Is brass important? Any difference?

[Giogolf]

Hey guys,

Is brass important?

To be clearer, I deprimed and primed a bunch last night and when I was one I found myself sorting the brass by brand, Winchester, Federal, Remington Etc... Then I stopped and thought why bother...

If it looks good, no visible damage and the bullets seats right is different brass going to effect performance at all?

Thanks

 

[lx1x]

i dont bother w/ the pistol brass but i do w/ rifle..

 

[jimbobborg]

It depends on caliber. High pressure stuff I'd be leary, especially on the bleeding edge loads. Low pressure stuff like 9mm or 45 ACP, it's not a big deal.

Jim

 

[4g64loser]

+1 to jimbobborg

I sort for my 44 mags....mostly starline anyway. I run a pretty stiff 300gr load and am very very careful about brass.

my 357 is shot through a 66 smith so they aren't as hot. I don't bother sorting that.

all my 9mm and 45 is just lumped together and prepped the same.

Rifle blasting loads I dont descriminate.

precision tactical rifle and varmint stuff, I use specifically measured and weighed cases. I'm anal about that.

 

[fa18hooker]

For pistol it doesn't matter. I point to the experiments by Ed Masaki in Hawaii...absolutely no difference in accuracy regardless of manufacturer, or even split cases! For rifle it can make a profound difference because of different internal capacity (i.e. Lake City is known for its wide case walls...thus a smaller internal volume). The same load will create different pressures, and different velocity. Not a big deal for plinking, but definitely for accuracy use.

 

[lee2]

i find that nickel brass becomes brittle after a few reloads.

 

[Rockzilla]

It depends on caliber. High pressure stuff I'd be leary, especially on the bleeding edge loads. Low pressure stuff like 9mm or 45 ACP, it's not a big deal.

Jim

agree with above ..military brass ie: WCC, LC, WRA, IMI, IVI etc. separated by manufacture if at or near max, keep military brass separated from commercial (mil is thicker, less capacity, weighs more, etc.) Without going into all the technical stuff, Case weight, case volume, web thickness, etc.
Federal brass you find it's softer and "flows" more, lose primer pockets, etc.

Here is a site that talks about weights and volume for the .223
http://www.6mmbr.com/223rem.html

-Rock

 

[Giogolf]

Good, cause as anal as I am I would rather not sort brass as long as it looks good..

I am only working with 9mm right now.

Thanks

 

[Cowboy T]

9mm only? Then you should be fine, as long as the lengths are pretty close (they usually are with the big American names, I've found).

I reload primarily .38/357 and .45 Colt. Granted that these are revolver rounds, i. e. larger cases and for which case length is not nearly as critical due to rim headspacing. But just the same, I don't bother sorting by brand...with exactly ONE exception:

Sellier and Bellot.

The reason for this is that their .38 Spl cases tend to have tight primer pockets and can therefore at times result in crushed primers. I've recently picked up an RCBS primer pocket swager, so that ought to fix those shells. Never having shot S&B 9mm ammo (all mine is Federal or Blazer Brass from Wally World), I don't know if the same is true with their 9x19's.

 

[TripleChris]

From personal experience reloading .45 ACP range pickups with no fewer than a dozen different headstamps, they all shoot more or less the same. Where there is a difference, however, is in the size of the primer pocket. Both the depth of the pocket and the diameter. Some manufacturers have a significantly deeper primer pocket which can make you seat the primer really deep, deep enough that it looks like trouble (Lake City, Speer) and some have a tighter pocket that takes a bit more oomph to seat the primer (S&B, particularly the older stuff).

Its not worth really pre-sorting, but when seating primers it doesn't hurt to look at the headstamp. Guys who prime on a progressive with 3 other things going on at once probably know what they're doing more than I do anyway, but I prime on a Lee hand press and then do everything else on my T-Mag II. Also I throw away the brass with the oversized flash holes. No need to mess with that noise.

 

[Biggfoot44]

US made commercial 9mm probably get away ok . Worldwide, particularily Milsurp can have a lot of variations.

 

[mancheechee]

once heard from an expert reloader to keep brass brand and weight the same. forget why.
anyone?

 

[Rockzilla]

once heard from an expert reloader to keep brass brand and weight the same. forget why.
anyone?

some for bleeding edge accuracy...as noted here also..
different capacities (volume), different thicknesses, some harder brass while others are soft. As to the first two, when loading .308 let's say 42.3 grs IMR8208 behind a 167gr Lapua Scenar in Lapua brass, this load is accurate, no signs of high pressure, same load except we swap out brass for let's say LC04, the same load POA (point of aim) has shifted, signs of high pressure, bolt becomes hard to open, etc, move to Federal brass, primer pockets either are loose, become loose, or just fall out.Also some have noted "false" high pressure signs in Federal brass as it "flows" more, in some semi's because it is softer and expands more, sometimes the rim of the case is damaged upon extraction. Those into competition / Long Range shooting purchase large quantities of components, looking for the same "lot numbers" as some minute changes may occur with different lots. More or less like floor tile, some make sure they buy the same lot number it may be brown or green, but just might be a shade darker or lighter.. Some of the hotter loads I use in 7.62, .338 Lapua, "if" I change brass "brand" I will drop the charge a little, just to be safe and then work up again (it can be a pain) now this is for rifle.. Mainly handgun, the only thing I do is keep military brass separate from commercial (thicker in some cases) which changes the tension on the bullet when taper crimping...especially when "plated" or "copper cladded" bullets come into play....

-Rock

 

[Deep Creek Rock]

Yes it does matter ... and for the case of the 9MM -

My Nosler manual states :

"9mm brass varies greatly in length and case wall thickness; mixed brass cartridge cases will seldom, if ever produce good, consistent results"

If it were me I would most definetly sort it.

It may not be as big if issue for other handgun calibers.

In rifle calibers - it will matter. Case capacity is not the same for all makes. It will effect pressure, and usally POI. The best best is to work a load for each headstamp - log it, so you know whats what. What is a safe charge weight in one case - may not be in another - especially if you are pushing towards max charges. Mil spec brass tends to be thicker, and run at higher pressures, because of reduced case capacity. Thats why most manuals will tell you to start at below min charge, and "work up"

 

[SamW]

If you are reloading for accuracy it's important.

 

[pop-gunner]

9mm and .45acp does not get separated. I check all case necks for splits and after loading all rounds get case gauged. Since those rounds chamber on the case mouths as long as they chamber I am happy with the results. I will separate .357mag and .44mag as the cases tend to stretch a bit more with a moderate roll crimp on magnum loads and the number of loadings are documented and the batches checked and trimmed if necessary.
Rifle brass gets separated, inspected, and trimmed before each loading as case wall thickness varies and volume is different between manufacturers.

 

[Fustercluck]

I don't separate 9mm and 45 brass either. Like PG said, a case gauge is always the final step before putting loaded ammo into the box. I rarely (1/1000) encounter a loaded round that won't gauge all the way, and I just pop the bullet out and reload it with a different piece of brass. I have also given up trimming 9/45 brass, as pressures are so low that I never needed to trim, so I quit looking years ago. Rifle brass, as others have said, is a completely different creature.

 

[rico903]

For pistol it doesn't matter. I point to the experiments by Ed Masaki in Hawaii...absolutely no difference in accuracy regardless of manufacturer, or even split cases! For rifle it can make a profound difference because of different internal capacity (i.e. Lake City is known for its wide case walls...thus a smaller internal volume). The same load will create different pressures, and different velocity. Not a big deal for plinking, but definitely for accuracy use.

By wide case walls do you mean thick?

 

[lx1x]

By wide case walls do you mean thick?

Yes

 

[hairba111]

In the Navy brass is important.....................to the brass, not so much for enlisted men.