Head stamp

[45fan]

I have been on the selling and swapping thread and i have a question. Why when brass is being traded or bought and sold do people let you know what the head stamp markings are? What difference does the marking make on brass for reloading purposes? And is one marking better than another? I have been known to pick up range brass and while I am just getting started casting and reloading if there is something about a particular head stamping I am unaware of I would like to know or is it all just personal preference?

[Adam10mm]

Generally it's mixed brass meaning a bunch of different makers. Some hand sort for all the same headstamp in a lot, which adds labor and price. In the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter much. Same headstamp gives to consistency, but for most purposes it's overkill. Unless you can shoot a match and win a few thousand dollars doing so, don't worry about it. Brass from the big guys like Starline, Winchester, Remington, Federal, CCI, Speer, Independence, Blazer (CCI brand), Hornady are all good brass. Just clean, load and shoot.

[Ola]

Some brands are better than other IN CERTAIN CALIBER.

Maybe some examples will help you understand what I mean:

in .308 Win I prefer Lapua and Norma brass over Sako, Sellier & Bellot and Magtech (the most common brands here). Lapua and Norma brass has the best over all quality if one wants to load accurate cartridges.

In .44 Mag I use exclusively Magtech and S&B because they are always available and the quality is good. F.e. IMI's .44 Mag brass goes straight to the pin (loses its neck tension very fast).

[bobthenailer]

IME i have found useing the same headstamp brass for a certian load gives you more constiancey/ better accuracy. If your really serious only use the same lot # brass
But it really comes down to how well you can shoot to use the improved accuracy ?
The rule ive allways stuck to is get the best guns & ammo avalible ! the rest is left to you and your shooter ability level . if you have a handgun load combo that will group 1 inch at 25 yards verses a 3 inch group. you have allready made yourself a better shooter because your load is more accurate. even though you may not be able to use all of the increased accuracy you will shoot better or put more shots in the center of the target.
As a example years ago i had a accurate load that would consistantly group 1 inch at 25 yards so i did a test , i loaded it up with 13 different brands of 38 special brass, my group size almost tripled in size and i had velocity spreads over 100 fps.
Another advantage is i use a specfiec brand of brass for a certian load .
Example 44 mag, WW- 6.0 TG @850 fps, FED -7.0 TG @ 980 fps , NORMA -13.0 HS6 1250 fps ,
Midway- 19.0 820 @1350 , Starline for my ss rpm xl and PMC for jacketed hunting ammo and this is only for the 44mag , i do the same for all of my other calibers guns but the brands of brass my vary.

[shooterg]

Mostly for pistol I don't care. For maximum loads, a case with thicker brass/smaller volume could cause a pressure problem. For precision rifle loads with J-words, I get REAL picky on brass .

[Sonnypie]

They let you know because some folks care.
I'm one of those that does.
I prefer Military Brass over "any old" commercial brass. Commercial brass is often meant to pop-N-drop, and has stamp formed primer pockets with tinny bases.
My old Military Brass has solid bases.
I mostly shoot Federal Arsenal 1934, and Lake City 1953 for rifle.
Most of my old 45 ACP brass is 1932 head stamp.
The more consistent one can be with their components the more consistent the end result can be.
A friend in Alaska has been gathering 45 ACP for me from his local range and much of that has been Federal 45 Auto from the Coast Guard guys practicing. It seems to be really good brass in my opinion. Cleans up real good (http://s1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa382/Sonnypie/45%20ACP%20Brass/?action=view&current=P3020311.jpg).
Just any old brass will have variations in the case volume. So I like to try and load lots when I grind out my ammo.
If I'm going to take the time, I might as well do the best I can. ;)

[Wayne Smith]

S&B (Sellier and Beloit) [probably miss spelled both!] tend to have tight primer pockets.

[km101]

For best accuracy in my rifle loads, I sort by manufacturer and weigh cases for uniform capacity. This and a few other steps produce better accuracy in rifle loads.

For handgun loads I generally dont sort headstamps other than commercial and military brass. The military brass is thicker and heavier and in max or near-max loads will produce a difference in pressure, so I adjust my loads down some when shooting max loads with military brass.

IMHO sorting by headstamp makes a difference in rifle loads, but not so much in handgun loads, as I don't shoot much over 75 yds. with a handgun anymore.

[km101]

They let you know because some folks care.
I'm one of those that does.
I prefer Military Brass over "any old" commercial brass. Commercial brass is often meant to pop-N-drop, and has stamp formed primer pockets with tinny bases.
My old Military Brass has solid bases.
I mostly shoot Federal Arsenal 1934, and Lake City 1953 for rifle.
Most of my old 45 ACP brass is 1932 head stamp.
The more consistent one can be with their components the more consistent the end result can be.
A friend in Alaska has been gathering 45 ACP for me from his local range and much of that has been Federal 45 Auto from the Coast Guard guys practicing. It seems to be really good brass in my opinion. Cleans up real good (http://s1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa382/Sonnypie/45%20ACP%20Brass/?action=view&current=P3020311.jpg).
Just any old brass will have variations in the case volume. So I like to try and load lots when I grind out my ammo.
If I'm going to take the time, I might as well do the best I can. ;)

Sonnypie, where did you get this ancient brass? You shouldn't be shooting this! It's probably too valuable. LOL Some collectors whould probably love to have it. :) I have some WWII ammo and brass that I thought was old, but nothing pre-war.

[Huntducks]

All my rifles are for hunting I only punch paper for new loads or fun.

I stick to Win brass in 75% of my rifles my 260 gets resized LC match my 7mm-08 gets resized R&P my 17-250 likes R&P.

Now pistol if i'm using it for hunting I stick to same mfg, plinking is mixed brass.

[o6Patient]

In the old days win brass held more powder than rems. rems at that time were generally considered
better because they had a thicker wall and the necks seemed to be annealed better. But they held
couple 3 grains less than the wins, I quite often liked the wins for certain applications ie 30-06 AI
because they held more powder and the brass being a bit harder at the head is not a bad thing so I would
anneal the win brass necks and sort of had the best of both worlds at a reasonable cost.
Can't say what's what nowadays.

[eggsmith]

These sites shoud be all you need for headstamp and a lot more.

http://cartridgecollectors.org/?page=headstampcodes
http://www.lasc.us/

[Love Life]

IME (the 200 cases I have) Winchester 308 brass has more case capacity. When I was doing some testing with 208 gr AMAX bullets I used the winchester brass for that reason.

My preferred 308 brass is 1x fired milsurp brass.

[Bwana]

Do you put just any old oil in your vehicle. Same thing with brass. For those who know and care, it makes a difference.

[USMC87]

I sort my rifle and pistol brass by headstamp, I really don't think it is that big of a difference but I do it for my own cause.