does the casing matter?

[flanman]

To date I have been reloading shotshells. I am aware of the fact that wehn reloading for shotgun the amount of powder varies dependent upon each of the parts- primer, hull, wadding...

As I am now starting the process of reloading for my pistols, revolvers and rifles. As 45ACP brass has been the quickest for me to accumulate I will start by asking about these. I presume if possible one would like to have all the same brass and if that is collective wisdom then I am willing to do that. However between the factory loads I have shot and the stuff I have received from a friend I have ~1500 casings. They are distributed in the following grouings:

Federal brass~500
Federal nickel~300
PMC~250
R-P~200
Winchester~50
W-W~25
Win Match~25
Speer brass~75
Speer nickel~15
TZZ~25( these are numbered 86, 87, 88, 89 does that matter?)
TZZ Match~15
IMI~25
IMI Match~10
FC 04 Match~15
Then other various types including ~35 what appear to be aluminum Wolf & CCI.

Do I need to keep these separate and work up a best load for each brand and type of casing?

Are any of these absolute no-no's?

Can the same brand but different markings be mixed?

Any other advice for a novice?

thanx

flanman

[morecolts]

you may have a difficult time reloading the aluminum cases. i, personally dont. however, its a free country and you can do as you please.

once you start to reload, you will figure out that different cases will have different thickness and since you are using fired (how many times?) cases, they may have different lengths too. The various lengths will affect how your bullets are crimped. look at a factory round and examine it. think about how that crimp is applied. what if that case was longer/shorter?

i sort all of my brass. ive found it keeps my reloads CONSISTANT. some people or you may think its "too much work". but its what I do. again, you will figure it out either way.

[haggis]

Insofar as safety is concerned, it doesn't matter which case you use. The difference in case volume is not enough to get you into an overpressure condition for a normal reload. Because of questionable brass quality, I won't reload A-MERC brass.

Insofar as accuracy is concerned, it depends on what sport you are shooting. Bullseye is more demanding, accuracy-wise, and it might be good to develop loads by case type. But you should also be weight segregating your cases and bullets, and weighing every powder charge if you're trying to wring every bit of intrinsic accuracy out of a reload. I don't think case type means very much for IDPA, USPSA, or PPC shooting.

BTW, the two digit numbers on the TZZ cases are year of production. You will find them on other manufacturers' cases, as well. The oldest I normally reload is Remington 1942 (just 'cause it's a bit older than me )

Buck

[flanman]

Gentlemen;

thank you. I will discard the aluminum. The reloads will be for firing practice. Concentrate on front site, squeeze dont pull, don't aniticipate the recoil.... Someday I will be wanting to perfect the load to perfect my aim- for now I am happy to hit the paper and do not worry so much about the size of the grouping.

flanman

[Peter M. Eick]

I hate to say this, but the bottom line is it depends on how good of a shot you are and your equipment.

For example, I can take mixed brass in 9mm with my Sig 210's and get say a 5" 50 shot groups at 25 yards. If I sort the brass to the same manufacturer I can cut that group size in half. 9mm is probably worst case becasue it is a small high pressure round, but I do sort to similar case manufacturers.

Interesting point is the different sorted groups of brass willl have different points of aim by the way.

I "tend" to notice that folks that say "don't sort your brass" tend not to shoot high precision arms so I have concluded over time that it is a function of the equipment and the shooter more than the brass.

I know sorting brass matters in my Sig 210's, my Baers (both the 45 and 10mm), P7PSP's and my 229 sport (357 Sig). Note that other than the 45 Baer, all are high pressure rounds. I see less of an impact on revolvers. There it seems to matter more that same chamber is used in the cylinder to get the best groups over the brass. With a well made revolver even this is less of an issue.

For example:




Here you have 2 different type of firearms shot at 15 yrds with decent results for a 50 shot offhand group. Sorted brass was part of the equation in both.