Mixed Brass

[Drillbit]

Who loads and shoots mixed head stamped brass in competition?  I do when practicing fundamentals.

But I separate the different head stamps and load them as a group in an effort maintain consistency when shooting a match.  Am I wasting my time?    

[dtuns]

I shoot mixed brass in IDPA and USPSA no issues. Many bullseye shooters do the same.

[MHicks]

Can you tell a difference on paper when you seperate brass vs mixed? 

[MadBomber]

I shoot mixed brass all the time.  Bullseye and precision rifle are a different story.  IDPA and USPS, doesn't really matter.

[shred]

L1 - L3's, whatever passes the gauge.  I might spend a little more time paying attention when loading it than practice ammo.  Something like say a Nationals or World Shoot get new brass.

 

[Drillbit]

 

13 hours ago, MHicks said:

Can you tell a difference on paper when you seperate brass vs mixed? 

I have not tested it that I can recall, but I'm going to.  

[Maximis228]

I used mixed head stamp for 9 major all the time. I use once fired for all match ammo and multi fired brass for practice. As long as im Roll sizing, I don't have an issue. 

[Sawlsville]

I use mixed head stamp range pick up brass for both 9 Major and 9 Minor.  As long as it passes visual check for damage and Hundo checks good post load, it goes in the gun...  I have had zero ammo related issues at matches.

[Runswithwood1]

Since I started loading 9 major I found out my racegun doesn't like CBC brass especially, so I'll sort through it all and throw all that cbc brass in my minor bucket for loading, sucks but it's a sure fire way to be sure the thing runs. Some brass like blazer I noticed was considerably shorter so I basically just load for a good average of everything and haven't had any problems as of yet

[HesedTech]

19 hours ago, Drillbit said:

But I separate the different head stamps and load them as a group in an effort maintain consistency when shooting a match.  Am I wasting my time?    

Yes.

 

If you can tell the difference in USPSA or practical style competition, then you are a really good shooter. 

 

Having experimented with this very subject there is a slight difference in accuracy due to volume differences, but not worth one nickel in practical shooting.

 

Sorting tens of thousands of brass is a major pain in the...

[Drillbit]

Thank you everyone for your input.  If the heat is bearable in the morning, I'm going to load up a 100 rnds of mixed brass and give it a go. 

[Cuz]

I’ve been shooting mixed range pickup brass for 20+ years in 9mm. Shooting it out of a Glock, with no issues at all, with the single exception of a wide deviation in velocity.  Nothing has ever chrono’d below minor, so I don’t care. I check all ammo that comes off the press in a Hundo gauge, and if it passes, I shoot it. 
 

of course, I’m a hack shooter and never shot anything above the low level and local matches. 

[Runswithwood1]

6 hours ago, HesedTech said:

Yes.

 

If you can tell the difference in USPSA or practical style competition, then you are a really good shooter. 

 

Having experimented with this very subject there is a slight difference in accuracy due to volume differences, but not worth one nickel in practical shooting.

 

Sorting tens of thousands of brass is a major pain in the...

I'm unfortunately there as well, my open gun is pretty picky, each loaded round has to be plunked to be sure they chamber and rotate

[rooster mcbee]

I separate brass for my revolvers.  Autos and PCC get mixed.

[r4ptor]

Whatever lands in the 9mm boxes will get loaded for IPSC on my side.

 

Only thing I adopted is the undersized flash hole deprimer from Lee, since sometimes a S&B nontox and variants get into the mixed brass. Without the undersized deprimer you have a bad time with this cases.

[zzt]

I shoot mixed HS 9mm brass that has been roll sized and processed for 9mm minor only.  For 9mm major I shoot either once fired, roll sized, swaged and processed SAME HS brass, on new primed brass.  Never had a problem with the once fired, but new primed brass is slicker.  Currently using new Winchester primed brass for major.

[Farmer]

Same as @Cuz, notice vel swings but have even noticed that with same headstamp too. Biggest difference I noticed when using a single stage press is the effort difference while sizing, expanding and seating and even crimping between brands. I know the crimping could be from different lengths but some seat firmer than others and they generally shoot better too. 

[sharko]

On 7/23/2024 at 4:26 PM, MHicks said:

Can you tell a difference on paper when you seperate brass vs mixed? 

In my experience you can. This was a test load I did at 25yds in a Ransom rest with ten rounds that I thought were sorted but then I picked up the brass and found 5 Speers and 5 Win's. This gun shoots 1" groups all day long.

Will it matter in IDPA or USPSA, maybe not much considering how close most targets are but I go for 0's and A's and I always sort my brass.

 

 

 

 

[MHicks]

You load one headstamp then have to adjust  your sights each time you switch?

[zzt]

You can tell the difference between range pickup, mixed HS, range pickup same HS, once fired fully processed same HS, and new brass when you chrono.  SDs get better and better as you get more particular with your brass.

 

That is particularly important in bullseye.  SDs and accuracy is better with same HS.  45 brass lasts seemingly forever.  However, it is important to keep the same HS brass sorted as to the number of times fired.  I bought 6k of once fired RP HS 45 brass decades ago.  For an important match, load in once fired.  Then move it to one of the practice bins.    For any non-bullseye 45 shooting I use range pickup and don't sort for HS.

[Cuz]

I’m glad I don’t shoot bullseye, that’s way too much work. 

[MikeyScuba]

And…. I noticed at once point when I switched from 11x shot revo Blazer to newer stock  my OAL changed a bit.  So even within same headstamps there might be variations depending on how many times it’s been shot.

[sharko]

1 hour ago, MHicks said:

You load one headstamp then have to adjust  your sights each time you switch?

Actually I re-zero my guns every time I switch batches and often before a match. I see a lot of people that bring different brands of ammo to every match and wonder why they're not doing so well from time to time.

Factory ammo is the same, you can get different POI's with different ammo. Well and factory ammo varies a lot in different guns. When I started IDPA I tested like 7 different cheap brands, the best I could get was 2" and some printed at 5".

[Cuz]

1 hour ago, sharko said:

Actually I re-zero my guns every time I switch batches and often before a match. I see a lot of people that bring different brands of ammo to every match and wonder why they're not doing so well from time to time.

Factory ammo is the same, you can get different POI's with different ammo. Well and factory ammo varies a lot in different guns. When I started IDPA I tested like 7 different cheap brands, the best I could get was 2" and some printed at 5".

I would think that even a 5” group would be plenty good enough for IDPA and USPSA shooting. 

[Sarge]

3 hours ago, Cuz said:

I would think that even a 5” group would be plenty good enough for IDPA and USPSA shooting. 

5” group is easily a miss on a mini popper at 20 yards