I have been reading some of the reloading guides finding different recipies for loads. Most of them are pretty specific about which bullet, case, primer etc. I understand that the powder and primer should be matched, but does it matter what brand of brass and bullet you use (matching grain for grain for bullets)?

As long as you start low and work your way up, the brands don't really matter. The bullet will vary in thickness and hardness of jacket, the lead alloy will vary in hardness, the bearing surface will vary, ogive shape will vary, lead vs. jacketed vs. mono-metal, and other considerations I'm probably not remembering.

The case will vary in volume, annealing, the amount of crimp you apply, the trim length, etc.

Starting at max load listed will get you into trouble.

I plan on starting low, but wondered if certain powders, primers, and bullets had to be matched. Example: powder "a" can't be used with Remington brass; or, Hornady bullets don't fit "brand x" brass, etc. I assume recipes by Speer will promote their own brass and bullets when listing components, but I wondered about safety issues with matching, say, Hornady bullets with Speer brass.

Not so much brand as type of bullet and length of bearing surface are important. Bullets can be jacketed, plated, swaged lead, cast lead, and loads for these do not automatically interchange. With lead, pressure is limited as often as not to prevent leading with soft bullets, like swaged HBWC.

Extra thick brass can cause problems, especially if you have a tight chamber.

There is no reason not to use Hornady bullets in Speer brass, but be sure which Hornady bullet you ae using, since they make more than one type.

Ideally, I like to have a loading manual from the powder company and one from the bullet maker for each load. And you thought you were going to get away with one manual..........mine take up a foot of shelf space and date back 30 years.

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Like already start low and work up but I'm sure you knew that.

As long as the bullet is the same weight and profile the load data is fine. If the bullet is of a different profile and you have to seat it deeper you will need to use slightly less powder than the data states because of the possibility of increased pressure. As for primers, no need to use the same brand as long as they are the same type. In handguns primer brands make very little difference. In rifles they are slightly more important and in shotshells they should be used exactly as listed. Case brands make no difference either.

Lead bullet data and jacketed bullet data is different and should not be substituted for each. You generally use less powder with lead bullets.

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SWCA #3437

No, for the most part primers and brass are interchangeable, now that's not to say that there will be differences in wall thickness, cup thickness etc, but for all intents and purposes you can use them across brands and loading data. Bullets, every bullet will be different, you can't expect the same weight bullet from different manufacturers to perform the same as the others. This is especially true when considering specialty bullets like the Trophy Bonded or Triple Shocks. What it all comes down to is finding the loads that your guns like. That's why it's called load development. My rule of thumb when developing loads is to decide what bullet and weight I want to use, reference my data sources to determine which powders will give me the velocities that I'm looking for (I personally reference every manual I have, currently 12), then come up with a mean max load (average of all data sources) reduce that by 10% and that is my starting load working at 1/2 gr increments, from those loads, take the best groups and then work .2 gr either side and tweak from there. Usually gives me a workable load within about 50 rds. Then I try playing with seating depth and try different primer, etc just to see if it can get better. Then I'll repeat the process with the next powder on the list if I'm not satisfied. Once you've been loading for a while you'll figure out what works for you to achieve your desired results. For me I don't so much worry about velocity but what the tightest groups possible. The target don't know the difference in how fast that bullet that just flew over it's head was.

Thank you all!!! Sorry if these are dumb questions, but I'm gathering as much information I can before I attempt loading.
John

There are no dumb questions. Just take your time and thoroughly read the how to section of the manual. Understand what your doing and why your doing it. Your in the right place to ask questions.

I agree, ask all your questions now so you can possible avoid problems later. None of us knew all about reloading when we started and we all needed help. No matter how much people think they know about reloading there's always something to learn. That's one of the things that makes reloading fun...

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Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

dont be sorry when starting out its good to ask as many questions you have
better safe than sorry

get reloading manuals and cross reference

plated and lead bullet data can be interchanged exception is with speer bullets which are
thick plated.

stay safe and have fun

Yes, everything matters. If any part of the recipe is changed you will get some kind of different result than what the test result was. Change one thing and it's all different. Of course each brand manual is using their bullets and brass and primer if under their corporate umbrella.

That being said, yes you can use different brands of brass and primers and bullets. As long as the powder charge and weight and shape of the bullet is the same than you will be fine(but you FPS and pressure will be different) Also the tests are often run out of 10" test barrels and not the same barrel as your gun.

The main thing is powder charge and use a similar shaped bullet with same OAL and you will be fine. (Start low and work up as mentioned)

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Still Running Against the Wind