223 Sorting Brass?

[tohm]

My question relates to 3 gun. I am running a Stag 3G running 55 gr Nosler's and am looking at the range from 100 to 400 yards max. I have not been of the opinion sorting brass has any value for this, so am i correct or incorrect? Typically I buy used brass where i can based on price, so is there any advantage to sort by manufacturer for my rounds I am going to use in the > 100 yard shots? A rough sort thru my brass and I see LC and PMC are common enough that I could sort them out. In LC I could go further and sort by 05, 06, 07 and 08.

[venatic]

For what you are doing I would not sort them.

[Steve RA]

Measure the capacity of mil brass - such as Lake City - and a commercial case and you'll see there is a decided difference in capacity. I'd suggest at least sorting mil vs civ and I think you will find better groups at distance than with mixed.

[venatic]

I have checked Lake City and it is similar to most Commercial brass ( LC holds more H2O not less as folks tend to tell you)and the different years really doesn't change much. If you are running top end MAX loads or you are shooting for precision groups then yes I would sort but for normal shooting as you described I wouldn't and don't. Read here for some good info.

http://www.accurateshooter.com/cartridge-guides/223rem/

[MarkCO]

You are going to get a lot of opinion on this, most not supported by any testing done by the people making the recommendations. While the LC brass weighs more, the case capacity is only different by a little in most cases (32.1 grains wc vs. 30.8 grains wc for one data point) I have seen no statistically significant difference in velocity loading 55 grain in commercial vs. LC brass with velocities at about 3000fps and less. When you go to heavier bullets, it starts to matter, as it does a tad when the pressures are higher.

I do tend to sort out commercial brass and load it with 55 grain FMJ for hoser ammo out to 200 yards for lost brass matches. I save the LC stuff for the Nosler BTs and heavies.

I avoid PMC and FC brass if I can for all match ammo. I just load it all and when I chamber check, the PMC and FC goes into the bucket for practice and local matches.

[Religious Shooter]

I sort my brass for my long range loads.

As noted each brass stamp tends to have a certain volume.

In addition the alloy and thickness of the brass used can determine what the "snap back" will be when you resize them. Basically if have a given die setting if you run X, Y and Z brass through it, I've found that X, Y and Z oftentimes have different average headspace measurements.

Too small a case volume and brass that's had it's shoulders pushed back too much can be a problem with hot loads.

For my close range loads I don't sort. I load to functioning with those loads.

[pjb45]

Being new to bottle neck bras, I did not sort my brass. After loading a boat load, I had multiple issues. Not the least was some brass not chambering.

Since the brass needs lots of preparation work, there are variations/differences. This impacted the shoulder of some brass.

Now, I sort my brass. I trash the crappy stuff. I try pretty much to keep my LC brass for matches.

[Tacticalk9]

While Im policing brass Ill trade my LC and PMC pickups for civ brass only because i hate dicking with primer crimps.

[rboyes]

I haven't noticed any benefit to separating the brass. Also, developing a resilient load can help minimize differences in pressure by way of case volume. See http://optimalchargeweight.embarqspace.com/

[HighCountryStalker]

I haven't noticed any benefit to separating the brass. Also, developing a resilient load can help minimize differences in pressure by way of case volume. See http://optimalchargeweight.embarqspace.com/

I do sort brass when I am developing a load just to remove all possible variables. I use the technique described in the article rboyes linked to come up with OCW. Once I have that resilient charge weight I don't bother sorting brass after that.