22LR 224 bullets

[Lizard333]

I was wondering, do you guys sort your 22LR brass by manufacturer or do you just run with it? I did at first, but I'm wondering I the effort is worth it?

[rasto]

Yes I sorted 16 000 cases before processing it.
It is worthy believe me.
I was lucky mine came from 22 long rifle shooting yard and I divided it into 6 badges.
5 according brands and the last one unsorted (differend brands) for plinking.
First of all, I measured and weighted few samples and afterwards sorted.

http://i46.tinypic.com/j7b521.jpg

[blltsmth]

I do not sort mine by brand. Started doing this back in 1988 and sorted it all by brand. Now days I sonic clean it in citric acid and let it dry. The whole batch gets the propane torch treatment for annealing and then it goes through the de-rimmer (CORBIN). I then citric acid bath it again and let dry. I label cottage cheese cartons in .2 grain increments with stickies on the front and proceed to weighing them. By the time a carton is full, it goes in a zip-lock baggie and into a tote with the weight increment on the front for easy recognition. Makes life a lot easier cutting cores to weight as well, as you can do a whole lot for a certain weight at one time. You now have the makings for a bullet that has .2 grain weight difference when finished. If you look at the end stampings every time you add a core, you will be amazed at the different cases represented. It all takes time, but doesn't brand sorting take just as much? My 2 cents worth

[DukeInFlorida]

Sorting by brand is a waste of time, per se.

Even within a brand, you'll find some variations.

I found that some of the brands were too thick on the sidewall, for MY DIE SET (your die set will vary), and when I see one of those, I set it aside.

The rest of them, I just de-rim.

However, once de-rimmed, and before making cores, I weigh each de-rimmed piece, and place each one in a container, marked in 1 grain increments, by weight.

Then, I make cores to match the de-rimmed brass, giving me a target of 55 grains, combined weight.

For my 720 rounds per minute gun, that's not necessary. But if shooting for maximum accuracy and consistancy (which some of you will be striving for), sorting the brass by weight, rather than by brand name, is the way to go.

It's not tough to do matched cores for the weight sorted brass. Just remember that the most accurate cores are the ones made in three steps steps:
1) Rough chop your lead wire. about 4 grains over is the max you'll want.
2) Do a preform swaged core, a grain over
3) Do a final swaged core, right at the target weight.

You'll find that you are hitting the target grain weight right on the money this way.

[runfiverun]

i sort by brand.

when i run through and make bullets i use up all of my cci's/federal's whatever.
set up my core swager to target a weight based on a sample of the case weights.
then weight sort the final products.
the ones closest to the target weight
get another annealing on the nose section to make sure it is dead soft then used for hunting..
yeah i end with a few odd and end weights but the cups fill up eventually giving me another "set" of matched weights to use when needed.

[shooterg]

I sorted a bunch by brand - then got the bright idea to separate some by the firearm used(I shoot a buncha .22), thinking the firing pin indent would be exactly the same, so everything will be more uniform, right ? Didn't make any difference on target that I can tell. Weighing/sorting the completed bullets seems to provide more uniform groups for me.

[MIBULLETS]

For those who sort finished bullets by weight. How much weight variance do you allow for a group of bullets?

[uscra112]

If my ongoing and fairly detailed study of .22 rimfire ammo (for my single-shot target rifles) has any merit, I would definitely sort by brand. Process control is what makes good .22 ammo. Just as for centerfires, consistency, consistency, consistency. There's a coupla dozen (or more) characteristics that they control, and given the significant superiority of match ammo, I'd expect that they control brass analysis, thickness and case weight, (to name just three) as closely as they do everything else. Now, I don't swage bullets from .22 cases, but I am a retired process control engineer, so I'm more than a little familiar with the subject.

[sargenv]

I tend to go by the largest decimal value.. for 55, I go 55.0-55.9, 56 goes 56.0-56.9, and so on.. I can't tell the difference under 200 yards on a 10" plate between a 55.0 or a 55.9..

[rasto]

I started sorting because during the finalizing process (point forming) was the bullet sticking on the upper punch.
By meantime I eliminated that but anyway still the best way to go for consistency for me.
And my variance is 55-55.4 max

By the way, be aware of the brand only separating. If they are producing more then one product or it was made in different year so weight samples from time to time

[DukeInFlorida]

.... which is why I don't sort by brand, but by weight.. and then make the cores to match the weight of the brass = 55 grains total.

And, if you sort by weight after the swaging is done, and only want 55 grain, you'll throw lots of work away.

[rasto]

.. but when is your bunch of brass from the same source you are a winner by brand sorting.

[Lizard333]

I sort by brand, and by weight. .3 gn is as far as I allow for deviation. This allows me to be more consistant through the whole process.

[DukeInFlorida]

My method doesn't throw any brass away.

[ausrobbo]

I shoot 50m Olympic pistol in a single shot pistol. I have 19,000 empties, batched by the case of ammo they came from. About 3 years worth.
I was hoping this would mean I could treat each batch as identical.
But I have started swaging yet...

[DukeInFlorida]

I believe that you will find variances in weight, piece to piece. Even from the same lot from the same vendor.

However, ask yourself this question: "What do I expect from these swaged bullets?"

If you only require pretty good bullets for plinking, and +/- 1 grain variations are OK for bullet weight.......... don't do anything special. Just clean inside and out... the gritty/sticky powder residue on the inside is the most important part to clean.

If you're looking for competitive shooting quality bullets, sort them by weight. And, then make cores that are matched to each weight, so that they all end up where you want the target weight.

Benchrest shooters carefully choose components, and then carefully match cores to jackets, and finally sort resultant bullets by weight.

So, you can make these as good as you need them to be.

[ausrobbo]

Thanks. Once I have my swage setup going, I'll follow your advice and weight them and see how it goes.
I'm assuming there is no point weight before they are cleaned?

[Lizard333]

I wouldn't. You will still have all the primer residue in the base. Sort them by head stamp and then clean them in batches. Thats when I weigh all mine.

[DukeInFlorida]

Clean em first, especially the insides