[Lone Eagle]

I took the Sig M400 out yesterday for a little trigger time, and had the brass gods smile on me. I managed to fill a 5lb coffee can with .223/5.56 brass(I'm sitting on 2 cans full already, but not in one trip), along with a couple hundred .45 ACP and too many 9mm to count. It appeared they had a rifle class at the range Saturday, and nobody bothered to pick up the brass off the 100yd bay.

So, my question is, do you segregate your .223 brass from your 5.56 brass when you load? I'm using Accurate 2230 at the moment, and the Western manual lists true 5.56 loads for 55gr to 77gr. A google search came back 50/50 on the consensus.

 

[darbo]

I don't separate my brass. Some day I would like to buy some new Starline brass for my "hunting" loads. For now I have loaded them using mixed range brass.

 

[TonyC2639]

I don't. Some folks do I guess in fact some separate by head stamp too. Now I don't hunt. If I did I'm sure I'd have a very segregated set of brass for that purpose. Of course you wouldn't need 500 rounds or anything. Just enough to sight in and hunt. I shoot at gongs so it's not worth my trouble lol.

 

[texastaurusguy]

As with everything, "it depends". If I'm making a run of 100 hollowpoint or varmint bullets then I typically will sort some out, but otherwise I just load 'em up.

 

[Sawfish]

I will sort commercial or match grade military brass that was fired in my gun. As for range pick ups, I process them in bulk.

 

[Yissnakk]

Almost no civilian load will reach 5.56 NATO pressures (some books have a "NATO" load but it doesn't look any hotter than their .223 loads - or .223 loads from other "official" sources) so, long story short; no I do not.

However, the caveat is that, like others have said, I am working on some accuracy loads for some specific application, then I will select out a particular headstamp and run, if possible - most often Lake City, just to be safe.

 

[NativeTexan]

Heck, .223 ammo is so cheap, I just shoot store bought. I keep the brass once fired if shooting brass ammo. I only reload my hunting rounds, but I can't load a LOT of it as Barnes bullets ain't cheap. But, I have something like fifty rounds loaded up.

 

[jeeper1]

The only time I paid close attention to that was when I was converting some to 7 TCU for handgun silhouette matches way back in the late 70s or early 80s.
I decided it lacked adequate knockdown power and went to 708 Rem.

 

[Peacemakr40]

I sort all my brass. because my eyesight isn't the best I sort by height and taste.

 

[NativeTexan]

The only time I paid close attention to that was when I was converting some to 7 TCU for handgun silhouette matches way back in the late 70s or early 80s.
I decided it lacked adequate knockdown power and went to 708 Rem.

I loaded 7mm TCU with 150 match kings and they seemed to do the trick on anything I hit semi-solid. Never had a problem toppling the rams. I did have problems with the turkeys, but not for the power of the cartridge. I just couldn't HIT the danged things consistently. :laugh:

 

[william]

223 by headstamp and only keep certian head stamps, for my bolt guns, each has its own head stamp. Now I know which gun shot which round and only need to neck size when I reload.

5.56 I only keep Lake City brass and sort it by year. It runs through my Colt.

I can buy 223 cheaper than I can reload, but I can't buy 223 that runs better through my guns and scopes. What I learn loading cheap 223 carries over into other, more expensive rifle cartridges.

ymmv

 

[Yissnakk]

Where are you people finding that cheap .223 ammo? I can reload for about $0.13/round (plinking ammo, mind you) and the cheapest I can find .223 factory is Tulammo Steel case for around $0.25/round. That's $100/thousand rounds!

 

[GreenWolf70]

Yes, I sort my brass. Expensive bullets get the best brass. Helps with accuracy, especially if you are mixing military and commercial as the case capacity can vary a good bit. Most of my 5.56mm cases are LC, I don't bother sorting down to year as the capacities are generally the same. Same with .308. Hunting or SD ammo I generally sort, target ammo I use whatever is left over. I usually enter in my reloading notes which case headstamp I am using. Helps when I pick up brass that shows issues.

http://www.accuratepowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/WesternLoadGuide1-2016_Web-1.pdf
Page 30, 5.56mm NATO loads to 62,000 psi.

 

[rago]

price is low on store bought , save the brass and lead for when price goes up

 

[Lone Eagle]

price is low on store bought , save the brass and lead for when price goes up

That's what I'm doing. I get bored, I run some through the tumbler, then decap/resize, then tuck it away for a rainy day. People are laughing at me for picking up so much 9mm at the moment. One sweet day, they will laugh no more. :icon_ owned:

 

[jeeper1]

I loaded 7mm TCU with 150 match kings and they seemed to do the trick on anything I hit semi-solid. Never had a problem toppling the rams. I did have problems with the turkeys, but not for the power of the cartridge. I just couldn't HIT the danged things consistently. :laugh:

Turkeys were my downfall also. They were the only ones I had to aim low on.

 

[Fishinkeylargo]

Generally I don't sort brass. If I had a range where I could shoot over 100 yards I would consider sorting by head stamp to see if it made a difference at long range shooting.

 

[hdwhit]

So, my question is, do you segregate your .223 brass from your 5.56 brass when you load?

I sort all of my brass by headstamp. Military brass is further sorted by year. When I accumulate enough of one type to make a batch (i.e. at least 25 rounds, more often 50 or 100) then it will enter my reloading stream.

I don't do this out of some misplaced belief that it improves accuracy since I am shooting offhand at 250 yards or less, but rather that different headstamps of brass "feel" different; particularly when being re-sized and I prefer to have as consistent a feel during reloading operations as I can get.

Over time I will end up accumulating just a handful of particular headstamps. When this happens, I will make a Miscellaneous Batch and use it for testing purposes.

 

[gbusmech]

Yup I sort it. I reload the commercial brass and deprime, clean and sell the GI brass....

 

[RogueTS1]

Unless loading up some match grade ammo for precision work, I just bulk load them; no sorting for me.