Fired brass management

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  • guzma393

    Active Member
    Jan 15, 2020
    736
    Severn, MD
    What measures do you take to manage your own brass? I been trying to make it an effort to keep track on how many times I've ran brass, but I have some mix-ups from here and there.

    For my bolt actions, I catch my shells and put them back in the box. Revolvers are pretty much the same way.

    For my semi-autos, I use a gun-mounted brass catcher for my ARs, but some semi-autos like the mini 30 and SKS like to eject the shells upwards. At the very least, I configure my brass catcher to act as a brass deflector, directing the shells downwards. I could possibly put a tarp down where I shoot so the shells reside along the tarp.

    I haven't really made an effort trying to catch pistol brass since all typically shoot 9mm, but knowing a means to do so may come in handy in the future.

    I'm thinking of marking my cases to better ID which cases are myns. It's easy to mix-up brass prepped 223/556 with unprocessed 223/556 pick-ups.
     

    GunBum

    Active Member
    Feb 21, 2018
    751
    SW Missouri
    I don’t bother on most pistol reloads. The only exception is one set of brass I use for the .44 Mag which get caught and put back in the box.

    For bolt action stuff, it depends. I catch ones I care about and put them back in the box. More so I can manage runs through the annealer than number of reloads.

    For just about everything else, I rotate which ammo can it gets stored in. When the clean brass can for that caliber gets empty, a batch gets pulled from a dirty can and gets cleaned. Lather rinse repeat
     

    Melnic

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 27, 2012
    15,282
    HoCo
    I store fired brass separated into bags and placed into plastic bins on a shelf. Bins have grouped calibers (30-06, 30Carb & 308 in one for example). 223 and 9 get their own.
    I don't count firing but look for split damaged brass during sizing.
    I don't reload much "precision" rifle rounds but use the same brand of brass and much of it is once fired.
    I have not shot my 303 brit but I did keep track of firing of that cause the headspace on my 303 is field and after so many the case splits.
     

    ken792

    Ultimate Member
    Sep 2, 2011
    4,480
    Fairfax, VA
    I have enough rifle brass that I can group batches by manufacturer and headstamp year. I write down when each batch gets loaded or fired.
     

    85MikeTPI

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 19, 2014
    2,699
    Ceciltucky
    The only brass count I care about is for 5.56 that I've swaged, so I know they don't have to be swaged again.

    I hate swaging
     

    Pinecone

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 4, 2013
    28,175
    For pistol brass, I don't bother keeping track. I do sort by headstamp, if I have enough of a given headstamp to have a reasonable size batch. The rest goes in the mixed brass bin.

    I try to keep track of my bottle neck rifle cases. For bolt action, that is pretty easy. For semi auto, I do the best I can, but sometimes some range pickup gets mixed in. But Oh Well.
     

    John from MD

    American Patriot
    MDS Supporter
    May 12, 2005
    22,734
    Socialist State of Maryland
    If you are a long range competition shooter, there is a benefit to managing your brass as accuracy will drop off when cases get hard or if you mix manufacturers and even batches. If you are an average joe, just shooting IDPA, USPSA etc., don't worry about it. Just inspect after cleaning before you through them in a coffee can to weed out the splits and you will be fine.
     

    Uncle Duke

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 2, 2013
    11,667
    Not Far Enough from the City
    Much of what I load is precision rounds. I keep track of rifle cases by headstamp, and track on the box label the number of firings and the number of case trimmings. Usually, I'll discard rifle brass when it needs to be trimmed a 3rd time.

    I also use a 5% "rule" with batches of brass. The percentage I assign is admittedly arbitrary. But once I've had problems with 5% of a batch of brass in the way of splits or loose pockets, coupled with firing and trim info., it's another way of telling me that the batch of cases is getting a bit long in the tooth.

    Depending on application, I want very good to the very best ammo I can make, in terms of ammo quality. I also want to always err on the side of remembering that trimmed cases are giving up brass thickness from somewhere, with that "somewhere" typically being the case head area. Problems, should they develop in this area, are genuine problems. And given that each piece of brass is in effect a pressure containment vessel, and one that's charged with containing 50-60,000 pounds? Those are real deal numbers, and numbers that I have no desire to play with.

    Just ways of looking at brass management that work for me.
     

    Seabee

    Old Timer
    Oct 9, 2011
    517
    Left marylandistan to NC
    There is enough stretch is semi auto brass that it isn't worth the effort to track as its not likely that annealing will be needed before the separation ring begins to appear. Handgun brass, what's the point. Then there's the issue of primer pockets getting loose. My bolt rifles I size with a bushing and .001 bump for minimal working of the brass and expand with a mandrel so I don't worry about tracking the firings. Pockets work loose before anything else. There are enough things to keep track of without worrying about that
     

    guzma393

    Active Member
    Jan 15, 2020
    736
    Severn, MD
    Why are you doing this? In the sense of "why are you counting every firing"? (And, duh, I know brass wears out. I want to know why YOU are doing it.)

    I mainly do it on 223 and my converted 223 to 300 blk. I hate mixing cases with pick-ups. If it's too mixed up, i resort to retrimming and reswaging everything to make sure everything is uniform when it comes to primer and bullet seating.

    As for counting firings, I seldom do it for any caliber I shoot except for 350 legend as I plan to load up a batch for hunting. I try to track which ones are true once fireds and separate them from the mixed hs range batch.

    I don't bother with pistol cases. All of them get mixed up and processed.
     

    guzma393

    Active Member
    Jan 15, 2020
    736
    Severn, MD
    I mostly load .38 and .45 and have been loading over 30 years. I think you are overthinking, but if it makes you happy...

    I don't really bother with managing pistol brass. I just sort them with the rest of the range pickups reload them until the primer pocket gets loose or when it cracks. Only thing I can really think of is keeping your own fired 45 cases separate from range pickups so you don't get a mix of spp/lpp pocket brass.
     

    Uncle Duke

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 2, 2013
    11,667
    Not Far Enough from the City
    I don't really bother with managing pistol brass. I just sort them with the rest of the range pickups reload them until the primer pocket gets loose or when it cracks. Only thing I can really think of is keeping your own fired 45 cases separate from range pickups so you don't get a mix of spp/lpp pocket brass.


    Pretty much this here as well. Some similarities, but largely a different game with pistol.
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,678
    If you are a long range competition shooter, there is a benefit to managing your brass as accuracy will drop off when cases get hard or if you mix manufacturers and even batches. If you are an average joe, just shooting IDPA, USPSA etc., don't worry about it. Just inspect after cleaning before you through them in a coffee can to weed out the splits and you will be fine.

    This is what I do. Some of my brass I sort by firings and keep track of it. Just the stuff I’ll use for precision rifle.

    But blasting 223/5.56, .308, .30-06 meh. I am generally not going to load it super hot. Just going to look for signs a case is wearing out.

    My 6.5 Grendel I’ll sort. .223 and .308 precision stuff I’ll also sort some.

    30 carbine and pistol cases, Nope don’t bother keeping track of anything. If the brass looks toast I’ll toss it in the recycle bin.

    It could turn out I’ll regret that some day. But realistically with my reloading rate and how much brass I have once I’ve loaded everything, it is dirty and I’ve tumbled it all typically most stuff is going to get run through an entire reloading cycle before it gets loaded a second time. With some range brass mixed in.

    Especially 223 and pistol brass.

    I won’t mix cleaned brass. So I I’ve got a gallon ziplock of cleaned brass and a big pile of range and dirty brass I might tumble the dirty brass, but put it in a separate ziplock. Just mark the bags that I am currently loading from and “use next”.

    I separate by head stamp only for defensive ammo or hunting/precision ammo.

    It is likely going to be a lot of years before it might bite me in the butt, if even then. Realistically, how long will it take me to reload the, probably, 2k 223 and 5.56 cases I have? Then use it all. Then re-reload it. Rinse and repeat.

    If I get 5 firings before anything gives me troubles that is probably 10 years. Might be even more. I am just not a super high volume shooter. Now hopefully some day I’ll have the spare time to shoot more.

    And that doesn’t take in to account I probably manage to scrape up a couple dozen to a few dozen 223 cases on most range trips and don’t often lose many.

    For losing brass, I use an open rifle case next to me when I shoot and that catches brass from many of my rifles. Brass catcher on my ARs sometime. My AR-10 with AGB plus a rubber bumper on the brass deflector drops the brass right there on the table and my range bag will stop it.

    SKS, Garand and M1 carbine...well I find what I can. Typically 80-90% I manage to find. Sometimes a bit better than that.

    Pistols I usually just find what I can. But I do have a Caldwell brass catcher you put on a tripod right next to your gun. Setup right it catches most of the brass or it’ll fall on the table or just in front of the table.

    I do enjoy revolvers and bolt guns for this reason though.
     

    Harrys

    Short Round
    Jul 12, 2014
    3,362
    SOMD
    I just bag things marked how many times a case has been fired. I shoot 30/30 45/70, 50 cal. S&W magnums and 40 cal. S&W. The 30/30 is the only one I watch close as you have to anneal them periodically. The straight cases are a lot less prone to issues compared to bottle neck cases. I have reused some straight cases up to 10 times. I have found 0ver the years it is the primer pocket on the cases that becomes the issue by being worn out from cleaning and reaming. Very seldom have I found split shells as I usually do not use max loading. I also, have found that thickness and weight of the cases by different manufacturers will very. I have found heavier and thicker cases last longer. Also, if you have access to an XRF meter you can compare cases against their metallurgy. This really gets you in the weeds by comparing metallurgy you can understand why some thinner cases holds up better than thicker cases.
     

    Uncle Duke

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 2, 2013
    11,667
    Not Far Enough from the City
    I just bag things marked how many times a case has been fired. I shoot 30/30 45/70, 50 cal. S&W magnums and 40 cal. S&W. The 30/30 is the only one I watch close as you have to anneal them periodically. The straight cases are a lot less prone to issues compared to bottle neck cases. I have reused some straight cases up to 10 times. I have found 0ver the years it is the primer pocket on the cases that becomes the issue by being worn out from cleaning and reaming. Very seldom have I found split shells as I usually do not use max loading. I also, have found that thickness and weight of the cases by different manufacturers will very. I have found heavier and thicker cases last longer. Also, if you have access to an XRF meter you can compare cases against their metallurgy. This really gets you in the weeds by comparing metallurgy you can understand why some thinner cases holds up better than thicker cases.

    Ok, now you have me curious.

    What have you seen with that meter? I assume the copper to zinc ratio differs somehow, when comparing thin cases to thick, AND where the thin cases actually hold up better? A different blend may be thinner, but has somehow improved malleability perhaps?
     

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