Keeping track of brass - number of times fired

[shooterjon]

I've been reloading for a number of year now, primarily brass that I have collected from new ammunition that I have shot (same manufacturer).

I have become better at keeping once fired from twice but after the third firing I have found that i'm losing track.

With a new rifle on the way I have purchased some Lapua brass and with the additional outlay I would really like to maximise it's potential and get this aspect right.

What systems have you guys come up with? Perhaps it doesn't actually matter as long as each case has been fired the once and each is inspected and in good condition.

One of the mistakes that I may be making is having too much brass. I have 300 Lapua here but in reality I am unlikely to ever need more than 100 on any given day.
Should I just leave the 100 cases in the same ammunition box all the time and keep the record on the box?

So many questions!

 

[Longtrain]

I just keep on with my brass until the primer pockets get loose or the necks start to split... My brass gets cleaned every time and annealed every fourth reload.

I shoot a Dasher and after the FF and a couple of firings, the brass goes in with the rest. Having about 800 pieces, it’s annealed every firing and then processed for reloading. I bump my shoulders .002, check the resized brass for ease of chambering. I use about 1/2 a barrel each season (~1300 firings), so brass may only get fired an average of 2x a year with testing and practice thrown in. Cases are culled out if there is a loose primer pocket, split neck (rare), or it doesn’t size correctly (much too much bump). This has worked well for a number of years with no issues. Dashers don’t stretch much, minimal bump, along with annealing, the brass doesn’t get very work hardened.

 

[Hoot]

Using a sharpened push punch with a light spring, I put micro-dots in the extraction groove, side by side each time I deprime. Easy to see with the naked eye and all I have to do is count the dots to keep track. Eliminates segregating them when I tumble. After they're dry, I sort them by dot count into labeled quart peanut butter jars. We go through a lot of peanut butter.

I have images but I'm in a hotel room 1200 miles from home. Can post when I get home if anyone's interested.

Hoot (mcgyver)

 

[Poor Shot 65]

Using a sharpened push punch with a light spring, I put micro-dots in the extraction groove, side by side each time I deprime. Easy to see with the naked eye and all I have to do is count the dots to keep track. Eliminates segregating them when I tumble. After they're dry, I sort them by dot count into labeled quart peanut butter jars. We go through a lot of peanut butter.

I have images but I'm in a hotel room 1200 miles from home. Can post when I get home if anyone's interested.

Hoot (mcgyver)

i would be interested in seeing some pictures when you get a chance. also a pointer to the tool would also be great. thanks

 

[WillyTP]

Man @P1ZombieKiller , you got your act together! I feel soooooo lazy after reading how well you keep track of your brass.

The last couple of years I’ve been reloading at the matches, so at the beginning of each season or new barrel I’ll make up about 100 pieces. I’ll then sort out two groups of 20 and save them for the Nationals. The other 60 gets taken in groups of 15 to matches and used until primer pockets gets loose, then those go to retirement and another 15 new ones goes into circulation. Since I’m only getting to 12-15 matches a year I haven’t ran out yet.

 

[Big Mc]

I've been reloading for a number of year now, primarily brass that I have collected from new ammunition that I have shot (same manufacturer).

I have become better at keeping once fired from twice but after the third firing I have found that i'm losing track.

With a new rifle on the way I have purchased some Lapua brass and with the additional outlay I would really like to maximise it's potential and get this aspect right.

What systems have you guys come up with? Perhaps it doesn't actually matter as long as each case has been fired the once and each is inspected and in good condition.

One of the mistakes that I may be making is having too much brass. I have 300 Lapua here but in reality I am unlikely to ever need more than 100 on any given day.
Should I just leave the 100 cases in the same ammunition box all the time and keep the record on the box?

So many questions!

I use the same system as ShootDots. Works for me .The Yotes I shoot don't care if the brass has two or thee reloads. Targets don't care either. Just my two cents.. Tommy Mc

 

[searcher]

When one spends a lot on quality brass - I can't imagine not keeping it segregated in lots - as an absolute minimum. There will come a time when your brass does wear out and you see an impending case separation coming - loose primer pockets - or cracked necks from the need to anneal, etc. If your brass in one lot starts to show symptoms on a few pieces of brass - you know what is likely coming with the rest of the batch. If it is mixed up - you have no idea and might be inclined to toss the entire batch - or try to determine which ones are worth saving. Other reasons to segregate are to keep brass together of the same lot, as performance characteristics can vary from lot to lot. If you want to keep the consistent performance of all your brass in one lot, all necks having the same time since annealing, same time since trim, primer pockets wearing out at roughly the same rate, etc. - one has to segregate and keep records. It is not OCD to simply keep them in a box and write another "x" for how many times the case was fired, An "A" for having been annealed, etc.

 

[Zero333]

Easiest way to keep track is not to resize the whole batch until you've reloaded and shot all the brass.

Once you've shot all the brass, then you can resize it in one sitting and not have to worry about keeping track.

 

[P1ZombieKiller]

Easiest way to keep track is not to resize the whole batch until you've reloaded and shot all the brass.

Once you've shot all the brass, then you can resize it in one sitting and not have to worry about keeping track.

What if you have 36 left over... and it takes 50+ to shoot your next match. What do you do?

Then 3 years from now are you on your 5th loading? or your 8th?

 

[Zero333]

What if you have 36 left over... and it takes 50+ to shoot your next match. What do you do?

Then 3 years from now are you on your 5th loading? or your 8th?

Good question.

First chance I get to go shoot after the match I use them up, but keep them separate till then.

If you don't have a chance to visit the range between matches that's a different story and luckily I have not had to deal with such inconveniences.

 

[teele1]

I log it in my Excel Reloading Log and use Brass Logs in the 50 CT. MTM boxes

 

[mousegunner]

I have a new batch of once fired brass that I'll process, load and fire. Then it goes into a coffee can marked 2x fired. I'll process, load and fire that brass and then change it to 3x fired and so on. I do that for my rifle and pistol brass.

I found that my Win brass started to get loose primer pockets after the 3rd firing. I just put a note in the can to load once more for plinking ammo and then throw the scrap bucket.

 

[ditter]

Easiest way to keep track is not to resize the whole batch until you've reloaded and shot all the brass.

Once you've shot all the brass, then you can resize it in one sitting and not have to worry about keeping track.

My average session is 45-50 rounds, so I have 200 Lapua cases in my rotation. I store sized and primed cases in an ammo can. When I finish shooting, I come home and deprime used cases and keep them in the tumbler. When all cases are shot, I tumble, anneal, size and prime. Then they go back in the ammo can, which has a piece of masking tape on it and i just put a mark on it with a sharpie. Easy peasy.

 

[Zero333]

My average session is 45-50 rounds, so I have 200 Lapua cases in my rotation. I store sized and primed cases in an ammo can. When I finish shooting, I come home and deprime used cases and keep them in the tumbler. When all cases are shot, I tumble, anneal, size and prime. Then they go back in the ammo can, which has a piece of masking tape on it and i just put a mark on it with a sharpie. Easy peasy.

That's pretty much what I do with all my bolt gun brass.

When it's time to re-size a batch I size it and tumble after sizing. Bolt gun brass is plenty clean to size before tumbling.

Semi-auto brass, weather pistol or rifle, is in bigger buckets, and once the bucket is almost empty I start tumbling them.
I load all semi-auto stuff on the XL-650.
It's not as crucial for the semi-auto brass to have the same exact number of firings. 9mmParabellum brass bucket has several thousand pcs, probably closer to 10k. 308win gas gun brass bucket has about 2,000 pcs and 223rem has around 4k pieces.

Bolt gun brass for target work is in batches of 300. Hunting rifles brass is in 100 or 200 pcs batches.

 

[Ned Ludd]

What if you have 36 left over... and it takes 50+ to shoot your next match. What do you do?

Then 3 years from now are you on your 5th loading? or your 8th?

Practice? Validate a load? Tweak a load? Test a new powder for velocity? Shoot a few rounds just for fun? Regardless of the method they choose, most people don't any have difficulty finding a reason to put an additional firing on the 36 remaining cases to keep them on the same firing cycle. Ending up with a few cases left over from a prep that are too few to load for another match is something every reloader either has experienced, or will experience.

Judicious use of foulers/sighters can help conserve brass and may minimize the number of extras, as can planning the number of cases you prep and use in a given rifle based on the total number of foulers/sighters/record rounds you typically shoot in a match. For example, I generally load 70 to 72 rounds for a 60-shot F-Class match having an unlimited/2/2 sighter format. Using 300 pieces of prepped brass for a rifle therefore represents loading for 4 full matches, with just a few left over. Even with careful planning, it's almost impossible not to end up with a few left over cases, so you just have to load them and fire them in whatever way you see fit. Then they can be included with the rest of the cases in the next brass prep.