Sorting Handgun Brass - What Say You?

[exnodak]

Over the last few years I have accumulated a fairly large quantity of handgun brass in various calibers. Most of it is .45 ACP, 9mm, and .38 Special. I have been sorting it into four categories by head stamp, Remington, Winchester, Federal, and everything else combined. I have way more than I can ever use up, so I thought I would clean it up and try to sell some.
When selling handgun brass, does it matter if it is mixed head stamps, or do you think it is important to sort it by brand?

 

[geoff40]

Tough question, maybe some each way. My plinking loads, I go ahead and mix brass. It doesn't matter. Anything I load up for more serious work, hunting or SD, I use all the same brass, because I want as close as I can get to exact duplicate cartridges.

 

[Avery11]

I don't think it matters. I would buy some .45 and I don't really care about headstamps - just primer size. I've seen Federal brass in .45 that was made for Sm primers.

 

[gregintenn]

I like to buy mixed headstamp brass advertised in the classifieds. The reason I like them is because they're usually really cheap. If you want a bit more money, seperate them. If you want ease and convenience, don't.

 

[wantmoresmiths]

While I have no hard evidence to support my theory, I believe people will pony up a few extra bucks for a lot of brass if it all has the same headstamp. I sort by headstamp, because some brands of brass have tight primer pockets which I prefer to prime with a RCBS bench mounted priming tool. The other brands run just fine through my Hornady Lock-N-Load.

 

[Erich]

Intellectually, I understand that there's good evidence for there being no reason whatsoever to do it (see this month's Handloader, for instance). Nevertheless, I sort my brass.

I'm 5/8 German, after all.

 

[Titegroups]

Intellectually, I understand that there's good evidence for there being no reason whatsoever to do it (see this month's Handloader, for instance). Nevertheless, I sort my brass.

I'm 5/8 German, after all.

I'm 3/4 German but the Irish in me says screw it.

 

[Engineer1911]

The Norwegian in me don't care. I reload so I can shoot not sort brass, but I do sort by caliber. My 38 spl is brass, and 357 mag is nickled because I too old to read that many head stamps.

 

[ACP230]

Most of my handgun loads are in mixed brass. I load brass and nickel cases together too, usually.

I do sort rifle brass more often. Hunting and target loads I try to use brass with the same headstamp and year if I can tell it.
Made a lot of target loads in .308 in Lake City 68 brass.

 

[m657]

Uffdah! to the headstamp sorting.

I've never been able to demonstrate any kind of measurable difference in my own reloads.

I know there are folks who believe it's important.

I'm a skeptic.

Are you selling some brass now?

 

[ohiococonut]

To me in plinking loads it doesn't matter anymore. There was a time when I would sort it out but I've picked up so much over the years I just lump it all together any more. Different brands in brass and nickel, large primer, small primer, large flash hole, small flash hole. Took too many bins. Now if I shoot any of it at least I know how many times it's been shot by me and none of it gets left out. It's especially useful if I'm going to a range where I'm not guaranteed to find or get it all back. There's nothing worse than shooting new brass only to have it land beyond the shooting line and you can't retrieve it.

Sorting "my" brass however is a different story.

 

[Skip Sackett]

I'm in the "used to" crowd. When shooting competition, I try to have the same brand brass in the ammo box but haven't been doing that lately so...

It all goes into the tumbler and into the XL650's case feeder. It doesn't have a problem with it, I guess I won't either!

 

[Maximumbob54]

The American in me just wants to hord up all the brass I can afford. My bucket of .45 ACP is getting half empty...

 

[Skip Sackett]

The American in me just wants to hord up all the brass I can afford. My bucket of .45 ACP is getting half empty...

No me! Mine is so full it is running on the floor!

Just getting the three full 3lb coffee cans into the tumbler through the night and day today! Had to interrupt them to run the 3lb coffee can full of dirty 44Mag brass though. Second can in the tumbler now though!

My 45ACP brass is pretty cheap though. 5 gallon bucket, free to $10, depending on the mood of the range guy that day!

 

[dsbock]

I still sort by headstamp. I find it serves several purposes: Making sure the caliber is correct (I found some .45 GAP mixed in with my .45 ACP brass); in rifle brass checking for incipient case separation; and I have OCD, so it makes me feel better.

In a recent lot of .30-06 I found some .270, .280, .30-30, and .32 Special cases along with some Frankford Arsenal brass from 1909.

So I prefer to sort.

David

 

[Jc85]

im new to reloading so I haven't acquired that much brass yet. Just in the process of picking up another caliber pistol so my sorting and storing isn't beyond unmanageable yet. So I separate by head stamp. Im hoping to reach the point were I have so much brass I don't know what to do with it all. Then yes Ill probably just keep it mixed.

 

[Jc85]

well it comes down to a time thing for me (and a storage thing for most.) Using a semi auto, its hard to find brass on the ground, let alone making sure its yours.. At the end of a range trip I have a large zip lock bag full of mixed brass, some mine, some other. All different types of calibers. So I do an initial sorting by caliber then like I mentioned earlier, I have the time and room so I sort by head stamp.
Once I collect a wider supply of brass I'm probably gonna throw the head stamp sorting out the window. Unless there is a specific reason or I feel like being overly organized ( which I often am.) It would be far easier and less time consuming for something like a rifle or revolver. Altho I am a fan of having things organized to the 100th degree. So long as room allows it w/o looking overly cluttered, I will probably sort by head stamp. But for me using an auto loader its solely about organization ( I'm necrotic.)

 

[stumper]

I believe it has some importantance on accuracy and even feeding. I used to shoot some bullseye and worked the loads for my guns on a Ransom rest. I have seen different brass make a difference when using the same bullets, powder and primers. I have also seen brass differences have an impact on feeding in some guns. My working theory on this is centered on differences in case length, throat thickness and case thickness in general - they all vary. Nickel cases are also harder than full brass. If you are reloading different brass all at the same time with the same press set up this can particularly become an issue. Is it a big difference - depends on what you are looking for. Spend some time on a Ransom Rest and i think you'll agree. Not specifically brass related but I used only CCI Standard Velocity in my S&W 41. At 25 yds in the rest it would hold a group under and inch all day. Run some Federal Hi-Vel jacketed rounds through it and the group would open up to about 4".
Needless to say I sort my brass - I even try not to mix different lots of the same head stamp (got some German in me too ).

 

[WHO CARES]

DEPENDS, as they say, on what exactly you are talking about. If you shoot a lot of 223 and don't sort and include the various commercial brands and military you may be in for problems. A safe pressure load in Win or Rem brass may not be safe in Lapua or some of the military. You could very quickly find yourself in over pressure problems. Lapua for example is much heavier brass than most other commercial brands and this means that the internal capacity is reduced. Smaller chamber with standard loads means higher pressures. It is this actual chamber volumn that we are concerned with in reloading. By varying this chamber volumn we are also affecting velocity and as a result, likely the accuracy as well.

While this is not as important with most of our handgun shooting, the same principles still remain.

Consistency is the key to accurate handloads and it does not come from mixing brass.

For some of our shooting this is very important, and for some, it is not important. You get to decide what you want.

Ward

 

[lebomm]

I almost have more brass than I know what to do with, and I sort by headstamp when I load for consistency, i.e. mostly for my rifles. I still sort my .44 Spl., but not my .38 Spl.
jc85, I hope you meant "neurotic".

Larry