.223 reloads with mixed brass

[dragon7]

I have for a while now reloaded .223 with one brand of previously fired brass and have had good success. Recently I was given a good amount of mixed once fired .223 brass and was wondering how much accuracy and reliability I might give up by using it? What have your experiences been? I might mention with pistol brass I'm not so anal and have had good success with mixed brass in most pistol calibers.

[M27]

if you are just trying to plink, it probably won't be too bad

if you are trying to be accurate at any significant distance you will notice the difference. Different head stamps have different case volumes which will cause inconsistencies.

Personally I sort by head stamp.

[NotEnufGarage]

When I get new (once fired) brass, here's how I process it ;

1) Tumble in walnut and NuFinish
2) Decap, Size, Check length and Trim as neccessary
3) Tumble in corn cob and NuFinish
4) Sort by headstamp into 3 groups - .223 Rem, LC and everything else
5) Weigh the LC brass and sort by weight down to batches within .1 or .2 grains of eachother (ie. 91.5gr, 91.6gr, etc.) All LC brass gets trimmed to the same length so that case length is not causing weights to vary. In theory, each batch should have identical case volumes. Those LC cases that are outside nominal weight variation go in with the "other" batch.

The sorted and weighed LC brass is used for loading 69, 75 and heavier bullets for long range match shooting. I use TAC, X-Terminator or sometimes 3031 for these. These get loaded by hand when I need match ammo. The .223 Rem gets loaded with 55 grain bullets and a fairly light load (26 - 27 grains of WC844) on the progressive for plinking. The "other" brass (5.56) gets loaded with 62 grain SS109 bullets and 26 grains of WC844, loaded onto stripper clips and boxed in .30 cal ammo cans with silica gel packets for some future zombie apocalypse.

So, to answer your question, brass headstamp doesn't matter all that much, unless you're loading for accuracy at 300 yards or better, at least in my opinion. A that point it becomes critical that all rounds in a batch have not just the same headstamp, but the same volume.


Yes, brass prep is one of my hobbies.... I've got about 2500 cases prepped so far, but just picked up another 2500 LC cases so I'll be busy for a while with those.

[m98]

Mix brass for plinkin is ok. Just dont loaded em to the max or near max pressures cuz the varying cases could cause pressure spikes that may cause u a kaboom. My hotter loads are all carefully loaded with only quality cases of the same headstamp loaded with premium and match 68-77gr otm bullets.

[the86d]

I like 62 grain green tip NATO bullets with 26.2gr of Varget, I keep it at 26.2gr for 55 grain 5.56 FMJs too, and have been happy. I don't have a lot of trimming since I am not loading them REAL hot, just the initial trim is good for like 2-3 more reloads before trimming is needed again with how I am loading them. M855 has better ballistics from a 20+" barrel, and not-so-much from a 16", from what I read...

I really don't use the SS109/M855 as much any more (mainly M193 now), and I too keep them for reloading when the "Zombies" come...

When I get more out of debt (as I made all but one of my firearm purchases last year), I will have to wait to stock up any more... then I can have a dedicated "Zombie stash" when I collect more brass... a few full plastic coffee cans full should be good.

[CEDaytonaRydr]

I just sort them by headstamp and wait until I have a box of 50 of any one type to reload. You will see less precise results if you use a Hodge Podge of different brass...