6.5 and 7mm Mauser, .30-30, .38 Special, .357 mag, .44 mag and maybe 500 of mixed headstamp 9mm (that didn't get sorted). For each chambering there are some headstamps where there are a lot of them and some where there are just a few. Unless there are enough to make up a couple of boxes worth, they get thrown in the "Mixed Lot" bag. These may get loaded for plinking rounds with the brass saved and segregated so we don't have to sort it all out again. Then again, we may just toss them in the recycle bin.

We are trying to get everything sorted by manufacturer for consistancy. I must have around 500 PMC brass for my Swedish Mauser, but it's the only one I have in 6.5X55 so that brass will just be neck sized and only ever fired in that rifle. I was going to prep the 60 milsurp cases I had in that chambering, but when I tried to decap it some did, some were very hard to decap, and some would not. Upon close inspection, I found that some of those were Berdan primed so I just put all of it in the "bad brass" bin for recycling.

February 6, 2012, 12:30 AM	#42
thedaddycat Senior Member Join Date: September 25, 2011 Posts: 388	Over the last couple of weeks I've been doing case prep so that I can get started in reloading with a friend who has done it for several years. He had a bunch of brass that I worked, decapping, cleaning and swaging (as needed) primer pockets, and trimming (which I learned should be done after sizing, not before, so I guess I just got a lot of practice at trimming), chamfering, and deburring. He has a vibratory tumbler but I did the last 180 .30-06 cases in my Harbor Freight sonic cleaner just to see how well it would work. I paid my "bored and needing something to do" and "always interested in making money" 15 YO daughter a penny a piece to sort the brass by headstamp. Where noted as red it is milsurp with primer sealant and was sorted to check for primer crimps. The numbers following the headstamp are how many of each there were. Here is the list of .223: R-P 182 F-C 76 F-C red 172 W-C-C 15 W-C-C red 78 P-M-C 6 P-M-C red 19 P-U-U 1 P-U-U red 5 R-O-R-G 13 FIOCCHI 17 MATCH 7 WINCHESTER 3 MAL 2 TAA 2 T-Z 1 C-J 2 A-T-I 1 P-S 1 T-N-M 117 HORNADY 52 L-C 130 1/27/12 TOTAL: 902 Here is some 6.5X55 Swedish Mauser with 21 7mm Mauser that somehow got put in the wrong bin. All the brass gets checked probably three or four times before I'm done with it. R-P SWEDISH 24 R-P MAUSER 21 PPY 40 WIN 4 8-7 16 P-M-C 71 Some .30-06: R-E-M 6 L-C 2 WINCHESTER 19 WESTERN 2 R-P 61 SUPER-X 8 F-C 77 1/28/12 TOTAL: 351 And .45 ACP R-P 303 WCC 51 WINCHESTER 227 FEDERAL 20 NICKEL 26 WOLF 4 T-Z-Z 6 -- 1 R-A 2 C-B-C 3 SPEER 8 C-C-I 5 COR-BON 5 W-W 5 S&W 2 PMC 6 CARROLL 1 S&B 1 F-C 1 G.F.L. 5 1/29/12 TOTAL: 682 This is just part of all the brass I've done. All told there were around 1000 each of .223 and .30-06, a couple hundred each of 6.5 and 7mm Mauser, .30-30, .38 Special, .357 mag, .44 mag and maybe 500 of mixed headstamp 9mm (that didn't get sorted). For each chambering there are some headstamps where there are a lot of them and some where there are just a few. Unless there are enough to make up a couple of boxes worth, they get thrown in the "Mixed Lot" bag. These may get loaded for plinking rounds with the brass saved and segregated so we don't have to sort it all out again. Then again, we may just toss them in the recycle bin. We are trying to get everything sorted by manufacturer for consistancy. I must have around 500 PMC brass for my Swedish Mauser, but it's the only one I have in 6.5X55 so that brass will just be neck sized and only ever fired in that rifle. I was going to prep the 60 milsurp cases I had in that chambering, but when I tried to decap it some did, some were very hard to decap, and some would not. Upon close inspection, I found that some of those were Berdan primed so I just put all of it in the "bad brass" bin for recycling.