.223 headstamp

[tfelog]

I sort headstamps by manufacturer. Should I also sort by date.

-Ryan

[Merlin Orr]

If you are shooting benchrest it might make a discernible difference.

IMO - In a gas gun you are wasting time.

[photog]

You should absolutely sort for headstamp for 223. Chuck all the FC cases. They tend to split and blow off heads. If you want consistent groupings, consistent results, consistent velocities, etc, then you need to have consistent cases. It really depends on your consistency thresholds. Shooting "A"s at 40 yds is very different than shooting "X"s at 200 yards. Most AR15s are very tolerant of different cases, pressures, etc. The 223 is a very accurate round, even junk mil-surplus will group 5 MOA (which is really very good for a military round) out of a commercial AR. Commercial 223 will group better, and your hand loads are capable of grouping even better (but it takes a lot of work! - you have to be great at reloading and a great shooter too). Again, it is a question of your own threshold for accuracy. If you practice a lot, your desire for a super accurate load may go up (because you want each round to go exactly where you aim it) or it may go down (because you don't want to spend the time it takes to make those super accurate loads).

[mscott]

For 3 gun type stuff it's likely a waste of time, but it's your time. Why not pick out and load 10 cases that are the same and then a group of 10 different mixed cases for a quick test. After you shoot both groups, let us know if it matters.

[D.Hayden]

I'm sure we've talked about it here before.

I tried all the same cases types, mixed, and even beveling/chamfering vs trim and forget for my AR..

Didn't make a heap of difference in groups at 50/100/200.

I do like to keep the LC brass separate from the rest.. it's the only stuff that I have that has crimped primer pockets.. and it just feels a little different going through the press. So I like to do batches of it, and the others separate.

[tfelog]

Last summer I started shooting high power matches. So I think I'll separate headstamps by date for that. But for my 3-gun I won't bother.

thanks for the help

-Ryan

[milanuk]

Last summer I started shooting high power matches. So I think I'll separate headstamps by date for that. But for my 3-gun I won't bother.

For your short line (200/300 Standing & Rapid Fire) ammo, it won't make a hill of beans. You can still easily get sub-moa groups at those distances with ammo using mixed head stamps - I have been for years (from a rest w/ a scope - I still stink shooting w/ irons and a sling ). For your 600yd slow-fire ammo... well, I usually try and stick with new commercial Winchester brass, more for the fact that I *know* it's never been fired thru a SAW, I *know* it hasn't been crimped, swaged, sealed, or otherwise abused, and it's 100% sure to be all one lot.

Caveat: when I refer to mixed headstamp brass, I'm talking once-fired military i.e. LC of different years, WCC, etc. I do keep an eye out to purge any Federal or other commercial brass that gets picked up by accident during brass call. Primarily I'm concerned about different brands not sizing quite the same, even when lubed and ran thru the same die back-to-back (seen it). Never had much of a problem w/ the military stuff, though.

Monte