new to reloading, question about brass

[uracowman]

I have some once fired winchester white box brass, once fired remington umc brass and once fired federal GMM brass that I plan on reloading. Would I notice a difference in accuracy loading the same amount of powder into each of these cases?

I know they are all once fired because I fired them.

 

[SGT TickleFight]

Re: new to reloading, question about brass

It depends. I am not 100% familiar with all of the headstamps. If some are not marked .223 it is military brass which is thicker and will yield higher pressures with a different poi. Definitely keep this brass separate from the .223 and work up it's own load.

There are usually slight differences between interior dimensions. This can effect powder burn rate and peak pressures.

If you are loading for plinking ammo and are happy with .75 to 1 moa groups i wouldn't worry about separating brands.

If you are shooting matches and looking for sub .5 moa i would be anal about brass.

The truth of the matter is 90% of us don't have the ability to notice a difference. Bullet choice, powder type and weight, and seating depth are much larger factors. I don't separate my brass into lots - i use all lc but one case may have been fired once and the next fired 6 times. I am still shooting about .5 moa with match bullets. (i don't load them up to max so i often don't have to trim all of my cases.

 

[country888]

Re: new to reloading, question about brass

+1 what sgt said!

 

[uracowman]

Re: new to reloading, question about brass

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SGT Ticklefight</div><div class="ubbcode-body">It depends. I am not 100% familiar with all of the headstamps. If some are not marked .223 it is military brass which is thicker and will yield higher pressures with a different poi. Definitely keep this brass separate from the .223 and work up it's own load.

There are usually slight differences between interior dimensions. This can effect powder burn rate and peak pressures.

If you are loading for plinking ammo and are happy with .75 to 1 moa groups i wouldn't worry about separating brands.

If you are shooting matches and looking for sub .5 moa i would be anal about brass.

The truth of the matter is 90% of us don't have the ability to notice a difference. Bullet choice, powder type and weight, and seating depth are much larger factors. I don't separate my brass into lots - i use all lc but one case may have been fired once and the next fired 6 times. I am still shooting about .5 moa with match bullets. (i don't load them up to max so i often don't have to trim all of my cases.

</div></div>

thanks. I'm going to be loading up 308 brass with 168 grain hornady amax bullets. I will be going for precision, so I will definitely sort them out just to be organized.

 

[Run N Gun]

Re: new to reloading, question about brass

I agree completely with SGT. If i was shooting in a comp i would use the same brass. if just playing around it won't hurt. also set up a side by side comparison. load up several rounds and take it to the bench. testing something out is the only way to know for sure.

 

[SGT TickleFight]

Re: new to reloading, question about brass

Also - If you are loading above recommended maximums to the maximum of your particular firearm use the same brass! 500 PSI difference from mixed brass may not mean much on paper, but if you are approaching the limits of your equipment it could be a HUGE deal.

I would not do this until you know your scale is dead on and you have some experience under your belt - Unless you are shooting at a high level in matches, going above the powder mfg. recommended max is not necessary.

 

[milo 2.0]

Re: new to reloading, question about brass

You'll just have to play with it and find out. Stay under max loads and perfect your reloading process.
Then buy one brand of brass and weed out your mixed headstamped stuff. I've seen varying case capacities in the same brand of brass also.

 

[waste_knot]

Re: new to reloading, question about brass

A couple of things you can measure to answer your question. Resize each or use the fire formed brass but they must come from the same chamber if fired. You want to keep the geometry the same for each. Weigh each brand of brass and then fill each with water to the top and weigh again. Calculate the weight of the water for each to see which has more volume. 15.432 grains per gram and 1 gram equals 1 cubic centimeter (cc). The brass with the smallest volume will produce a higher pressure and MV for the same amount of powder.

 

[Mordamer]

Re: new to reloading, question about brass

I have reloaded hornady and remington brass with the same load other than the change in brass and could not notice a difference in accuracy. I'm sure in many cases it could have an affect on accuracy, but if you aren't shooting bugholes you probably wont notice.

 

[crewchef]

Re: new to reloading, question about brass

If you're checking H2O capacity do it before you resize. Just leave the spent primer in place. As mentioned above, check cases fired in the rifle you'll be reloading for. Weigh the brass and then fill to just even with top of neck and substract empty weight to get case capacity. H2O capacity in grains is not equal to an equivilant amount of powder charge. It's just a reference point for case capacity

Haven't ever used Remington but comparing Winchester and FGMM I saw significant capacity difference, Winchester had much more. To get same velocity (assume similar pressure) I was loading .8 less powder in FGMM cases. Starting out I would start even lower and work up to it.

Also agree, for precision it's best to pick one type and stick with it. Can always work up a load for the other head stamps and use it for practice. But best off to have your go to match loads all the same.