question on sorting brass

[elhefe50ss]

Ive been wanting to sort my brass by headstamp and keep them together during loads what is the benefit to this if any and should i discard any particular brands ?

[Bill Steele]

Ive been wanting to sort my brass by headstamp and keep them together during loads what is the benefit to this if any and should i discard any particular brands ?

Depends on the caliber and why you are loading it. For instance, when I am loading .45 Auto, I sort my headstamps as some are thinner and some are thicker brass. I save the thinner ones like R-P, Starline and TZZ for my more finnicky lead loads and save my thicker ones like Fiocchi and CBC for my jacketed loads, etc.

[latesvak]

I agree with bill but I only load lead so no need to separate the headstamps. I'm just wondering if separating headstamps is as important in 223?


Latesvak

[Jonathan Doe]

I just reload for rifles now, primarily 308 and 223.

I separate them by the firearm I fired them in . I separate the cases from bolt guns and gas guns.

For bolt guns, I just neck size, and for gas guns I do full length sizing. Obviously, brass from the gas gun has less life. I just don't want to mix them up.

For handgun brass in the past, I really didn't care. I was not shooting for precision, but rifles I do.

[17+1]

The key to accuracy is consistency. You can eliminate inconsistencies by sorting by head stamp, number of firings, which rifle it was fired in, etc. This goes along with weighing charges, deburring flash holes, etc. One thing might not make a difference, but when you start adding up a lot of little things, they become more noticeable.

If you're just going to the range to blast steel targets, I wouldn't worry about it. If you're shooting highpower/silhouette/other marksmanship matches, then yes, definitely sort brass and do all the prep work.

[Fishslayer]

Ive been wanting to sort my brass by headstamp and keep them together during loads what is the benefit to this if any and should i discard any particular brands ?

Pistol brass, not super important. Rifle brass it helps a lot more.

I sort my pistol brass by headstamp because that's just how I roll. As has been mentioned, some headstamps work better with lead & some better with plated/jacketed. It's one more variable taken out of the accuracy equation. Also in .45ACP we now have the primer size issue to deal with.

In .45ACP the only headstamps that go right in the scrap bin are Amerc and TZZ.

[sixoclockhold]

I separate for my long rifles for better group consistency.

My nine, I pull out the nickel and save the loads because I think they look better

I single stage so nickel isn't a pain to load. Otherwise load it and blow it all up till it cracks.

[Clownpuncher]

I used to sort my pistol brass by headstamp but quit. I found no discernible difference but I don't shoot matches or anything.
Rifle, as stated above, I sort my bolt gun from gas gun as I only neck size the bolt gun stuff. Plus I sort the bolt gun stuff by head stamp as I go for accuracy with those guns.

As for brands I toss, the only one I almost always toss is S&B. 9 times out of 10 that I have primer seating issues it's one of those brand cases.

[sixoclockhold]

I used to sort my pistol brass by headstamp but quit. I found no discernible difference but I don't shoot matches or anything.
Rifle, as stated above, I sort my bolt gun from gas gun as I only neck size the bolt gun stuff. Plus I sort the bolt gun stuff by head stamp as I go for accuracy with those guns.

As for brands I toss, the only one I almost always toss is S&B. 9 times out of 10 that I have primer seating issues it's one of those brand cases.

Just curious on rifle shells, do you only neck size for brass life or do you find accuracy advantage?

My .30-.30 your supposed to re size every time and my mosin I found I would get a tight bolt after say 4 neck only sizing's.

I also think I read somewhere you would increase pressures by not full sizing, which may come into play if your running hot loads?