Stuff that drives me nuts...

[XTR]

For background I shoot F-TR and shooting F-TR and living within 30 minutes of the Oak RIdge Sportsmans Assn means I have a minimum of 2 match days a month, and usually three or four, not counting range days for practice or more likely load work.

So I shoot a fair number of rounds a yr, usually in the neighborhood of 2000 or so.

Brass....

Keeping it all organized.

I have a large number of W-W cases that I'm working through. I process in batches of several hundred at a time. But you always have those 18 or 30 rounds that are left over from the last match that don't get into the run. So now you've got them on the odd cycle. Then you get the 4 bullets you decided not to shoot on the load test that need to be pulled down, and the three fail to fires from various matches this yr, and... well, if you play this game you probably get the idea.

Then there are the cases with amnesia, I really try to label everything, drop a note in the bag or box to say what prep has been done, what lot/how many firings, because for me the reality is that after I've loaded and prepped thousands of cases over the past few years after about 12 hours(minutes some days) you don't remember where that box/bag of cases is in the process.

Now the reason for this post...

This morning I was picking up my desk a little and behind a box of 223 cases found a small box with a dozen or so primed 308 WW cases??? no note, HUH!? Make them into fouling shots and get on with it, but it is a symptom of the disease.

 

[amlevin]

I have the same issue (although I no longer compete). I still shoot about the same number of rounds only now just for fun and relaxation.

To keep track of all my cases and where they are in the prep process I just went to Home Depot and bought a bunch of "Akro Bins" (at least that style). They sit on a shelf and are labeled with their status. Fired, deprimed/not sized, cleaned/not sized, annealed/not sized, trimmed/not sized, trimmed, sized, primed.

If I have to pull down a load I merely neck size using a bushing die with no depriming rod and return it to the "primed" bin. If I was "uber fussy" it would just go in the "fired" bin to start the sequence over.

Leftovers from a shooting session are merely used as foulers.

I've found that multiple boxes with notes, or baggies with notes, merely clutter the system. Since I have about 700 Lapua cases that are "in rotation" I just anneal in every cycle. Helps me not have to keep separate records.

I use fairly large bins and when I have case prep time on my hands I just "move them on" with the intent of emptying the full bins at the beginning of the line and filling those at the end.

This gives me cases that I feel have the same level of prep ready to go so I can load up either the night before or the AM of my shooting day. The the fired cases go back to the head of the line.

 

[stinnett1981]

Lol. Everyone has their own little quirks. I don't shoot a fraction of what you guys do. 700 or so cases in rotation is crazy. That's a lot of shooting! I use 1 100 round box of Lapua brass at a time. I only load for 2 calibers though.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

It used to drive me crazy too until I realized that poi doesn't change between cases that have 1 more firing on them. Just shoot them with the others you loaded. You wont be able to see a difference.

 

[BoydAllen]

Since the most important difference between cases, other than weight, would seem to be the force that it takes to seat bullets, perhaps using one of the 21st Century hydraulic bullet seating presses would give you more confidence in using odd lot brass. I have run into the same thing, and if I could put a number on the force that it took to seat bullets, and I knew that shooting like with liked worked well, I would use that to resolve these kinds of issues. Unfortunately I cannot justify the cost right now, given the number of cases involved, but it sounds like it might make sense at your level of participation. Also, do you anneal? From what I have seen, if cases are reasonably close in number of firings, annealing is like pushing the reset button as far as work hardening of necks and shoulders goes.

 

[amlevin]

700 or so cases in rotation is crazy. That's a lot of shooting!

Yes, that is a lot and I love it. 5200 rounds worth last year in .308.

Doesn't even count an outing with my grand kids where we "exercise" my AR's and the pistol shooting I do just to "stay current" for SD carry.

I once commented to a fellow shooter that shooting " is less expensive than drinking and chasing women". He responded "Maybe, but not by much".

I know that I can get away with "shooting". Drinking and chasing would be a "Death Sentence" if my wife caught me.

 

[XTR]

Lol. Everyone has their own little quirks. I don't shoot a fraction of what you guys do. 700 or so cases in rotation is crazy. That's a lot of shooting! I use 1 100 round box of Lapua brass at a time. I only load for 2 calibers though.

When this current lot of W-W gets one more firing on it it will get lumped in with the rest of my WW with 5 firings and I'll have right close to 1000 cases total in the rotation.

 

[dragman]

I don't own anything long enough to have that problem!

 

[Lapua40X]

... it is a symptom of the disease.

It's the disease. Enjoy it.
I have "mystery" boxes (actually lidded plastic "tupperware") for:
1. Cases that may or may not have been sized, trimmed, etc.
2. Loaded rounds with who knows what load characteristics (I just know they're safe to shoot and I use these for trigger time, foulers, etc.)
3. Cases for which I have no record of how many times they've been fired. (These get set aside for the next annealing session)

 

[XTR]

I had that last match when I stuck a case and had to get a cleaning rod. You visit that well too often and people start looking at you funny.

 

[TheOtherZilla]

Where do I start... All of the above and.......

 

[PigButtons]

Not a one of ya'll would be happy without all of the complexity that this sport ( at whatever level you find yourself ), requires. There is the sensation of mastery that releases the endorphins that we are all hooked on. Add in the satisfaction of the shooting part and there is little other than poverty, frailty, or mortality, that can pry us away from pushing our selves to our limits in all areas of the chaos that is shooting sports.

If that is crazy, I hope there is no cure.

 

[MagnumManiac]

In my last move, I found hidden away, 350 pieces of 257 Roberts brass ww-super brand unmarked, no notes, nothing. Haven’t used my Dad’s 257AI I built for him in a decade, neither has he.
Found a stash of Lapua 300WM cases I knew I had set aside, but misplaced. 300 in total. Knew where the other 200 are.
Found 5 bags of Remington 338WM and 2 bags of Norma 416 Rigby brass I knew had but couldn’t find.

My comp brass, including that Lapua 300WM brass, is always labelled and marked as to what rifle/barrel it goes with...no exceptions. Years ago I went to a match 4 hours away, grabbed all my gear hastily at the last minute, grabbed my ammo boxes and headed off.
Well, NONE of the rounds would chamber in the 32” barrel and I left the other barrels at home. Looked at the box label and discovered these rounds were for my 28” barrel. I had stacked them in opposite order when fishing them out the previous day.
Lesson learned. Cost a lot that weekend, fuel, range fees and pride!

Cheers.

 

[6ShotsOr5?]

I have the same issue (although I no longer compete). I still shoot about the same number of rounds only now just for fun and relaxation.

To keep track of all my cases and where they are in the prep process I just went to Home Depot and bought a bunch of "Akro Bins" (at least that style). They sit on a shelf and are labeled with their status. Fired, deprimed/not sized, cleaned/not sized, annealed/not sized, trimmed/not sized, trimmed, sized, primed.

If I have to pull down a load I merely neck size using a bushing die with no depriming rod and return it to the "primed" bin. If I was "uber fussy" it would just go in the "fired" bin to start the sequence over.

Leftovers from a shooting session are merely used as foulers.

I've found that multiple boxes with notes, or baggies with notes, merely clutter the system. Since I have about 700 Lapua cases that are "in rotation" I just anneal in every cycle. Helps me not have to keep separate records.

I use fairly large bins and when I have case prep time on my hands I just "move them on" with the intent of emptying the full bins at the beginning of the line and filling those at the end.

This gives me cases that I feel have the same level of prep ready to go so I can load up either the night before or the AM of my shooting day. The the fired cases go back to the head of the line.

I like this idea and I’m doing something similar, but I have about 500 6 Creed cases I’m using but they are weight-sorted into three different groups. I’m using baggies, but my baggies are in Akro bins.

 

[6ShotsOr5?]

Also drives me crazy that I find myself disassembling so many rounds because of all sorts of reasons. I’m gradually reaching the point where I just stop after priming. I may have two or three hundred primed, but I save the charging and seating until just before using, and I am learning to bring a lot fewer extra rounds. One of the matches I shoot requires only 15 record rounds. I noticed one of my friends always brings exactly 23 rounds. If he only uses 18-20, he still shoots the rest as sighters, because he doesn’t want to have any leftovers.

 

[gdbleb]

I have 2 sons that come back "home" to visit 2-3 times a year and of course they want to go to the range. They have a ball and I get to clear out all the "leftovers" from the "fridge". ;-)

 

[Outrider27]

I understand why you shoot so much, XTR, lol. Many years ago I grew up in Oak Ridge and was introduced to the the Oak Ridge Sportsman's Association ranges through what they now call middle school and through high school. Had I not left Oak Ridge many years ago, I probably with have shot myself into the poor house, instead of just putting a dent in my budget.

Enjoy, it's a great facility.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

I see these zombie threads, start reading them and say “oh damn where has he been?” Then realize its 6 years old. Holy resurrected threads man these sob are popping up everywhere!

 

[rebel]

People calling asking if I have any 380, 9mm.........primers. Gonna start selling grilled cheese sammiches.

 

[JimSC]

This morning I was picking up my desk a little and behind a box of 223 cases found a small box with a dozen or so primed 308 WW cases??? no note, HUH!? Make them into fouling shots and get on with it, but it is a symptom of the disease.

When I relocated somehow all my .260 Rem Lapua brass got consolidated. I had several small ziplock bags stored inside one large one and somehow a couple of the small ones opened and they mingled. Some had less than five firings others over ten. Since it is just being used for practice I just ran them all through my Anealeeze and been shooting them. I am getting .6 MOA ten shot groups at 300 and about the same at 800. I did find some gave me WTF flyers until I annealed the entire 100 I pulled from the zip lock bag. And yes I am enjoying eating crow on the annealing part

offtopic , beautiful club you have there. Last year we were considering relocating to Knoxville, ultimately decided to stay closer to Charleston SC but I do love the Knoxville area