Marking Cartridges for Rifle Only

[TheTinMan]

I only started loading 45 Colt last year. Cowboy loads for revolvers are great, but I also have a Marlin 1894 Cowboy Carbine and several new Winchester 1892s. I would like to load some hotter rounds for the rifles that should NOT go in single action revolvers.

What's the best way to clearly differentiate the rifle-only cartridges? I probably will use different bullets so maybe anything with a jacket should be considered "rifle only", but is there a good way to make the case head red or otherwise color the case?

While I'm at it, does anyone have experience with Sierra's 240 grain jacketed hollow cavity bullets in a rifle?

 

[s&wchad]

Put the cartridges in a plastic ammo box and mark it "rifle only". You should always include the load data with each box of reloads
(date, make & weight of bullets, powder & charge weight and primer).

 

[Jack Flash]

This is also a problem for people who have older Colt SAAs and a Ruger, and want to clearly indicate "Ruger Only" loads. I was at a gun show once and a guy had on display a Colt NS with the top strap blown back toward the hammer, the result of shooting a Ruger Only load in it.

My guess is that no matter how careful you are about marking a box, you may get some rounds mixed up. Don't people sometimes use fingernail polish as a primer sealant? Maybe you could pick some kind of "Day Glo Red" that would really stand out.

 

[Drm50]

I use Magic Markers on case heads to ID loads. As far as experience with 240gr JHPs we ran test years ago. Speer was the hardest and least expansion. Sierra is probably the best for deer type proformance. But we been using Hornady JHPs since 60s. We only switched to the XTP series because the older style hard to find or discontinued. They are definitely the most destructive on soft tissue. That's our deer load.

 

[serger]

I use Magic Markers on case heads to ID loads. As far as experience with 240gr JHPs we ran test years ago. Speer was the hardest and least expansion. Sierra is probably the best for deer type proformance. But we been using Hornady JHPs since 60s. We only switched to the XTP series because the older style hard to find or discontinued. They are definitely the most destructive on soft tissue. That's our deer load.

Ding, ding, ding, ding, we have a winner! This way an individual
round is still identifiable as a known offender. Color codes are
your friends.

 

[murphydog]

If you want to splurge, rifle only loads in nickel plated cases?

 

[mikld]

If you want to splurge, rifle only loads in nickel plated cases?

Works for me. I have some hot 44 Magnum loads I only shoot in my Contender or Dan Wesson; 265 gr RNFP over max. loads of WC820 in nickel cases. Only 44 Mag nickel cases I have...

 

[Nevada Ed]

My "High pressure" loads , for double safety, usually come in;

Nickel cases with copper jacket bullets, designed for the task at hand.

100% lead bullets are used for my target loads with lower pressures.

 

[LostintheOzone]

Lead bullets for lower velocity/pressure revolver. Jacketed bullets for rifle.

Otherwise just mark the primers/bases with a magic marker. Don't mix the brass after you load either one.

Probably a good idea to avoid leading using jacketed bullets in your rifle anyway.

 

[DWalt]

Have used different colors of magic markers on case heads and primers for many years to designate different loads. Generally I put a small hand-printed and dated paper note with load information inside the box also.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I have done just about every system mentioned above. There is no substitute for redundancy! I'm a triple kind of guy. Nickel Cases are BLACK POWDER ONLY, Jacketed Bullets are in High Velocity, and things are well labeled in Ziplock bags or cartridge boxes.

The marker on a primer is good, the marker on the rim is not so good

Ivan

 

[TheTinMan]

Thanks guys! Good ideas.

I never would have thought of nickel cases. Really like that idea. But can you reload those?

And redundancy is excellent in a situation like this. I always label handload boxes. Just assumed that. Color on case head is great because of how you load a single action revolver.

 

[Racer X]

I've mentioed it easily a dozen times. Hot loads go in nickel cases. Nickel plated cases don't last as many reloads as all brass, especially in hot loads. But how many hot loads do you shoot anyway?

 

[Imissedagain]

Marks like the picture work for us.
Green lines and/or dots for low recoil or in the OP's case revolvers.
Use color codes for working up loads as well.

Notice some of those LRMag primers did not go bang.
From around '81 but will tell that tail later..... because
..... Family in town so I will continue to teach the grandkids and their cousins how to play harmonica and the squeezebox, so they they can sit in with Taylor Swift.

 

[gmiller0737]

EZ Load Rifle Ammo is only one brand of Brass and never load handgun ammo in that brand of brass

 

[steelslaver]

I use the different bullet method. Don't fire my cast 255gr SWC in older guns. My 215 SWC and 220 RN will be fine in them.

 

[venomballistics]

since I cast my own and powder coat, I use color to sort my loads.
you could probably do similar with a sharpie on your primers, though its not as permanent.

 

[StrawHat]

Just when you think you have an idiot proof solution, God will send along the better idiot.

I used to load 45-70 for a dozen different rifles from Trapdoors to my Siamese Mauser. Had a fool proof system. One day, a friend of mine was shooting with me and grabbed my trapdoor and a box of ammunition. You guessed it, he grabbed the magnum level rounds for the Siamese a
Mauser. I believe the Trapdoor would have held but did stop him before he pulled the trigger. Since then, everything gets loaded to the level of the weakest firearm I have for that cartridge.

Just something to consider, want rifle loads? Get rifle cartridges!

Kevin

 

[Nemo288]

The suggestions above are all good and based on experience.
Typical of this awesome group.
I use the nickel plated method to quickly identify full house 44 magnums.
As stated they seem to crack more often than brass and I also find they require slight lube even in carbide dies or they can gall nickel onto those dies.
This leaves the dies scratching the next cases.
Fixed by scrubbing the die with JB compound on a tight patch mounted in a bat-drill followed by normal solvent then some Eezox.
I don't shoot full house magnums or nickel brass much anymore.
I find the 44 special to be a much more satisfying pastime these days.

I wish to share a little different case identification method I use to mark 445 cases that have been drilled out for rifle primers.
Brownells sells little letter punches for gunsmiths.
I got the a quite small "R" after measuring the available space on a casehead.
Mounting a case-trim die (the file at the top kind) in the press, I drop the empty case in the top, upside down.
This perfectly supports the case rim against the case-hardened surface of the die.
Then carefully set the punch over the - in *-* and give moderate whack with a small hammer.
Most all of my 445 brass is converted to rifle primers because I started with them in cut down, blown out, annealed, and neck reamed rifle brass.
I realize this method is not as visually immediate as others but it is permanent.

 

[toad67]

Even if they are the same chambering, I store my rifle and pistol ammo on different shelves, and never take both shooting at the same time. Also, as many others have said, mark your ammo boxes correctly.