Ole Joe Clark
Absent Comrade
I sort all my brass by caliber, into a bucket called "Mixed."
Sorting 357 Magnum brass?
- Thread starter ripvanwinkle
- Start date
Collo Rosso
Member
Clean'm, pack'm, shoot'm. Only time I sort is when I get home from the range with 1 bag of mixed calibers...and I still manage to get a 380 in the 9mm bucket every now and then!
I have 2 buckets for each caliber, one marked "once fired", the other "twice fired". I clean and reload from the once fired, fired brass goes in the twice fired. When the once fired is empty I pour the twice fired into the once fired and start all over again. I guess you could call that sorting.
I have 2 buckets for each caliber, one marked "once fired", the other "twice fired". I clean and reload from the once fired, fired brass goes in the twice fired. When the once fired is empty I pour the twice fired into the once fired and start all over again. I guess you could call that sorting.
In the current issue of American Handgunner, writer John Taffin has a page on sorting hand gun brass. You can Google it to read, but to answer the question for those who want to know, yes, it makes a difference.
Magload
US Veteran
Hate getting those 380 in with my 9s and large primer 45s in with my small primer 45s which is the onlt ones I load. Those 380s look funny when they get a bullet seated in them.
Magload
US Veteran
I like sorting brass. Put the Commanders over here and the Captains over there and keep the enlisted. Sorry guys I had to do it.
lhump1961
US Veteran
Like Engineer1911 I trim all revolver brass to the same length but don't bother with the autos for the most part. I don't sort much.
ruggyh
Member
His article says by head stamp and makes no mention of weight.
If you are that OCD you should be measuring case volume.
Be safe and good luck
Ruggy
Wally West
US Veteran
Only by headstamp and only for one pistol that will not run Winchester brass because of the thickness of the rim. For plinking I don't worry much about 1/2 to 1gr either as I am not near good enough. I weigh each charge, am not near max and don't compete. I can't say I've noticed much difference in accuracy by brand. I even went so far as to segregate 38sp wc brass and compare. Apparently, I can't shoot good enough to notice although I know there are many on this board that can. I don't think that volume of powder vs volume of case in a pistol round is enough of a variation due to the dimensions of the pistol case (volume) to matter as much as a rifle case but I'm no expert.
Has anybody noticed that much variation in volume in pistol cases, ie. 1gr or more that would matter with seating depth in the smaller pistol cases? It's something I've never considered.
For accuracy in a pistol I don't shoot good enough to notice that. All of my pistol brass I get used I trim to length regardless of manu and leave it at that. IMHO unless the brass from certain makers does not work in your gun then I'd leave that level of care to the rifle competitors.
Has anybody noticed that much variation in volume in pistol cases, ie. 1gr or more that would matter with seating depth in the smaller pistol cases? It's something I've never considered.
For accuracy in a pistol I don't shoot good enough to notice that. All of my pistol brass I get used I trim to length regardless of manu and leave it at that. IMHO unless the brass from certain makers does not work in your gun then I'd leave that level of care to the rifle competitors.
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Wally West
US Veteran
That's funny. All of my brass is brass. All of the nickel I get is sent on down the road much like I don't care for a shiny revolver
MyDads38
Member
I have always sorted my brass by headstamp, since my days shooting PPC. I still have and shoot some of that 38 Special brass! It was always trimmed and kept separate from my other brass.
I continue to sort by headstamp, all of my pistol brass in 9mm, 40 S&W and 45 acp. I only keep about 5 headstamps in all calibers, the rest I sell, trade or in 9mm, give away to a few reloading buddies. I don't usually use nickel in any caliber, but do in 45 acp, since that brass can be expensive to buy, even once fired.
Probably makes no real difference, but I sleep better at night knowing it was done LOL
I continue to sort by headstamp, all of my pistol brass in 9mm, 40 S&W and 45 acp. I only keep about 5 headstamps in all calibers, the rest I sell, trade or in 9mm, give away to a few reloading buddies. I don't usually use nickel in any caliber, but do in 45 acp, since that brass can be expensive to buy, even once fired.
Probably makes no real difference, but I sleep better at night knowing it was done LOL
forestswin
Member
I understand not sorting semi-auto brass. Once fired brass that you'd buy is all mixed, and range brass is mixed. You can accumulate 5 gallon bucket amounts of it, and sorting by headstamp would be a major time investment.
But revolver brass? How hard is it to just keep them sorted? With reloaded factory ammo, the cases just goes back in the original box. Batches of new brass goes back into the MTM cases that were used to take it to the range.
Extraction leaves them in the palm of your hand, unless your speed shooting.
The only extra work is keeping them sorted in the tumbler by doing smaller batches.
But revolver brass? How hard is it to just keep them sorted? With reloaded factory ammo, the cases just goes back in the original box. Batches of new brass goes back into the MTM cases that were used to take it to the range.
Extraction leaves them in the palm of your hand, unless your speed shooting.
The only extra work is keeping them sorted in the tumbler by doing smaller batches.
Catching empties in your hand isn't a good training practice if your carry gun is a revolver. Better to just let them fall and pick them up later.
forestswin
Member
What is a carry gun?
Note my State
The only people, in my state, who can carry protect politicians or money.
We can only defend ourselves in our home.
So all my guns are target guns.
smoothshooter
Member
Might want to check to see if your crimps are tight enough.
By the time the last round in the cylinder has rotated around to be fired it has been subjected to recoil 4 times and may be be working it's way out of the case, reducing the internal pressure during powder burn.
smoothshooter
Member
Sorting Brass
I sort by manufacturer, cannelure / no cannelure ( very important ), and generally try to separate relatively new brass from brass that has been loaded many times.
I also taper crimp everything ( even revolver ammo ) because variations in case length don't affect the tightness of the crimp like it does roll crimping.
Never sort by case length. Doing the above is all I want to do.
I normally get very good accuracy with pistol ammo if I do my part in both rifles and handguns.
My worst brass is saved for rapid fire drills, or coaching a new shooter at close range.
I sort by manufacturer, cannelure / no cannelure ( very important ), and generally try to separate relatively new brass from brass that has been loaded many times.
I also taper crimp everything ( even revolver ammo ) because variations in case length don't affect the tightness of the crimp like it does roll crimping.
Never sort by case length. Doing the above is all I want to do.
I normally get very good accuracy with pistol ammo if I do my part in both rifles and handguns.
My worst brass is saved for rapid fire drills, or coaching a new shooter at close range.
smoothshooter
Member
Sorting Brass
I sort by manufacturer, cannelure / no cannelure ( very important ), and generally try to separate relatively new brass from brass that has been loaded many times.
I also taper crimp everything ( even revolver ammo ) because variations in case length don't affect the tightness of the crimp like it does roll crimping.
Never sort by case length. Doing the above is all I want to do.
I normally get very good accuracy with pistol ammo if I do my part in both rifles and handguns.
My worst brass is saved for rapid fire drills, or coaching a new shooter at close range.
I sort by manufacturer, cannelure / no cannelure ( very important ), and generally try to separate relatively new brass from brass that has been loaded many times.
I also taper crimp everything ( even revolver ammo ) because variations in case length don't affect the tightness of the crimp like it does roll crimping.
Never sort by case length. Doing the above is all I want to do.
I normally get very good accuracy with pistol ammo if I do my part in both rifles and handguns.
My worst brass is saved for rapid fire drills, or coaching a new shooter at close range.
MJFlores
Member
I sort by batch. I have a big batch of .357 which is all mixed head stamp. Of that I sort according to how many times they've been reloaded. Another batch is a few hundred .357 Starline cases that I keep separate from the mixed batch. Sorting by head stamp probably makes sense for match stuff. When I'm loading that batch of mixed I can feel differences in sizing and seating depending on brand. For instance, Top Brass and Fiocchi feel different than say Blazer, Winchester, and Federal.
hard nose street cop
Member
sorting .357 Magnum Brass
Ripvanwinkle Reloading is filled with variable's, like brass length, internal case volume, mouth thickness. By trimming all your brass to the same length and using them by headstamps with the same bullet and primer and powder you will be able to tell which brand of brass gives you the tightest groups.
The way I do is after all my brass gets trimmed my Remington brass gets Remington SPMP, Winchester Brass get Winchester SPMP, Federal Brass get Federal SPMP using Sierra bullets. The case length and OAL is the same for each lot. Thus the only variable is the powder weather I am using H110,2400, IMR-4227
Ripvanwinkle Reloading is filled with variable's, like brass length, internal case volume, mouth thickness. By trimming all your brass to the same length and using them by headstamps with the same bullet and primer and powder you will be able to tell which brand of brass gives you the tightest groups.
The way I do is after all my brass gets trimmed my Remington brass gets Remington SPMP, Winchester Brass get Winchester SPMP, Federal Brass get Federal SPMP using Sierra bullets. The case length and OAL is the same for each lot. Thus the only variable is the powder weather I am using H110,2400, IMR-4227
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I have to sort out the Winchester or W-W cases because they will not fit in the standard 0.025" moon clips. Other than that, no I don't sort brass for casual shooting.
