Marking Brass

[1Shirt]

Old yankee saying that there is no such thing as a stupid question. So, I have marked the head of ctgs for identification with a number of things but to date, all markings have been polished off in my tumbler within 2 or 3 cleanings. Does anybody have a method on case head marking that is perminant, impregnates without hurting brass, and will not polish off?
Thanks in advance for all who respond to this thread.
1Shirt!:coffee:

[AZ-Stew]

(EDIT!)

File a small notch ON THE BASE near the rim. Any surface treatment will wear off.

Regards,

Stew

I can't believe I left off the "ON THE BASE". Do NOT file any notches in the case body.

[44fanatic]

I have been wondering the same thing. Have considered getting an engraver and putting hash marks on each shell but have been wondering if that would compromise the casing.

[Doc Highwall]

I use to put the cartridges in a twenty round box bullet down and take a marker and color or draw one or two lines on the case head.

[longranger]

Are you marking your brass for orientation in the chamber or for some other reason? Chamber orientation I do what AZStew does and a small triangular file and few strokes will put a nice clean groove that will never disappear.

[Bad Water Bill]

Please explain the reason you have for marking your cases and we may have better answers for others with the same problem.

[markinalpine]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=66487&highlight=coloring+brass

Try the above thread. Lots of information about chemically treating brass to color it. I don't know what some of these methods might do to the metallurgy, ie strength, or life of the brass. I just use a fat tip magic marker to color the heads of my semi-auto brass to make it easier to find when I'm picking it up. We have a lot of Federal employees firing .40s at our range, and it is a little annoying when trying to pick up my .45s
Mark :coffeecom

[1Shirt]

Well, think I will go with AZ Stews recommendation. Takes little time and is perm. Main reason I want to do this is to keep the same cases/same ctg for different rifles, and beyond that to seperate cases I load strictly for cast from those I shoot with jacketed. Am working with two 375H&H's right now, and have two 308's, two 243's, and two 6.5x55's. It is not as much a problem when I only have one rifle of a cal. Think I may also use this for chamber orientation on a couple of rifles as well. May help me group wise, even if that takes away another excuse for the 4th. round flier in a 5 shot group. Would be easier if I only had one rifle for the cal------Naw, that won't happen soon. Thanks guys.
1Shirt!::coffee:

[Doc Highwall]

I use to mark mine because I use to shoot with the state high power team with the M-14's and because the cases were thrown forward of the firing line along with everybody else's, you had to keep yours separated from another shooters. Both shooters could be shooting LC-66 and yours were on the second firing and the other persons were on their ninth firing and would not be good for accuracy due to work hardening.