.45acp case prep

[Pester]

Hi folks,
I am loading up some .45 acp rounds and am wondering how many of you sort your .45 acp brass by headstamp. While I am interested in accuracy quite frankly I am not capable of getting 1" groups at 50 yrds like I see some people claiming. 2" groups at 25 yrds is good for me.

Lastly, anyone weighing bullets for 45's?

Thanks

 

[Bear24]

Tumble, prime, size, charge, seat and shoot! I notice zero difference in head stamp other than some small primers the sneak their way into my stash

 

[ChrisGarrett]

Hi folks,
I am loading up some .45 acp rounds and am wondering how many of you sort your .45 acp brass by headstamp. While I am interested in accuracy quite frankly I am not capable of getting 1" groups at 50 yrds like I see some people claiming. 2" groups at 25 yrds is good for me.

Lastly, anyone weighing bullets for 45's?

Thanks

All my brass gets cleaned, sorted by headstamp and bagged, both rifle and pistol.

I don't have a problem loading a box of 50 with 25 & 25 for 2 different stamps, or 20 & 20 & 10, if that's how the cookie crumbles, but I like to keep things as consistent as I can, even for plinking ammo, without spinning my wheels too much.

I don't weigh bullets for my pistol ammo, nor do I do it much for my rifle target ammo, but I'm just a hack having some fun with this stuff, not a Bob Lee Swagger out to save the world.

Chris

 

[DirtyRod]

Definitely not. If you aren't interested in exteme accuracy then there is no advantage in sorting the brass or weighing especially for those cranking them out on a progressive.

 

[Pester]

Thanks folks and thats about what I was thinking. Since I am handling each piece of brass still maybe I will pull all the common brass and set it aside. I will shoot the small primer brass and the other mixed stuff first.

If I decide that I want better accuracy then I have a group of common brass.

I see a lot of Federal, Speer, Winchester brass. Is there a prefered manufacturer of 45 brass?

Thanks for the help

 

[leadbullet]

I use to sort and shoot by brand specific then one day I forgot to do it and the accuracy was the same, so no more sorting, clean, load and shoot.

 

[pawprint2]

Agree if you not interested in accuracy, to not sort, however, there are some very different 45acp cases out there, for example, the 45ACP+P is designed to handle a higher pressure than the standard 45ACP (unlike the +P designation on 9mm), there are small and large primers pockets, if you are "just shooting", I agree with the above posters, if you are trying to get as much accuracy as possible, sorting is the way to go. Best way of course, is to buy a large new lot and keep track of it, if possible.

 

[Rapidrob]

Really eye-ball the fired cases. Fired / reloaded several times .45 auto like to crack lengthwise due to work hardening.

 

[UrbanSi]

The only reason I sort my brass by head-stamp is to make sure I am picking up what is mine at the range.

I used to mark my brass with a sharpie but everyone else at the club does the same now too.

I tend to use brass that most at the range does not shoot so usually it works out well.

I have loaded the same lot of .45 ACP brass 15-20 times and I don't think I have seen more then 2-3 split cases ever, not sure what brass you are using

 

[Bear24]

The only reason I sort my brass by head-stamp is to make sure I am picking up what is mine at the range.

I used to mark my brass with a sharpie but everyone else at the club does the same now too.

I tend to use brass that most at the range does not shoot so usually it works out well.

I have loaded the same lot of .45 ACP brass 15-20 times and I don't think I have seen more then 2-3 split cases ever, not sure what brass you are using

Same here, I have at least 20 loads on some of my 45 brass (mixed headstamp) and only 3 have split and they were all 3 PPU headstamped

 

[pjparker]

Like most of the replies above, I find myself doing the tumble clean, run 'em through the Dillon, go back to the range, repeat. I have battered some of them through several 1911's so many times that the headstamp isn't legible. Yes, there is the occasional split case, but that is to be expected.

Paul

 

[skolz]

Clean them and load them. +1on hate for the so pockets. I keep a little box of sized and deprimed cases by my press so I can toss them without skipping a spot on my 650. I hate it when a primer goes by.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[Rapidrob]

Lake City issue. I've seen many over the years.

 

[Genius.]

I tumble and throw them all in a bucket. When it's time to reload I grab a few handfuls and fill the empty case bin and crank away on the Dillon.

If I sort it's to get rid of those damn small pistol primer pieces. Whoever came up with that idea is a POS

 

[Pinecone]

I sort my commercial cases, but not my "military" cases. But 90% of my loads are done in my "mixed mil" brass.

 

[x0SiN0x]

I tumble and throw them all in a bucket. When it's time to reload I grab a few handfuls and fill the empty case bin and crank away on the Dillon.

If I sort it's to get rid of those damn small pistol primer pieces. Whoever came up with that idea is a POS

same here, only sort to ditch the SPP

 

[milo 2.0]

If I sort it's to get rid of those damn small pistol primer pieces. Whoever came up with that idea is a POS

Pester, you kind of answered your own question when you said pin point accuracy is not expected, mix em up and load. If you want accuracy pick some same headstamps out and load them, see what gives, most likely nothing.

I'll never pick range brass, so I've yet to encounter a small primer pocket, but when I do, I'll be screaming what genius said, maybe even more colorful.

 

[CSAR]

Really eye-ball the fired cases. Fired / reloaded several times .45 auto like to crack lengthwise due to work hardening.

Agree. Nickel cases get most of my attention. Always seem to find cracks in them.

 

[Cacciatore]

"

For .45acp, the two biggest things IMHO is to get the bullet seated a proper depth that works well in your pistol and correct amount of crimp. And whoever came up w/ SP pockets in .45 should be kicked in the nutz.

The guy who put SP pockets in .45 has no nutz. Big bullet...big case...loud boom...I want large primer.

 

[awp762]

I never sort pistol brass & never will.
watching for split cases is a must after many cycles

 

[Hk996]

I'm fairly new to reloading with my 650 but I haven't sorted the brass. I just check pockets after i stainless tumble (sometimes I'll check before too). I've had 4-5 small primer brass get through to my press, so that is why I check before I put them in the clean brass bucket. I've been spraying the brass with one shot once I put it in the case feeder and that seems to work fine. Accuracy has been on par with my factory loads.

 

[Sniper Uncle]

Most of my 45 brass is range pick up----I got the 45 because I got so much free brass on the range. I have yet to come across any SP casings, but they will be sorted out and nothing else. I just load and shoot and load and shoot and load and shoot.....well, you get the idea.

 

[Sonic Crack]

Anybody trim cases?

 

[Pinecone]

I have never trimmed a straight wall pistol case. Even after many reloadings.

 

[elfster1234]

About the only thing i do as i use a tumbler with stainless steel pins is to make sure no pins are stuck in the primer flash hole inside the brass and to make sure none have small primers.... I have found on four different times where ss pins are stuck in the primer pocket so bad i had to use needle nose pliers to pull them out... Just make sure you check inside all of your brass if using ss pins for cleaning media.

 

[MJP68]

I have only sorted .45 brass to throw away the small primed cases.
each case is measured and I have had no need to trim any so far

 

[r50140]

I sorted by head stamp at one time, a waste of time. Never trimmed a 45, or felt the need to. You will lose them before they wear out. Throw out the small primer and " "Amer" head stamp. An occasional split case. Tumble and back in the clean brass bucket for the 650.