Brass Rotation

[ncbearman]

So far I'm a .45 ACP and 9mm reloader. How critical/necessary is it to seperate once shot, twice shot etc.? I load with a single stage RC and do about 200 to 300 at a time. I have made a habit of careful attention to detail as when I start loading for my Dad's old M1 Garand I won't blow myself up.

Then the next question is when does it become critical/necessary to rotate brass.

Thanks in advance many times over gentlemen.

[engineer401]

I've never rotated brass in the last 20 years of reloading. I never thought of doing so. It all comes out well for me.

[geargnasher]

Waste of time for those calibers. I don't even sort by headstamp anymore. Rifle brass shot for accuracy is a totally different story.

Gear

[felix]

If you have close fitting dies, then brass selection would be chosen based upon thickness and inserted boolit size. This can be done only by sensing seating pressure and measuring the finished out-of-round cartridge dimension. The latter can be ignored for anything less than 25 yard shooting; starts showing up at 50 for sure. If the round feels stiffer than average during seating, put that round in a different pile. Same for much looser. You should end up with 3 piles after a seating session. Needless to say, make sure all boolits are uniform when separating cases by this method. Auto-rifle rounds NEED both criterias when selecting cases. The pre-selection of auto-pissola cases by brand is a joke on you and me. That would be a feel-good proposition at best, but I do it for this reason anyway (sometimes), and more often with auto-rifle cases. ... felix

[Roundnoser]

I rotate pistol brass in lots of approx. 1000 pieces. No real reason for it. Just my thing. -- I load, shoot, clean and reload that same 1000 until I notice regular signs of stress in the brass. Then I just throw it in the scrap can, and pull out another 1,000.

I load standard target rounds, so its not very punishing on the brass. Its lasts quite awhile.

[bumpo628]

Pistol brass, No.
Rifle, Yes.

[Reverend Recoil]

For service rifle competition I only rotate my Lapua brass that is used for 600yd prone. I use Lake City brass for 200 and 300yd. I make no effort to keep track of how many times each Lake City case has been re-sized. When 10-20% of them seem to have loose primer pockets and split necks I throw out that whole group of cases and start with another group of 1000 cases. That cycle occurs every other year. Two barrels are burned out in the process as well.

[tenx]

used to shoot bullseye pistol, used newer brass for the long line (50 yards) and the much fired for the 25 yard short line. the stuff that was beat to the point the headstamp was hammered/split/bad primer pockets/etc. was stuff that i would scatter out for the brass hounds on the firing line that scarffed up everyones brass.

[DCM]

Pistol brass, No.
Rifle, Yes.

+1 on that.

[dragon813gt]

Mine go in ammo cans so it's sort of a rotation. I date when the can was full and pull the oldest first. It's all screwed up at this point. I have range pickups constantly coming into the mix so I lost track a long time ago.

Rifle is a different story. They are separated by a few different criteria.


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