Rifle brass questions

[Davecoff13]

Does everyone separate once fired vs twice fired  etc. also what about some that has been trimmed vs ones that were not. Both fired once but some required trimming while some did not. Or just clean whatever I have and load em up. All .223 or 5.56 ammo? Thanks in advance 

[AHI]

depends on the end result use.   Do you get your brass back?  Brass fired in only one gun?

[looking4reloadingdeals]

For my plinking ammo (all I do for 223) I:
Sort out LC brass (I use this for 300 blk brass and it is the only headstamp I use for it), resize and deprime, dry tumble lube off, put everything through my Giraud trimmer to make sure everything is as uniform as possible (some brass gets trimmed and some doesn’t), run everything through my Dillon super swage, then wet tumble with pins as i like shiny brass, then finally I do a quick once over when they’re dry and check for stuck pins, major dents, and cracks.

This is kind of a long process, but most of it is done while watch tv or listening to podcasts. I also don’t shoot much 223, but I process brass in big batches so it’s honestly not too bad. Hope that helps.


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[milanuk]

Depends if it's blaster ammo, or something I intend to use for 'precision' stuff.

I'd say it's generally good practice to keep it sorted by firings, head stamp, (lot # if you can) etc.... but for blaster ammo, you'll probably never be able to tell the difference in practical terms.

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[Davecoff13]

 Blaster ammo only, combat accuracy type stuff fo ar’s . It is mostly my own brass fired through one of 2 guns. My usual process is tumble for 1/2 hour to get any dirt off then size and deprime. Then I swage the primer pockets if it is once fired. Then retumble with pins ( I like shiny brass as well, I got nothing better to do ) . Then watch tv with a pair of calipers set to the trim to length and sort out all the stuff that doesn’t need trimming. I have a 1/2  5 gal bucket of once fired trimmed brass. So mixing trimmed vs non trimmed brass is good to go, but will try to keep things sorted by firings. 

 

  

[12glocks]

I use trimmed once fired for my long range 5.56 loads.  I use twice or more fired brass for 55 grain burner loads.  I have a good supply of once fired LC brass so I am able to use this practice.  I tumble brass for hours.  I, perhaps falsely, think that the smoother shinier brass may be more reliable feeding wise.

[milanuk]

with a pair of calipers set to the trim to length and sort out all the stuff that doesn’t need trimming.

Ick. Get a Giraud. Run them all thru, if they get trimmed, great. If not, no problem.

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[m700]

I dont sort

Press mount a trimmer it will save your hands. I clean with brass juice,rinse and dry, Lube and run through a 650 head that sizes and trims then clean again.

Second head primes/powder/MBF/ Seat/crimp

im getting 1/2 minute groups through a steyr scout with this but most go to the blasters

 

Even with 308 I used to be extreme and sort by what gun shot them and how many firings now I sold my accurate rifle but still get 1/2" groups out of a 700 5r pushing shoulders back to saami and trimming every time

 

[PhotoRecon]

I use batches of brass of the same headstamp firing it the same number of times until the primer pockets start to loosen up then that batch is retired.

 

Once I got a roll sizer I noticed the brass was much more consistent when trimming with the Giraud.

[milanuk]

I'm not familiar with roll sizing... I thought that was a handgun ammo thing?

What part of the case is it hitting that makes the brass go through the Giraud better?

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[PhotoRecon]

The roll sizer only does a small amount of the case just above the extractor groove. I noticed a fired case increased in length about. 005" after roll sizing and then after FL sizing cases to short to be trimmed in the Giraud essentially disappeared. My guess is the roll sizing makes the case dimensions more consistent than a sizing die alone can.

[milanuk]

Interesting... not sure I need it, but I might look into it anyway [emoji16]

Sounds almost like it is hitting the same area that a small base die does, or a ring die (even lower, pretty much all the way to the groove).

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[PhotoRecon]

I got it for 9mm and 45 ACP to ensure functioning in my tight chamber pistols...the 223 conversion came out this year so I went for it. The sizer runs $700+ for the manual version.

 

Anyway, everything I load in those three gets rolled before loading.

[milanuk]

At those prices, I'll stick with the SB die for now. I'm not shooting *that* much... but it's an interesting option for sure [emoji106]

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[Chills1994]

10 hours ago, Davecoff13 said:

Does everyone separate once fired vs twice fired  etc. also what about some that has been trimmed vs ones that were not. Both fired once but some required trimming while some did not. Or just clean whatever I have and load em up. All .223 or 5.56 ammo? Thanks in advance 

 

I try to keep the brass separated, but there is only so many .30 cal ammo cans I can organize and put labels on.

 

If this is just whammo blammo, then I would say  you could throw all the various headstamps together.  When it is just once fired and trimmed to 1.74” and fired a second time.... and reloaded... and fired a third time, chances are it will still all be under 1.76”.

 

so in theory you could get by not running it through a trimmer.  I call it Single Pass Rifle Reloading (SPaRR), because you use just one toolhead and run brass through in one pass.  I use a Redding S die with a .245 neck bushing, and some other dies.

 

if you have a progressive press especially with a casefeeder and Dillon Rapid Trimmer mounted on a toolhead, it makes your choices easier for whatever you decide as your modus of operandi.

 

with those two or three items, you can just process brass in bulk quickly.  And you can just treat everything like it was once fired brass every time.

[MakBaba]

As long as you’re not running near maximum charge then you should be fine mixing brass. I’ve chronoed light brass (FC, LC and many others) vs heavy brass (CBC, MEN, and a few others) and found about 90fps difference. 
I still run the same charge, but seems sensible to at least separate into 2 weight classes for possible zero shift. 
I gave up early on trying to separate by firing count.