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Brass for competition ?


Broncman

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If you're running 9major ejection patterns seems to clean up using same headstamp. I guess it depends on how much you care about the match, if it's a major match I would think sorting the same headstamp would be worth it for reliability. 

Shoot mixed everywhere else and same headstamp when you want make sure you are doing everything you can do to ensure a good performance. 

Edited by Shmella
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30 minutes ago, Broncman said:

Do you guys use mixed brass for 9mm when you compete or do you sort to same head stamp?

 

I'm a B shooter - ne need or reason to sort for anything.    :ph34r:

 

When I attended the Nat'ls one year, I used mixed brass.

 

Can't even think of a good reason to sort by headstamp if I were "going for the Gold".

 

Maybe if I were a GM, but I doubt it.

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I do for major competition 9 loads and just one brand of headstamp, same one i use for load development. Since i am already sorting out the 380s, bad, steel, etc from the pile might as well sort out one brand for competition use.  Just another part of my equipment check list.  Mix for regular matches.

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Work up your load with sorted and use that for big matches where they chrono so you don't miss power factor due to some screw up. Otherwise, mixed range pick up.  That is not an endorsement to cheat on PF, it is just saying that your standard deviation is larger with mixed brass due to the ever so slight difference in case volume.  It is anal and may not matter in the real world, but I hate to fail chrono.

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14 minutes ago, sitw said:

Work up your load with sorted and use that for big matches where they chrono so you don't miss power factor due to some screw up. Otherwise, mixed range pick up.  That is not an endorsement to cheat on PF, it is just saying that your standard deviation is larger with mixed brass due to the ever so slight difference in case volume.  It is anal and may not matter in the real world, but I hate to fail chrono.

It's not cheat PF at your locals if you load to 133+ power factor. Well over 2 standard deviations for my powder of choice.

 

I prefer slightly hotter ammo. It's more consistent, and doesn't slow the gun down at all. Particularly with heavier 147s, it also tends to be more accurate, although you obviously still need to do your load development.

Edited by MemphisMechanic
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I buy once-fired, cleaned and polished brass and load it without sorting.  For competitions it only gets used once, because every match I shoot is essentially a lost brass match.  I RO matches, so I wouldn't have the time to hunt for brass even when it was permitted.  I've never had a problem in any caliber.

 

The only time I care about head stamp is for bullseye shooting.  There I only use RP head stamp for 45 ACP.  I get it all back and reuse it.

 

If I cared about same head stamp for a major match, I would simply buy as much as I needed from Shooters Connection.  That is cleaned, polished sized, decapped, swaged and roll sized.

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13 hours ago, 57K said:

With most domestic brands of cases, you will find that they are pretty similar in thickness. One obvious exception being Blazer. Foreign brands are often thicker and that's about all I look out for. With S&B brass, GFI which are the same as Fiocchi. I load them with domestic.

 

If you have some different brands on hand, measure case-wall thickness right at the case-mouth within say 1mm to get their average thickness. It doesn't take long to figure out which cases do what. So long as the brands are similar in case-mouth thickness, they really don't have to be segregated afterward. WIN, Rem, FED, Hornady, SPEER, CCI, Starline, S&B brass, not brass coated dteel, GFI and Fiocchi are pretty close to the same. PMC can be thick and thin and inconsistent. Aguila, PPU and others can be ..001" thicker or worse which when doubled adds an extra .002" to case-mouth dia.

I care more about the rim being consistent for reliable feeding and extraction. Specifically for 9major im looking to clean up ejection for reliability. I honestly dont really care about case volume for a consistent load, I just want reliable function. Thanks for the list though, I recently picked up a bunch of Mixed brass that is 80-90% GFL and found that to be the worst brass to run through my 1050 so far. Inconsistent decapping and primer seating has been a nightmare, I will now look our for fiocchi to avoid too.

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I do not sort before cleaning or loading. I do more culling than actual sorting. If it looks or feels "funny" during the loading process or won't take a primer the first time, I throw it away.

 

For major matches things get case gauged and a very good visual inspection, that has nothing to do with looking at the head stamp.

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Went to my first match last weekend. None of the distances shot were enough to make me hassle with headstamp and case volume issues. 

 

Reliable feeding and extraction were paramount!

 

Will only sort out millitary and the occasional 380 brass in my future used brass purchases.

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I buy all my brass from Kenny's Brass.  No more worries because he processes it so well it's just like shooting all new in whatever stamp you want.

 

Before that, I ran some unsorted and some sorted.  I saw some crimp variances as the different head stamps are of different lengths.  If you are not using an undersized die and not too concerned about super crimp accuracy I don't see much benefit from sorting.  

If you are very concerned with consistency all the same head stamp will always give you the best consistency.

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I dont sort by headstamp but I get all my brass from Dominion Defense.  Its worth it to not have to sort and clean brass.  Your not picking up some 9 major dudes brass or some brass that has been reloaded a dozen times.  All the nasty crimped stuff is sorted out.  You get fully cleaned, processed and roll sized brass.  I was getting several rounds that would not case gauge or cases that didnt swage right and jam up the primer system.  Since using this brass I dont have that problem any more.  PM me if you want their contact info.  

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On ‎2‎/‎14‎/‎2017 at 1:20 PM, Shmella said:

Anyone have a source for Once Fired Federal 9mm Brass?? I want to get some already sorted but cant find a source.

 

That, Remington, and Winchester (my favorite) is hard to come by, right now. I have 500 once fired MagTech (I think that's right) coming to try out.

About anything should work except that crimped crap. It's such a pain.

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