Do you write on your brass?

[Cool_Moo5e]

So I am currently working on a load for some speers soft point bullets and I thought why don't I take black marker and write the powder load on the side of the brass, does anyone else do this while working on a load?

 

[mpollan1]

My penmanship would not allow for it to be legible.

 

[JohnnyE]

Some gents at the gun club use different colored sharpies to put tick marks on the bases of their reloads to keep track of what's what rather than try to write notes on each case.

 

[guzma393]

I fear that I may smudge the markings or the markings get skewed from firing. I usually draw a symbol on the headstamp and a legend on what the load is based on said symbol on a piece of blue painters tape. Symbols are usually dash or a dot, and circle (no symbol on HS), default configured to be high medium and low loads. If i need more designators, i use different color sharpies for this purpose. The piece of painters tape stays on the reloading box until i get home and is easily removed and replaced.

 

[Cool_Moo5e]

Some gents at the gun club use different colored sharpies to put tick marks on the bases of their reloads to keep track of what's what rather than try to write notes on each case.

That's a good idea, I am sure I have plenty of different colored high lighters laying around from when I was in school

 

[Uncle Duke]

Some gents at the gun club use different colored sharpies to put tick marks on the bases of their reloads to keep track of what's what rather than try to write notes on each case.

Yep. I'll sometimes dot a primer, then put a corresponding note in the box regarding why something about that round is noteworthy.

 

[erwos]

Some gents at the gun club use different colored sharpies to put tick marks on the bases of their reloads to keep track of what's what rather than try to write notes on each case.

This is the way. I use a red marker for Federal primers and some other color for not-Federal primers. I always mark after I gauge, so I know that's happened, too. Been a fairly long time since I didn't gauge 100% of my reloads, though.

Armanov makes a jig for this:

Brass Stencil for Marking Ammo

Elevate your brass marking game with the Armanov Brass Stencil! Perfect for marking and identifying your brass. Shop now and streamline your process.

www.armanov.com

 

[E.Shell]

Yep. I'll sometimes dot a primer, then put a corresponding note in the box regarding why something about that round is noteworthy.

That is how I had always identified test loads. I have a good selection of Sharpies and color the primer, and put a corresponding dot on my load sheet. That way, when the brass is decapped, it is no longer marked.

ETA: I also color-code my shotgun shells with a standardized color code I started using in the 70s for various shot sizes. Also with shotshells, I varied the weight of the shot charge with the shot size and varied the powder type/charge to keep all velocities the same.

 

[Cool_Moo5e]

That is how I had always identified test loads. I have a good selection of Sharpies and color the primer, and put a corresponding dot on my load sheet. That way, when the brass is decapped, it is no longer marked.

ETA: I also color-code my shotgun shells with a standardized color code I started using in the 70s for various shot sizes. Also with shotshells, I varied the weight of the shot charge with the shot size and varied the powder type/charge to keep all velocities the same.

This is the way. I use a red marker for Federal primers and some other color for not-Federal primers. I always mark after I gauge, so I know that's happened, too. Been a fairly long time since I didn't gauge 100% of my reloads, though.

Armanov makes a jig for this:

Brass Stencil for Marking Ammo

Elevate your brass marking game with the Armanov Brass Stencil! Perfect for marking and identifying your brass. Shop now and streamline your process.

www.armanov.com

Yep. I'll sometimes dot a primer, then put a corresponding note in the box regarding why something about that round is noteworthy.

that's a great idea, I was writing 25.5 on the side of the brass with a black marker and once it was shot that mark was there forever so I was just putting them in the unsorted bucket to never use them for testing again (used them at the range for completed testing but no more testing), with a high lighter to the primer that makes sense because once it's resized it is like it was never marked.

 

[erwos]

that's a great idea, I was writing 25.5 on the side of the brass with a black marker and once it was shot that mark was there forever so I was just putting them in the unsorted bucket to never use them for testing again (used them at the range for completed testing but no more testing), with a high lighter to the primer that makes sense because once it's resized it is like it was never marked.

I should also point out that all of my reloads are boxed and labeled with the recipe. My 3D printers spend a not-inconsequential amount of time printing boxes for my reloads because they fit better in ammo cans.

 

[Cool_Moo5e]

I should also point out that all of my reloads are boxed and labeled with the recipe. My 3D printers spend a not-inconsequential amount of time printing boxes for my reloads because they fit better in ammo cans.

I bought 2 100 round MTM boxes but so far they are holding my completed recipes and I follow FIFO so they got some time before I break into them again.

 

[erwos]

I bought 2 100 round MTM boxes but so far they are holding my completed recipes and I follow FIFO so they got some time before I break into them again.

I typically maintain something like 4k+ reloaded rounds for my guns, and they are not all the same type of rounds. Volume definitely changes equations...

 

[Cool_Moo5e]

I typically maintain something like 4k+ reloaded rounds for my guns, and they are not all the same type of rounds. Volume definitely changes equations...

Oh yeah for sure. I still have a shit ton of factory ammo I am just starting with reloading

 

[outrider58]

I typically maintain something like 4k+ reloaded rounds for my guns, and they are not all the same type of rounds. Volume definitely changes equations...

I'm not far behind you on quantities.

As far as writing on my ammo- "To whom this may concern"

 

[jrumann59]

on different batches of reloads I paint the tips with model paint to correspond with the powder load.

 

[Muleskinner]

Yes. When I'm testing new loads while reloading. I write the powder charge in sharpie directly on the brass

 

[outrider58]

I really don't. I have set up dummy rounds to mimic an accepted loading so as to quickly dial in an approximation bullet depth gauge.

When I do ladders, each set of loadings goes in its own baggy with load details written on a slip of paper inside each baggy. After firing each baggy, I collect the brass and return it to its baggy. It's a system that works best for me.

 

[Archeryrob]

MTM cases and an excel chart printed and pasted in the box for ladder sets

 

[lazarus]

I really don't. I have set up dummy rounds to mimic an accepted loading so as to quickly dial in an approximation bullet depth gauge.

When I do ladders, each set of loadings goes in its own baggy with load details written on a slip of paper inside each baggy. After firing each baggy, I collect the brass and return it to its baggy. It's a system that works best for me.

Sort of this.

My reloads go in heavy duty ziploc bags and in to an ammo can with a load data card in the baggie. Stuff I shoot in larger quantities goes in 1-4qt plastic "jars" or screw buckets with a load card in the jar with the ammo.

When I shoot ladders, I generally use 20-50 round ammo boxes with a load sticker on the outside and the data listed. The parameter being adjusted I just write right on the sticker which rounds are which. Since I am generally loading 3-5 rounds at a rung, that fits on the sticker fine (if sometimes cramped). Easy nomenclature to denote which rounds are which. I always use the back of the box as by the hinge, front opposite. Left and right are relative to the sticker looking at it as you read it.

Sometimes pistol can get tricky in a 50 round box if actually loading up 50 rounds. But usually I am loading 10 round steps then, so it is just 5 rows.

 

[Harrys]

I use freezer baggies and fill in the stuff on the bag.