The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The Skunkworks > Handloading, Reloading, and Bullet Casting

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old June 17, 2000, 02:56 PM   #1
faiello5
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
I have decided to give reloading a try. I will be ordering the equipment soon. I have just started collecting my .45 once fired brass when I go shooting. I have been coming home and putting it in a bucket. Here are the questions:

1. Do you sort your brass by headstamp? If so, why.

2. Do you keep track of how many times you have reloaded/shot your brass? If so, why and how?

3. Once you clean your brass, do you just put it into a different bucket and grab it when you start reloading?


Thanks for any and all info.

Regards,
Frank
 
Old June 17, 2000, 04:18 PM   #2
Nukem
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 29, 2000
Posts: 709

One usually sorts by headstamp for shot to shot consistency since there are usually differences in case capacity from one mfg. to another.

I keep track of times reloaded with rifle brass, but I loose enough semi auto pistol at "lost brass" matches that it averages about six reloads before I'm buying more.


Nukem is offline  
Old June 17, 2000, 05:05 PM   #3
TEXAS LAWMAN
Senior Member
 
Join Date: August 27, 1999
Posts: 304
I never sort handgun brass by headstamp. I simply tumble-clean it before storing it in large coffee cans or ammo cans. If the headstamp gets so battered that I can't read it (or an inspection reveals some defect or weakness) I trash the case.

Rifle brass--I always keep it separated by lots along with a record of the # of firings. Don't want any case head separations, etc.
TEXAS LAWMAN is offline  
Old June 17, 2000, 07:53 PM   #4
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
 
Join Date: November 13, 1998
Location: Terlingua, TX; Thomasville, GA
Posts: 24,798
I do a certain amound of segregation and record keeping on high-pressure brass. For pistol, .44 Maggie and .45 Colt. I don't worry about "plinking" brass in rifle.

I'll keep .45ACP brass separated between "serious" loads and stuff no hotter than, say, 5.8 gr. of 231 and 200-gr. SWC. The latter cases get shot and cleaned and reloaded until it finally splits.

If I miss a minor split during loading, I just use it as the first round in the chamber, for practicing...

FWIW, Art
Art Eatman is offline  
Old June 18, 2000, 12:09 AM   #5
Casey
Senior Member
 
Join Date: April 25, 2000
Location: Delaware, OH, USA
Posts: 279
I don't sort by headstamp. I did for the first 5,000 rounds, but have seen no reason to continue.

I don't keep track of the number of times I have reloaded/shot the brass. As the .45 is low pressure (and I load a soft target round) I am not really pushing it.

I tumble, and them put it in a separate container so the tumbler is available for another load.

Casey
Casey is offline  
Old June 18, 2000, 08:45 PM   #6
Rod from MO
Junior Member
 
Join Date: June 10, 2000
Location: Springfield, Missouri, USA
Posts: 10
Howdy. Yep, I sort almost all of my brass by headstamp. After tumbling (cleaning and polishing), I put them in wood loading block trays (from Midway). I then "paint" them with nail polish - a different color stripe across the head for each different "brand". This does two thing for me - first, it allows me to sort them by headstamp faster and second, it allows me to tell my brass from other's at the range. Although I don't keep an actual count of # of firings, I keep a log of all reloads and part of that info is the brass used. Using that info, I could go back through the log and count the number of times each case has been fired. In the beginning I started to do that, thinking that cases would have a finite life. After tens of thousands of rounds, I just check them for case splits, etc. after tumbling and discard cases that look bad. I have some .45acp cases that have about 30 firings on them. I actually stopped counting at 20. My .38 special should last forever. Good Shooting, Rod.
Rod from MO is offline  
Old June 20, 2000, 08:37 AM   #7
Hutch
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 12, 2000
Location: Birmingham, AL
Posts: 1,124
I'm with the majority. I keep all my revolver and pistol brass in 5qt ice cream pails, and don't sort. Used to, when I shot IHMSA and Hunter Pistol silhouette with my Contender, but haven't since then. You'll probably lose your pistol brass before you wear it out.
Hutch is offline  
Old June 20, 2000, 09:20 AM   #8
MADISON
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 1, 2000
Location: Roanoke, Virginia
Posts: 2,678
I have been shooting since 1960 and re-loading since 1970. The .45ACP was my 2nd set of dies. In this 30 year period, I have had only 11 pieces of brass SPLIT at the mouth---you are working at low pressure?

You need only to sort out the ALUMINUM brass, which is not reloadable. I pick up brass at the range, not worrying if it is only once fired. Don't worry about .45 ACP brass, just get to reloading it.
MADISON is offline  
Old June 21, 2000, 08:44 PM   #9
Waterdog
Junior member
 
Join Date: January 6, 2000
Location: AZ
Posts: 1,236
I think all of us who have been reloading for a while, have kept track of our brass for at least a few years. I would consider this part of the learning process. I still sort some of my brass like others. But for the most part
I just shoot it, clean it, and reload it.

Waterdog
Waterdog is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:49 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.07649 seconds with 10 queries