Marking Brass

[JDBraddy]

I know this was addressed in the getting your brass back thread, but at the risk of being redundant, I recently bought an open gun in .38 Super-comp. The Super-comp brass is mucho-expensive, I haven't found a sourse of once-fired, so I want to keep my brass, but don't want the range brass it gets mixed up with, because high pressures are involved, and I've already been through picking up range brass that the primers would completely fall out of about 1/3 of the cases.

I want to find a good product to mark my brass with, so I can easily identify it lying among a lot of other brass. I've tried using sharpie markers, they didn't work all that great. They arn't that dark to begin with, they rubb off, or get obscured by powder residue. I've seen others do a much better job of making their brass identifiable, but have never managed to get their secret. There's bound to be some sort of spray on chemical dye marker that will work better for this. Would appreciate anyone directing me where I can find/purchase such a product.

[Sharyn]

Maybe this is what you're looking for?

http://www.hosercam.com/blastermaster.html

[newshooter]

What i did was bought one of those big Marks A lot marker and taped it to a peace of cardboard and put the bullet on the cardboard primer facing up and just twist it while pressing it against the mark so it make a big dark line on the side of the case. which gets taken off when you tumble the brass to reload it again. I use black seems to work well. I have also heard that green and red are real visable also.

[LPatterson]

Maybe this is what you're looking for?

http://www.hosercam.com/blastermaster.html

This is great for changing color patterns to keep track of number of reloads. For some reason blue looks like purple but green, red & black work fine.

[ihatepickles]

You should look into Dykem markers for industrial use. They're available in 10 colors and the color doesn't fade during firing.

[Mick]

I've been using a Kelly green paint marker from Michael's MJ Design for about 10 years. My buddy uses Ford blue. We all use different colors and I use a different color for match brass vs practice ammo

[SBR7_11]

Marks A-Lot permanent marker in the extractor groove... Mine were blue or black, depnding on which run of ammo I was using. Very easy to tell your empties at a glance, did not need to touch them other than to grab mine out of the pile.

[Chris Keen]

Watch out how much marker you put on your ammo .... or fear the wrath of the Jam-O-matic Gods.

I'm not saying DONT do it ...... just do it in moderation

[SBR7_11]

Watch out how much marker you put on your ammo .... or fear the wrath of the Jam-O-matic Gods.

I'm not saying DONT do it ...... just do it in moderation

Been doing it for yrs, everybody there at Miamisburg knew whos brass it was when sorting.

[JDBraddy]

You should look into Dykem markers for industrial use. They're available in 10 colors and the color doesn't fade during firing.

Specificly which ones, or does it matter? I did a search and found pens, sprays, dobb on lids, brush on, etc....

I've been using a Kelly green paint marker from Michael's MJ Design for about 10 years. My buddy uses Ford blue. We all use different colors and I use a different color for match brass vs practice ammo

There's a "Michaels" just up the street, but they carry hundreds of different paints and markers. Can you narrow it down a little by identifying the brand or specific product that has worked best for you?

[ihatepickles]

You should look into Dykem markers for industrial use. They're available in 10 colors and the color doesn't fade during firing.

Specificly which ones, or does it matter? I did a search and found pens, sprays, dobb on lids, brush on, etc....

I'm happy with the Dykem Action Marker HD. I put my loaded rounds in an ammo box and stripe the headstamps 10 at a time in 1 pass. So far, 3 cycles of firing and tumbling hasn't taken off the mark yet.

[BritinUSA]

You mention in your post that 'powder residue' covers up the marks. May I ask where on the case you are marking them ?

If you mark the walls of the case then the marking could come off when firing. I always just mark the headstamp. I use a blue sharpie and put all the loaded rounds into an MTM box and then just swipe the marker pen across the cases.

The mark is still clearly visible after firing...

[JDBraddy]

You mention in your post that 'powder residue' covers up the marks. May I ask where on the case you are marking them ?

If you mark the walls of the case then the marking could come off when firing. I always just mark the headstamp. I use a blue sharpie and put all the loaded rounds into an MTM box and then just swipe the marker pen across the cases.

The mark is still clearly visible after firing...

I used to mark just the headstamp, but weathered and discarded brass carpets our range like landscaping gravel. Simply marking the headstamp is too hard to see when you're looking for one here, and one there, in what is essentially a mound of old brass. I cut a V shaped groove in a block of wood, place a round in the groove with a marker tip touching the case wall about 1/3 of the way up from the base and roll it in the groove with my finger to make a line around it. This makes the brass easier to see on the ground, but as I've said, I'm not very content with this setup. Ideally, I'd like to be able to place my loaded rounds, nose first into a bullet block or box as you describe, place that in the center of a newspaper, and simply spray them 50-100 at a time.

[Mick]

Maybe this is what you're looking for?

http://www.hosercam.com/blastermaster.html

Hey, that's a neat idea!

You should look into Dykem markers for industrial use. They're available in 10 colors and the color doesn't fade during firing.

Specificly which ones, or does it matter? I did a search and found pens, sprays, dobb on lids, brush on, etc....

I've been using a Kelly green paint marker from Michael's MJ Design for about 10 years. My buddy uses Ford blue. We all use different colors and I use a different color for match brass vs practice ammo

There's a "Michaels" just up the street, but they carry hundreds of different paints and markers. Can you narrow it down a little by identifying the brand or specific product that has worked best for you?

The brand changed to "decor" I believe...

[Seth]

I put an S on the headstamp with a sharpie. Takes 2 minutes after I put em in the box after reloading.

[buddy_fuentes]

I have been using a blue sharpie for years and mark the head stamp as well as a stripe on the side. It works pretty good until you tumble your brass and that removes the mark.

Yesterday I bought a blue sharpie paint marker. I marked some brass and after the paint dried (fast drying) I put them in the tumbler for two hours. It did remove some of the paint, but the paint that wasn't removed turned black.

I guess I'll go back to the blue sharpie.

Buddy

[Flatland Shooter]

Maybe this is what you're looking for?

http://www.hosercam.com/blastermaster.html

I did not know anyone made these. I built one out of scraps in the garage that seems to work just fine. I've found that "Marks-A-Lot" does a better job than others tested. Makes a nice thick black line about 3/8" above the extractor groove.

Every round that I shoot in matches are rotated to insure none have the brass pinched back. It takes no additional time to just drop them in the jig and rotate it across the marker.

Not pretty, but it works.

Bill

[joecichlid]

After I load my ammo I put it into 100 round boxes and mark the headstamps with a sharpy marker. Usually I just use an X on the heads. Since I have several different batches of brass I just keep a marker in different colors so I can segrigate the brass before cleaning. Once cleaned and reloaded I simply remark the brass.

Joe W.

[SLM]

Um, just FYI, the brass stripers have been discontinued.

[kevin c]

I've marked the HS with permanent markers since day one, but have the same problem mentioned of picking them out of a pile. I'm going to try the extractor groove thing, though it seems to be more work, jig or not.

I know one guy who tried lining up all his ammo in open topped boxes, HS up, and spraying them with spray paint. That his Open gun didn't cotton to...

Stay away from paint - use something thin that doesn't change tolerances where the round has to go in the gun. It might not last as long, but turning your favorite flawless firearm into a jam-o-matic is not a happy place to go to...

[Jay6]

And no one said switch to 9 major yet?

[SLM]

And no one said switch to 9 major yet?

I still bust hump to get my 9 Major brass back!!!

[Aircooled6racer]

Hello: I made my own striper using a piece of oak,Marks a lot marker and a adel clamp. I counter bored a hole for the brass in 45 and 40 and just rotate the brass by hand. I can move the marker in and out for the different brass. I use a single black line. Thanks, Eric

[carinab]

I have the martha stewart version. Use a hunk of flower foam (or the top to that styrofoam cooler that you accidentally destroyed tripping over it in a drunken stupor) two paper clips, and a marker. Bend the paper clips in place to hold the marker in place. Push a round into the foam to the proper depth to get the marker on the body of the round. Drop check the ammo with a gauge, give it a twirl in the foam, throw it in the match ammo box.

Now that's a good thing!

[Jeff686]

I drilled a bunch of holes (30-40) in a block of delrin. A 25/64 drill bit worked great for my 38 super.

I put a socket head bit in my electric screw driver and suffed a chunk of rubber in the end.

Fill the delrin block with loaded rounds, bullet down. With the electric screw driver and a marks-a-lot, I go down each row, spinning the shells with the screwdriver while holding the marker in place.

I guess you could call it a hand-held single-sided vertical striping lathe.