Does reloading mixed head stamps really matter??

[Bill W]

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.

I suspect the RP and Hornady brass have different internal volumes.  This would also change the velocity (and pressure) slightly and affect harmonic vibration.   It's not that one mfr brass is more accurate.  It's that the rifle is tuned to that harmonic vibration.

But I think in the back of your mind you knew that.

[grundy53]

I mix brass. But after reading this thread I think I'll quit doing it...

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[BULLBLASTER]

I keep my brass in 20 or 50 round batches for each rifle. They stay in these batches through shooting cleaning and loading. I do shoot different brands of brass in a couple rifles but they are all in 50 round batches.

[AWS]

Sort by weight, if they weigh the same they have to have the same amount of brass in them so they should have the same capacity if they are all sized in the same FL die.  The heavier cases have more brass in them and the brass takes up more space in the chamber meaning less capacity, lighter brass means more capacity.  These need to be all sized and trimmed BEFORE weighing so they are externally the same.  Often you will see heavy or light cases in the same headstamp.  If you are getting an occasional flier, separate the brass from the flyer and weigh it when you get back to the bench good chance it will be heavy or light compared to the rest of the brass you are using.  Brass hardness can be different in different brass also so annealing your brass can help with flyer problems also

[NRA4LIFE]

I think you should only load one kind of brass and send all the rest to me.

[j_h_nimrod]

Short answer is yes, but there are so many variables to that question that it is not the only determinate. Caliber, relative accuracy, rifle vs. pistol, straight walled vs. bottleneck, etc...  Regardless, I would not mix in most oddball head stamps (old domestic, military, or cheap foreign). I have had certain cases that must be a different grade of brass or drawn differently that by weight and to all outward appearances compare well with other brass but shoot differently and/or show pressure differences to a gross degree. I had some mixed brass .30-06 that was shooting a mild load and with a certain brass I would invariably have a stuck case or even a separated case head. Brass is relitively cheap in most hunting rifles for the amount of use you get out of it so unless you are shooting a lot there there is no reason for mixed head stamps, 100 pieces of brass is enough for most people. From a safety standpoint it is recommended you decrease powder charge any time you change any component.

[NWShooter]

Yes, it will make a difference and it will show itself on the range when shooting groups. Under most hunting conditions and at the range the majority of animals are shot, it isn't going to matter. just changing a primer in some of my loads can change the velocity +/- 15-25 fps. Also depending on the case capacity of the given headstamp and make of brass. The same load will shoot fine in one headstamp and show pressure signs in another ( Flat primers, ejector marks, base stretch ). I have noticed over the years that Lake City (LC) 5.56 brass has been fairly consistent across the bored for years. It has produced tight groups time and time again with loads consisting of mixed year headstamps.

[Fl0und3rz]

That's good to hear about LC brass.  I picked up several thousand rounds of cheap surplus before obama put the stranglehold on our brass.

[Kittman]

The reloading manuals should specify which brand of brass the load was developed with under laboratory testing conditions.  If a different brand or head stamp of brass is used it always should be worked up incrementally to the load specified.

[300rum]

The answer: it depends.

A lot of guys get worked up on brass and primers and working up loads and such and then you find out they are using the same load in Montana in November that they tested in July and August when it was 100+ degrees out.

Try it out and see if it is acceptable for hunting purposes. 

[seth30]

I think you should only load one kind of brass and send all the rest to me.

  PM me for my address  

[Don Fischer]

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.

If I may make a suggestion.Use the same powder and primer in each different brand and the same bullet. Five case's each should work. Two things you can work toward, #1 pressure sign #2 accuracy. I don't know why people skimp on brass so much, it's relatively inexpensive in common cartridge's. I recently bought some 308 case's. Something like $30+ per 50. Let's say you paid $1 per round but you reload them 5 times. make's case cost $.20 ea! People amaze me. They will spend $1000+ on a scope rather than a second rate one for $500 and then pinch penny's on case's! They will spend to much for premium bullet's when standard cup and core bullet's have been working for a hundred + years. And then get to brass and pick up range brass! Without the case, the whole damn opera falls apart! You don't need expensive brass any more than you need expensive bullet's and scope's. But use the same make brass for each loading. I have loads for different rifles with the same bullet but each braand case got worked up on it's own!

[Bill W]

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.

If I may make a suggestion.Use the same powder and primer in each different brand and the same bullet. Five case's each should work. Two things you can work toward, #1 pressure sign #2 accuracy. I don't know why people skimp on brass so much, it's relatively inexpensive in common cartridge's. I recently bought some 308 case's. Something like $30+ per 50. Let's say you paid $1 per round but you reload them 5 times. make's case cost $.20 ea! People amaze me. They will spend $1000+ on a scope rather than a second rate one for $500 and then pinch penny's on case's! They will spend to much for premium bullet's when standard cup and core bullet's have been working for a hundred + years. And then get to brass and pick up range brass! Without the case, the whole damn opera falls apart! You don't need expensive brass any more than you need expensive bullet's and scope's. But use the same make brass for each loading. I have loads for different rifles with the same bullet but each braand case got worked up on it's own!

Amen brother.

[seth30]

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.

If I may make a suggestion.Use the same powder and primer in each different brand and the same bullet. Five case's each should work. Two things you can work toward, #1 pressure sign #2 accuracy. I don't know why people skimp on brass so much, it's relatively inexpensive in common cartridge's. I recently bought some 308 case's. Something like $30+ per 50. Let's say you paid $1 per round but you reload them 5 times. make's case cost $.20 ea! People amaze me. They will spend $1000+ on a scope rather than a second rate one for $500 and then pinch penny's on case's! They will spend to much for premium bullet's when standard cup and core bullet's have been working for a hundred + years. And then get to brass and pick up range brass! Without the case, the whole damn opera falls apart! You don't need expensive brass any more than you need expensive bullet's and scope's. But use the same make brass for each loading. I have loads for different rifles with the same bullet but each braand case got worked up on it's own!

Those Tasco scopes have gone up since I bought one at K mart years ago. 

[JJD]

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.

If I may make a suggestion.Use the same powder and primer in each different brand and the same bullet. Five case's each should work. Two things you can work toward, #1 pressure sign #2 accuracy. I don't know why people skimp on brass so much, it's relatively inexpensive in common cartridge's. I recently bought some 308 case's. Something like $30+ per 50. Let's say you paid $1 per round but you reload them 5 times. make's case cost $.20 ea! People amaze me. They will spend $1000+ on a scope rather than a second rate one for $500 and then pinch penny's on case's! They will spend to much for premium bullet's when standard cup and core bullet's have been working for a hundred + years. And then get to brass and pick up range brass! Without the case, the whole damn opera falls apart! You don't need expensive brass any more than you need expensive bullet's and scope's. But use the same make brass for each loading. I have loads for different rifles with the same bullet but each braand case got worked up on it's own!

I suppose that I just like fooling around with firearms and reloading.
While I can agree that standard cup and core bullets have been working for 100 + years, better options are now available.  One can also say that more deer have been taken with a 30-30 win over the past 100 years than any other Caliber, so why spend more?  Same logic.  As far as expensive scopes go, as my eyes get older, I appreciate good optics more. Do you put BSA glass on your rifles?  Do ya need NightForce on your rifle?  Depends on what and how far you shoot.
I get your point though, pinching pennies on brass to be able to afford other gear makes no sense.
If one does not have the funds to reload effectively, ya might as well shoot factory ammo. A lot of guys put less than 30 rds through their big game rifle a year anyway.  Many feel they are "sighted in" If they can hit the bottom of a 5 gal bucket at 100 yds.  A guy told me that "a 5 gal bucket is about the size of a deer's vital area isn't it?"
Good to see ya around Don.