Are you "particular"?

[fatelk]

I've noticed something over the years, in regards to those who reload ammunition. Some of us are much more particular that others. For some it has to do with what type of shooting they do (benchrest or the like), for some it's discipline or training, for others it's just a personality thing.

I was talking to a friend a while back and he was showing me a relatively new gun he'd had for a while. He mentioned exactly how many rounds it had fired. I looked at him funny I guess, because I don't keep track of how many rounds my guns fire. He said he keeps a log of precisely how many rounds he fires through each gun on each range session. He said something like "Your car has an odometer, doesn't it?"

He also keeps careful track of how many times his brass has been loaded, and won't ever touch range brass, rifle or pistol. I also noticed in another thread several people mentioned how they retire brass after a certain number of loadings. Other people typically have no idea how many times a certain case has been loaded, and it get retired when it starts looking tired.

There's no judgement in my ramblings. To each their own; we all have our ways of doing things. It's just interesting to me how we do things differently.

[Dieselhorses]

It's all good if we articulate within reason when it comes to reloading and such as long as we don't become "complacent"

[John Boy]

Thanks for the ramble - happy to read you have nothing else important to do

[fatelk]

Sometimes a thought goes through my head and I type up something pointless and rambling. Most often I recognize the pointlessness of it and delete it before posting. Today I inadvertently posted it. I immediately looked for a way to delete the thread, but there must not be a way to do that?

[mattw]

I consider myself particular... I reload everything on a single stage. My bench guns are each weighed charges, weighed brass and weighed bullets. My cast bullets go back if they are not perfect. But, I fire brass until it dies. My bench brass starts showing ridges on the necks... it goes. I wipe down the outside of steel and SS guns at the end of every outing. I do not clean the bores on general purpose guns every time they are shot and I can't tell you how many times any of them have been fired. My bench gun barrels will let me know when they have been shot to many times. I do generally field strip a semi-auto each trip out and lube the lock work and patch the barrel. My exception... 10/22's and 22/45's get cleaned when they look gross or don't want to work correctly.

Give the above info... some of my guns never get fired. I collect S&W pre-lock SS revolvers. Several are user guns, even some of the less the 200 made Hortons. They get extra cleaning, but I am willing to loose 10% of the value to enjoy most of them. Excluded are several 610's, a couple of 625's, a 627 and a 632. That said... they may get shot some day, but I have shooters and these are safe queens.

There is a difference between anal and particular!

[Pressman]

The thread is an interesting look at personalities. Let's see what others have to say.

[robg]

I keep track by counting my primer usage .wipe guns down after use and maybe a pull through ,use brass till it splits or looks worn or damaged .wished I'd keep track when I started ,all loaded on a single stage press.

[jdfoxinc]

I toss brass when it is worn out, like me. I clean my gun when it needs it, oozing crud, or won't function. (If TETOWAKI occurs I'll clean them all before going out.) I love progressive presses. I do weigh every 10th powder drop. Range brass is free brass. Range lead is free lead.

[MyFlatline]

Never even considered counting rounds fired per gun, casings get used til the primers don't seat right or the neck splits. Then again, I anneal to prolong my brass life. I have "different" methods in reloading. I prefer to size and prime all my brass before I ever start to load. Is all stored and ready to go. I do this with shotshell as well. Maybe this is because of issues with the progressive press priming jambing on me in the beginning.

[fatelk]

I prefer to size and prime all my brass before I ever start to load. Is all stored and ready to go. I do this with shotshell as well. Maybe this is because of issues with the progressive press priming jambing on me in the beginning.

I do the same thing. I'll sit on the couch with a hand priming tool and a bucket of sized and wet tumbled brass (all sized on a single stage press with a case kicker- goes fast), and prime them while watching TV with my wife. It seems to make loading on the Dillon go so much faster and easier, and I don't have to worry about primer issues.

As to counting primers, I do have a bucket that I've been throwing empty primers in for many years. I have no idea how many are in there, but it weighs over 30 pounds.

[Grmps]

"Your car has an odometer, doesn't it?"

My guns don't there must be a reason for this.

[tazman]

If you are shooting for utmost precision, I can understand and see the need for meticulous care in everything having to do with their care and feeding.
For those who only need things to be good enough, that just isn't necessary.
You can be content with safe procedures and good accuracy while having a lot of fun both reloading and shooting.
My firearms all shoot better than I am capable of shooting them with the ammunition that I produce. I have seen them produce that really great accuracy when someone else shot them using my ammo.

[CastingFool]

I have an engineer friend that not only he can tell you how many rounds his rifles have fired, he scans each and every target, with weather conditions, etc. Besides dedicated brass, each rifle has its own die set. Completely cleans each rifle every season, whether it's been fired or not. Most of his rifles shoot moa at 200yds. His favorite round is the 308 W. He has 18 rifled chambered for the 308w.

[wv109323]

I am particular in volume loading. I load my .45 acp and .38 spec. on Star presses. The loading is proven by ransom resting on ocassion. With rifle plinking ammo I use thrown charges. If I use match rifle bullets then I weigh each powder charge.
I usually segregate my brass in ammo cases of 100 or 50 rounds each. When I see problems I usually toss the entire ammo case. Depending on caliber and usage ,I usually use the same headstamp in the ammo cases.
My loading practices on dependent on past experiences.

[marek313]

I dont get very anal about straight wall brass so I reload those until primer pockets are shut or brass splits. I resize and prime on single stage while I watch TV then do rest on my Loadmaster. Similar to what many other members here do.
I pay more attention to rifle brass and I separate it by head stamp, trim necks and clean primer holes etc. Stuff that I dont worry that much when working with common handgun calibers. I mark my rifle brass to keep track of how many times I reload it but its more of a guide just so I have an idea if its still worth reloading. I only use LC brass for 300AAC as i ran into some thick necks from other makers before and had to pull about 200 rounds so i dont want to do that again.
I have a notebook and I take notes and pics on my cell phone when I go to the range. I really have to get all my info better organized.
I'm an Engineer by profession but I hate documentation. I never took notes in college and I was lucky enough where most of my studying was done while walking between my car and classroom. I just had to listen in class to make sure I understood whatever we were working on and I was good.

So I guess I need odometer on my guns and a hot secretary to take notes for me.


I never understood how people can really keep track of rounds fired through a gun. Just sounds like a nightmare and a lot of effort. I have an idea , plus or minus 1K but not exact number or anything close to it.

[Hick]

I keep my brass in sets of the same head stamp, and keep track of how many times each has been reloaded-- so I guess that means I'm keeping track of how about many rounds each firearm has seen. I just do this to spread out the usage (keep all brass sets at about the same number of reloads). I run the brass until it starts to show splits. I don't weigh the brass and I don't individually weigh my cast bullets-- just look them over to see if the look OK. Range brass is fine with me (I've never, ever, bought factory ammo or brass for my CZ 527 in 223 Remington-- all it gets is reloads from someone else's used brass). I guess you could put me down as not very particular.

[Texas by God]

Peculiar, but not that particular.

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[bedbugbilly]

This is not meant to ruffle anybody's feathers . . .

There are all kinds of people . . .those who are competitive and those who aren't . . . it doesn't make a tinker's darn if it is in shooting, sports, keeping dandelions out of your yard . . . .

i have cast for a long time . . . usually have good casting runs . . . check them after they cool and if some have obvious issues with fill out due to being in the first part of the run - they go back in to the pot. That's about as "competitive" as I get or as "particular" about it.

I take good care of my guns, always have . . . but I don't keep round counts. Same as with my brass . . . I don't count number of times unless I'm REALLY curious . . . I check 'em and if bad, cull them.

To me, it's important to be "particular" about reloading the cartridge as far as safety goes . . and I never reload if someone is around and my attention is not 100%.

I used to shoot on a team for a number of years . . . it started out with a bunch of guys who wanted to do it to have fun. As time went on, fellows dropped out, new ones came in. All it took was a couple of guys who were "super competitive and particular" and the fun soon went away . . . and most of us went on to other things.

For those that are "particular" . . . I don't view it as a bad thing . . . it is just "their" thing. We all have our "quirks" and that's what makes us all individuals. It's only when a person gets excessively "OCD" about things that they really need to step back and take an honest look at themselves . . . as it's usually a symptom for something else that needs to be addressed.

It's about having fun . . . and people just enjoy it in different ways. When it stops to be fun . . . well . . . people change hobbies and interests all the time.

[MyFlatline]

This is not meant to ruffle anybody's feathers . . .

There are all kinds of people . . .those who are competitive and those who aren't . . . it doesn't make a tinker's darn if it is in shooting, sports, keeping dandelions out of your yard . . . .

i have cast for a long time . . . usually have good casting runs . . . check them after they cool and if some have obvious issues with fill out due to being in the first part of the run - they go back in to the pot. That's about as "competitive" as I get or as "particular" about it.

I take good care of my guns, always have . . . but I don't keep round counts. Same as with my brass . . . I don't count number of times unless I'm REALLY curious . . . I check 'em and if bad, cull them.

To me, it's important to be "particular" about reloading the cartridge as far as safety goes . . and I never reload if someone is around and my attention is not 100%.

I used to shoot on a team for a number of years . . . it started out with a bunch of guys who wanted to do it to have fun. As time went on, fellows dropped out, new ones came in. All it took was a couple of guys who were "super competitive and particular" and the fun soon went away . . . and most of us went on to other things.

For those that are "particular" . . . I don't view it as a bad thing . . . it is just "their" thing. We all have our "quirks" and that's what makes us all individuals. It's only when a person gets excessively "OCD" about things that they really need to step back and take an honest look at themselves . . . as it's usually a symptom for something else that needs to be addressed.

It's about having fun . . . and people just enjoy it in different ways. When it stops to be fun . . . well . . . people change hobbies and interests all the time.

Well said and I totally agree about getting to competitive. I have left many of a team sport because of it.

I want to have fun..

[modified5]

I am particular when it comes to firearm safety and reloading safety.
As far as round count, how many times a case has been reloaded, nope.
I used to go shoot ground squirrels every weekend and burn at least 1100 rounds every time between multiple firearms.
I had 1 .223 case that was a LC from1968 that finally split the base off. Complete separation.
I knocked the front half off and went back to shooting.
When they fail I throw them out.
Most of my brass is pick up also. I have no idea how much .223 brass I have and it’s all been free.