Dumb question about collecting brass

[Kwikvette]

So beginning next year I will begin to load my own munitions however I am at the very beginning stages of collecting brass.

Lately I've been collecting everything I shoot; does it matter if I mix .223 and 5.56 spent casings? Anything in particular I should look out for to decide whether or not it needs to be discarded? I'm not referring to the obvious such as split casings etc. I also have different brands of brass each in their respective boxes, should I just dump it all together IE federal, federal premium, aguila ammunition, Winchester, hornady, nosler.

I'm 100% new to this and read the stickies about equipment and such but I want to start my stockpile of brass before I go in buying the tools needed to reload.

This will be a whole new hobby to me and I'm hoping to learn more as I go; this forum has proven to be an amazing source of information thus far.

[highpower790]

The first time all that mixed brass is sized,should be done with a small base die to ensure proper sizing then feed/cycling through the firearm,especially if more than one of the same caliber will be used.

[Kwikvette]

I should've added I plan to reload for .223 only (to start with) and later .308

I only happen to have 5.56 brass because I also own a few AR's but I'll happily switch over to .223 only.

[highpower790]

I should've added I plan to reload for .223 only (to start with) and later .308

I only happen to have 5.56 brass because I also own a few AR's but I'll happily switch over to .223 only.

223/556 are the same with the exception of a marginal difference in case weight.
Size appropriately ,trim and load .No worries ,they should work in most 223/556 at that point.

[Flyron]

Dumb question about collecting brass

So beginning next year I will begin to load my own munitions however I am at the very beginning stages of collecting brass.



Lately I've been collecting everything I shoot; does it matter if I mix .223 and 5.56 spent casings? Anything in particular I should look out for to decide whether or not it needs to be discarded? I'm not referring to the obvious such as split casings etc. I also have different brands of brass each in their respective boxes, should I just dump it all together IE federal, federal premium, aguila ammunition, Winchester, hornady, nosler.



I'm 100% new to this and read the stickies about equipment and such but I want to start my stockpile of brass before I go in buying the tools needed to reload.



This will be a whole new hobby to me and I'm hoping to learn more as I go; this forum has proven to be an amazing source of information thus far.

Have fun, I load 223 also and always sorted brass by the manufacture. Just because there could be minor case differences. I also tumble before loading to clean up inside and outside. I keep all my loaded ammo in plastic ammo boxes, and label well.

[wpage]

Specs should be the same between manufactures....

[jericho89]

As stated the difference between 223 and 556 brass is case thickness. Since the outside is the same you will find that the 556 has a smaller internal capacity, this can create higher pressures in the case. Most people do not notice any difference but if you load near the max you can create a dangerous situation. You will also have slight variations in performance with the same recipes in the two different cases (223 & 556). I would seperate them and load them as their own batch, and shoot he snot out of them.

[jaymz]

I've not started loading for .223/5.56 yet, but isn't there work to be done on the primer pockets for 5.56?

[Eljay]

I've not started loading for .223/5.56 yet, but isn't there work to be done on the primer pockets for 5.56?

It's often crimped and you would deal with that as part of your initial prep workflow - size, trim, swage, tumble, whatever you need to do to get the brass into a decent starting position.

[Kwikvette]

In terms of prep, does it matter if the brass came out of an AR vs a bolt action? Looking at the brass it's easy to tell what was shot through what rifle.

Otherwise I can start compiling a list of things to buy.

Thanks so far for the advice.

[kcheung2]

I mix it all together, and although I load to high pressures there's still a comfortable margin below max. Yes the 5.56 brass will have crimped primers so they will need a bit extra prep that 223 won't. But with crimped primers I know that it truly is once fired brass.

If you're going for absolute precision at long ranges then you should keep the brass separated. Even within the same batch of brass you should sort them by weight as it can vary by a few grains.

On a separate note, savings for 556 aren't really there, but you can really save by loading 308.

[CSACANNONEER]

Specs should be the same between manufactures....

LOL. Even different lots from the same manufacturer can have differences. Sure the "specs" may be the same but, specs have tolerances and not every single dimension of a cartridge is spec'd. There are also differences in the hardness of cases.

[Kwikvette]

I mix it all together, and although I load to high pressures there's still a comfortable margin below max. Yes the 5.56 brass will have crimped primers so they will need a bit extra prep that 223 won't. But with crimped primers I know that it truly is once fired brass.

If you're going for absolute precision at long ranges then you should keep the brass separated. Even within the same batch of brass you should sort them by weight as it can vary by a few grains.

On a separate note, savings for 556 aren't really there, but you can really save by loading 308.

This is the kind of stuff I was looking for, thanks!

I plan on getting into precision shooting at longer ranges for both .223 and .308 but want to start with the former first.

I've got brass separated by manufacturer/caliber and it was all factory new ammo.

[Metal God]

I recommend separating the brass . At minimum keeping NATO crimped primer brass separate . I have a giant tub of mixed brass and it just sits there because some of it's crimped and some is not . There's likely 5k cases to go through . Separating them from needs swaging to not is not even an option little lone separating that many by head stamp . If you are already separating them , KEEP DOING IT !!! It's pretty quick and easy when you only have a hundred or so to do at a time but once it gets to 1k+ it's just a headache waiting to happen . As long as you keep up with your intake , it's not a big deal .

If you are out and find brass for sale . grab a hand full and look at the head stamp . set aside that hand full and grab another and look set aside and grab one last hand full . By doing this you can see what the most likely head stamped cases in the lot will be . If you see 5 or 6 + head stamps when doing that . I'd pass on that lot . 3 head stamps is the most I'll except in a 500rd lot or it's just not worth separating them just to have less then 100 of each head stamp .

After awhile and some experience loading them you'll start to learn which head stamps to buy and which to just leave behind .

LC brass I'd separate by year at first . I've found some years seem to load better ammo then others . This way you can keep what shoots better separate and later mix the plinking brass .

The weight of the brass has very little to NO effect on case capacity . Look a 1/4 to a 1/3 down this page to see weight has NO direct correlation to case volume . http://www.6mmbr.com/223rem.HTML

[stilly]

This is the kind of stuff I was looking for, thanks!

I plan on getting into precision shooting at longer ranges for both .223 and .308 but want to start with the former first.

I've got brass separated by manufacturer/caliber and it was all factory new ammo.

And THIS JUST IN! You can chop down 223/556 brass to make 7.62x25 tok brass!

Goto gunbroker and look to see the difference between 1000 .223/5.56 brass and 7.62x25 brass, it is nearly $150 difference...

I am heading over to HFC to get that little 2" chop saw now so that I can chop up some .223 brass...