Head stamp seperating

[Wby30378]

Hi I'm brand new to reloading and I have a remington 700 sps in 300 win mag that I want to make the best ammo for it ( even though I don't thing it is a good gun as I would like but it's the only one that is left handed that I can afford ) but for the most part ill most likely be shooting to 300 yds max. Any ways I have bought factory ammo for it when i got it and know have 40 Winchester brass, 20 federals Nickel plated, and 20 Barnes brass to work with. So is 300 yds close enough that I don't have to worry about what brass I'm using? Being rifle, range, and shooter aren't that great?? To reload and do ladder tests can I use one brass to find a load then reload that In each of those 3 brass
Manufactures

Also who makes Barnes and black hills brass??

 

[venomballistics]

Hi I'm brand new to reloading and I have a remington 700 sps in 300 win mag that I want to make the best ammo for it ( even though I don't thing it is a good gun as I would like but it's the only one that is left handed that I can afford ) but for the most part ill most likely be shooting to 300 yds max. Any ways I have bought factory ammo for it when i got it and know have 40 Winchester brass, 20 federals Nickel plated, and 20 Barnes brass to work with. So is 300 yds close enough that I don't have to worry about what brass I'm using? Being rifle, range, and shooter aren't that great?? To reload and do ladder tests can I use one brass to find a load then reload that In each of those 3 brass
Manufactures

Also who makes Barnes and black hills brass??

for rifles I tend to separate per headstamp but not much more. Some measure necks and weight match as well
I can shoot with confidence well past 600Y with an out of the box A Bolt

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Since you're not shooting Benchrest competition and probably using that rifle for hunting I wouldn't worry too much about the brass.

Just a cautionary note on Nickel brass, it tends to fail sooner than yellow brass usually by the necks cracking. This doesn't make the brass bad, just wanted to warn you it's kinda normal.

You will find a good load your rifle likes and then you need to shoot that rifle, a lot. If the recoil causes you to practice less you can always load lighter loads in the 30-06 range and practice with them. The only way to get better is to shoot a lot but don't waste time, practice well.

Good luck on the reloads and your shooting...

 

[scooter123]

IMO the main benefit of sorting by headstamp for most of us is that it will make keeping track of the number of reloads available a bit easier and make it easier to decide when to "retire" a particular lot of brass. Other that that I don't see any practical benefit to sorting your brass.

What WILL provide a measurable benefit will be to restrict re-sizing your brass to neck sizing only and use full length sizing ONLY when the bolt lift becomes too heavy. By neck sizing you'll be using "fire formed" cases that are shaped to the EXACT dimensions of the chamber in your rifle, so case length won't change much during each firing cycle and you'll greatly extend the life of the casing. In addition fire formed cases typically provide a slight to moderate improvement in accuracy.

Now one thing that will have a noticeable effect on your accuracy is your choice of bullets. I've found that my reloads using Nosler Accubond or Lapua Scenar bullets provide a distinct increase in accuracy when compared to target ammunitions such as American Eagle range fodder. As in an improvement from 2 inches at 100 yards to groups that can be totally covered by a nickel. Premium bullets fly truer than cheap factory target bullets, so if you want to really test your ability spend the money for premium bullets. I'll grant at 50 cents and more per bullet they aren't cheap but when you compare the total cost of your reloads to true match grade ammo those 85 cent reloads are dirt cheap.

Finally, you do need more brass. If you decide you are going to purchase some raw cases I would recommend spending the money for Lapua cases if they are available in your caliber. The simple truth is that Lapua has earned a reputation for long lasting match grade brass by making long lasting match grade brass. Typically it's reported that a Lapua case can be reloaded by about double the number of reloads as a Winchester case. BTW, I personally wouldn't bother with those nickel cases, everything I've read indicates that at best you'll get 4-3 reloads before the necks split.

 

[SMSgt]

I no longer separate brass for any caliber, rifle or handgun. I've never noticed any change in accuracy because of headstamp, changes in powder load or COL being the largest influence on group size. Accuracy in my Rem 700 ADL in .30-06 has been great out to 300+ yards.

On the other hand, if you're shooting benchrest comp, where .1" will mean the difference between 1st or 2nd; or if you're going for the 100 yard gong, then eliminating any possible variance will be to your advantage.

Or if you're one of those who tend to be OCD in reloading, then sort as needed.

 

[shil]

Separate by headstamp and be done with it. The cases of different manufacturers could vary in volume enough that a maximum or near-maximum load, if you choose that route, that is safe in your rifle with one brand of case might put you overpressure if you use the load with one of another brand. I seriously doubt if your rifle would come apart, but you get the idea! Safety first.

 

[Nevada Ed]

It is nice to have separated brass but not needed for just general plinking or practice load, while serious target use does have better results if the components are as close as possible for minimum changes of things needed for best accuracy.

As for the recoil...that is what is so great about reloading. You can have a little 30-30 load if you want or a light 100gr rabbit load that has very little recoil, if any. All loads don't have to have the biggest and fastest bullets going down range.

 

[Wby30378]

Thanks guys on the advice the brass is all once fired so I could just keep all those as one " batch" and then when I shoot the other 40 factory rounds then that will be my next batch so I got 100 times how ever long they last. And then just throw out the ones like the nickel when they need be. I don't know once I start reloading I might shoot more but around 700 rounds is a lot to shoot before I need new brass and I will buy premium bullets most likely the nosler 180 AB or the nosler 190 long range AB

Ps hopefully I can get a load that is below maximum in my rifle from the ladder test because I would like to find the most accurate round not the most powerful but I will be very careful on how much pressure is going on in it

 

[Wee Hooker]

Many will argue that sorting brass will give you the best chance of ultimate accuracy. But then again, there are allot of other variables in reloading. So unless your weighing bullets, and watching powder loads to 0.05gr, you run the risk of giving some of that back. Since you don't have allot of any one brand anyway, I would trim all the same, then load five each head stamp all the same. Then take them to the range and see for yourself if one head stamp groups better/in a different place then the other with all else being equal. If you don't see it, you've answered your own question.

 

[MichiganScott]

I don't know once I start reloading I might shoot more but around 700 rounds is a lot to shoot before I need new brass

Many of us consider that number of rounds downrange in a year a good start.

Before the current craziness, I would buy 500 cases for each new rifle and use any mixed brass I might have from shooting factory loads for plinking. The volume in cases from the same manufacturer is usually close enough that you can mix lots, but you will see some wild variances between manufacturers.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

You can't have good ammo without good brass! Get at least 200 of the same brass and full length size it, uniform the primer pocket and de-burr the flash hole, trim to length. Most necks don't need thickness turned. Use the best primer you can, buy them by the 1000 or more in the same lot. I recommend Federal 215 or 215M (this is "THE" primer for big cases and Lapua, Black Hills, and others use it). There are a lot of tools to service your brass; L.E.Wilson is probably the best. but Lee will do the job, it just takes more time and effort. (I can spend your money all day long, but if you get quality products you'll won't need/want to replace them later). Next area is your loading equipment, A very good press is considered real important! I have 2 RCBS Rock Chucker of different series, they are considered only OK. I also use a Redding T-7 turret press and this is what I use for my long range loads. My friends look down on this and the use Bonanza's Co-ax press. This seems to be "THE" press, but is just under $300 if you can find one in stock. As we move on to dies; There are 2 types of reloading dies. 1) Arbor press dies- these are what most Bench Rest Shooters use (And they are real good. 2) Threaded dies, the current standard die has 7/8-14 Threads and all the big companies use this standard. There are different systems of dies and there are different qualities of dies. For my target and long range rifles the ammo is produced with Redding Competition dies. I use a series that have removable collets in the neck area, this allows me to adjust neck tennition. All my ammo is full length sized every time it is reloaded (and length trimmed every 3-6 times, when it needs it). A sloppy chamber is the culprit on wearing brass out with full length sizing. I have to admit that I have never hit the 1000 yard target at Rayners range, but that is not my ammo's or rifles fault. It is 5" and I haven't tried, but I hit 8" at 995 about 66% and 12" at 1035 all but once (they have a 800+/- target, that the wind eats me up!). When you get a scope, you'll want to use somewhere around 20 power with good glass and avoid mil-dot scopes (they are for big targets like people sized or jeep sized) and are too course for the small 4x6" and 5" plates at long distance and you'll need LOTS of Elevation adjustment, The good one's have up to 100 MOA vertical, but around 50 should do. Have fun and PM me with any questions. By the way Sinclair International is a great place the shop for this stuff. My 300 Win mag likes Sierra 200 grain Gamekings, my buddy's prefers 210 grain Matchkings over 4350. Ivan

 

[kwselke]

For bolt action rifles I do sort brass. My favorite load for .308 works well in all of the brass, but I find it works exceptionally well in one particular brand. If you mix headstamps you will not be able to notice the difference. It is not difficult to keep brass fired from a bolt action separate. After a few shots the rifle needs to cool, so take this time to put the brass back it the box it came from.

 

[Wby30378]

Thanks all for the help and information I hope I can shoot out as far as some of you do but right know 300 will be hard for me to accomplish right know at the amount I shoot and that I'm only 17 so I need my dad to be there to but he is great help I'm just trying to figure out how to tackle this because we are going to start reloading about 5-8 different calibers and mine will be by far the most tested and wanted to be perfected out of them because my dad does not share the same long range shooting interest as I do but I was just trying to figure out how much I would expect to reload at a time for this I don't think this shooter would notice the brass diffrence but will try dividing up 5 rounds each the same and see if there is any diffrence, if the STM tumbler ever ships


Ps. How much brass do you wait to have before reloading??

 

[rwsmith]

Not so much which brass is best......

But it's mostly consistency, like using one type of brass in each batch. People that really want consistency and accuracy do things like turn the necks of all the brass to the same thickness and machine off the high spots to make sure the bullet is exactly centered in the bore.