Does reloading mixed head stamps really matter??

[jrebel]

For hunting purposes only, does it really matter if you reload mixed head stamps?  I try and seperate mine by manufacturer and only load winchester.  With that said, I have a ton of brass with different head stamps, so should I get rid of it or just keep it hanging around to replace brass as it goes bad?  Do you really see that much of a variation with loads? 

Thanks for you input.   

[BNAElkhntr]

Me personally will never mix brass whether for hunting or comp bench shooting It generally produces different Harmonics which can ultimately change your group size . You can sort them into manufacturers load 5-10 and check the groups.  I load my Hunting rifle to the same standards as my Bench rifle

[seth30]

I sort them in groups of 20 or 50 depending on the caliber I am shooting.  I also have a junk pile of random brass that I don't have enough of, to make a set.  I use that for my fast paced shooting on a obstacle course where the grouping doesn't matter but the fact I am hitting the target.  Hope that helps

[rbros]

Different manufacturers can also have different case capacities.  A 7 mag Norma case for example usually has around 2.5 gr greater h2o capacity than say a winchester case. A hot load in a Norma case would be way over pressure in a Winchester case.  Best to keep them separate. 

[bobcat]

When I work up a particular load, I use the same brass for that load. But I will load different brands of brass for the same rifle. I've been hunting with the same rifle for 19 years, a Browning A bolt in 270 Winchester. I originally started out using only Winchester brass. Then at some point I bought some new cases but at the time I could only find Remington. I also now have some Nosler brass. I'm not going to let any of the brass go unused, so what I've got is Berger bullets loaded in the Nosler brass, and some 150 grain Speer Grand Slams loaded in the Remington brass. All the Winchester cases I'm going to be loading up with Accubonds.

[Bill W]

I try to only load the same lot brass also.   

[JimmyHoffa]

For hunting ammo, I mix up brass--both in headstamp and number of firings.  Hunting ammo the groups are usually around 3/4 inch and I call it good.  Most of the animals seem to be in the 25-75 yds here. 
If I was hunting the big open out east, I'd probably be a bit anal about brass, matching primers, ring torque, etc to shrink the groups even more.

[TVHunts]

Different manufacturers can also have different case capacities.  A 7 mag Norma case for example usually has around 2.5 gr greater h2o capacity than say a winchester case. A hot load in a Norma case would be way over pressure in a Winchester case.  Best to keep them separate.

👍 I agree 100%, I do not mix brass.   

[Mike450r]

Most experienced handloaders will be consistent enough with powder weight and hopefully be using a premium bullet that in my opinion different case manufacturer shouldn't make accuracy any worse than basic ammo such as core lokt which has a bit of inconsistency in loads if you pull enough bullets and weigh. 

Plenty fine for hunting, that being said I tend to always use same brass.

[kentrek]

Different manufacturers can also have different case capacities.  A 7 mag Norma case for example usually has around 2.5 gr greater h2o capacity than say a winchester case. A hot load in a Norma case would be way over pressure in a Winchester case.  Best to keep them separate.

👍 I agree 100%, I do not mix brass.

  seems like such a easy variable to eliminate...why chance it ? Every finished cartridge should be identical

[actionshooter]

Depends on what its for, for my handguns and 3gun ARs I don't worry about it. For my hunting rifles and LR guns I keep the brass separate.

[jrebel]

Maybe, I will run an experiment.  I will run my Winchester brass wih known load perfection  and load up 5 of each RP and Hornady brass with the same powder charge and bullet to see how they group. 

I don't run max loads on most of my rifles so pressures should not be an issue.   I will report back in a couple weeks after I get to the range. 

[seth30]

I sort them in groups of 20 or 50 depending on the caliber I am shooting.  I also have a junk pile of random brass that I don't have enough of, to make a set.  I use that for my fast paced shooting on a obstacle course where the grouping doesn't matter but the fact I am hitting the target.  Hope that helps

the junk brass I referred too is for the AR only.  The rest of my guns are strictly for hunting and always have matching brass. 

[TheSkyBuster]

Same brand?   When I'm dumping 9mm range pick up brass into my progressive press Im lucky if they are all the same caliber.   

[Jonathan_S]

Depends I guess. On the .45/70 I just cram powder and bullet, don't care about brass or which brand of 300 grain HP it is. If it passes the visual test, I know it's going to kill within 150 yards.

Same if I'm loading Barnes bullets, doesn't really matter the brass because it's going to be 2 MOA anyway 

If I'm loading for the 243, 25-06, either 300 etc, then I match brass and keep track of batches that have been once, twice, three times fired etc.