Mixed headstamp loading??

[Vettepilot]

I'm guessing this might have been covered in the past, but I couldn't find an answer to my exact question, so here goes... apologies if it's a stupid question and/or has been thoroughly covered before.

So I just bought a batch of 308 range brass, and have sorted it by headstamp. I ended up with some Federal, PPU, Lake City, etc., in batches of 40 to 80 or more. No problem there; just work up a load for each headstamp.

But I also ended up with around 200 or so in assorted headstamps. Some I have 3 of, some 8, some 5, etc., etc. What is the best way to deal with those??

Hypothetical case:

Let's say you have Federal brass, and it averages (xx) internal water volume, and you work up a safe, yet fast load for it. Could you then safely take a brand "X" headstamped case, that measures the SAME internal volume, and load it the same as the Federal??

What are acceptable safe internal volume tolerances in 30 cal brass?

Thanks for any and all insights,
Vettepilot

[hoodat]

308 brass is plentiful enough that I'd simply obtain a batch of one brand and save myself the hassle.

You can always use the mixed stuff for lower level stuff, cast bullet plinkers and such. jd

[Minerat]

I've never sorted 308, except to load a set load in matching name cases. I never load to max anyway so don't worry about volumes.

The last load run by the labradar were mixed LC 7.62 & Federal .308 cases loaded 42.2 gr 4064 and a 165 g Vmax. Ave. Muzzle velocity 2530, SD 5.66 & extreme spread 11.73 accuracy 1.2" @ 100 yds out of a Mossberg model 800 cases did not seem to make a difference as the mv on first 3 was 2527 (1-FC, 1 LC66, 1LC87). I'll be interested to see what the consensus is on this, call me open minded on the subject.

[Harter66]

Having had the prima Donna rifle ........and her sister the tramp , I can say without a doubt that will work perfectly not at all .

I had a 110 Savage 06' that wanted match prep brass and .3 gr , 27 kernels of 4350 was the difference between 2690 and 2710 fps MV and a .690 and 1.55" group .
The sister in 308 was a garbage disposal and shot 2" within 4" of POH with whatever fell off the shelf with a bullet under 175 gr . Yes , yes it was a weight thing as I tried several 180 RN that were shorter than 150 BTSP and a lot shorter than 165/8 SSTs etc . The only thing that caused me grief was LC Match which would stick hard with any load in it .

Only you and your rifle know . I'd work up a load in one of the bigger lots get a good load and duplicate it in the other big lots then trade off the smaller ones for more of the preferred Head Stamp/s . Some times a particular maker of brass just won't talk to a particular arm . I had 2 that delivered the goods 100% with RP and 5 that had feed , extraction , pressure like issues , and just generally didn't shoot up to much over poorly . Neither of which are a condemnation of RP , and I doubt very much that 8.0 Unique under a 255 in a 45 Colts was an over pressure load , it just wouldn't shoot .

[trapper9260]

The only time I will not use mix brass on the 308 Win is take the mil. brass out of the mix since it is thicker then the other brass, then I just load the mix brass as normal loads and then the mil. LC type a different load I work up on it .

[Winger Ed.]

I'd do the normal sorting of the larger batches.

On the odds & ends, if they are FL sized, and trimmed, then weighed-
The ones that weigh within a grain or two:
There may still be a little bit of a variable due to case web thickness, but you should be real, real close on internal volume too.

I haven't seen it mentioned much anymore-
The older books used to tell ya to decrease powder charges by one grain or so to compensate for the thicker walls
and smaller volume of the heavier GI brass. Just out of habit, I still keep them separate.

[Hick]

If the internal volumes of the two cases are the same it does not matter if they are different headstamps. The pressure limits have nothing to do with the brand of brass-- they are for the receiver that supports the brass.

The only time different headstamps matter is when the internal volumes are NOT the same, such as military brass versus commercial brass. Then you can different pressures because of the different internal volumes.

[Rcmaveric]

Plinking ammo. I dont realy care. I will mix head stamps. I am shooting for fun and its still accurate enough. Some times you can see distinct groupings and sometimes it looks like a larger group than normal. Depends on caliber and case. I notice more distinct groups the larger the case. IE 9mm looks like a larger group than normal, Grendel looks like its starting distinct groups but is still clustered and 270 Win looks like distinct individual groups.

You can sometimes use cases with similar enough case volume. I do that with Grendel ammo since brass 7.62×39 is hard for me to find. Its good enough.

When shooting when it counts I match head stamps and weigh cases. Guess it all depends is it for fun, bragging rights, money, meat or a life.


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[tunnug]

Been loading for many years and have never worried about mixing headstamps because I've always loaded middle of the road, when I started shooting matches was when I would stick to one headstamp and only for the gun I'd be using, all other times it was just for plinking so I didn't care, when I hunt I use factory load.

[Vettepilot]

Great answers guys, and thanks!!

Are there any "rules of thumb" or formulas for reducing powder charges for lower volume cases??

Vettepilot

[Rcmaveric]

Naw. I just use the same load. The pressure characteristics are really only enough to shift POI.

[charlie b]

Kinda same as everyone else. Any mixed brass I keep for my plinker loads. Different cases really don't matter much when you are only loading 5-10gn of powder. I drill out the flash hole on these.

My jacketed full power loads are in Lapua brass, weight sorted.

Cast bullet loads for accuracy are in single headstamp. Also weighed but with wider margin than the Lapua stuff. They also get the flash hole drilled out.

[Dieselhorses]

I guess that at holds true for .223 and 5.56? I have a mess of over 4000 pieces being processed. Trying to research the innards of different brand .308 cases but here is .223/5.56:

[Krag 1901]

I'd prep and trim the Mixed lot then weight sort to match case weights into 50 rnd lots.
Years ago I got a mess of LC Match brass and weight sorted out 50 within 1 grain of each other. I've been using that brass for a long time and it always shoots well.

[charlie b]

I guess that at holds true for .223 and 5.56? I have a mess of over 4000 pieces being processed. Trying to research the innards of different brand .308 cases but here is .223/5.56:

Yes, on the .223, especially military vs commercial. Also, some of the commercial stuff (like some Federal) is actually military spec brass. I do not weight sort my .223 but I do keep headstamp separate. Most of the time I use Lapua simply because of how many times I can reload it. I don't have thousands of surplus cases around. But, I am also shooting 1/2 MOA accuracy levels.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

My experience with 5.56/ .223 brass is that they are close in internal volume. It's the 7.62/ .308 you need to be careful of.

[Soundguy]

id seperate nato from commercial and load like that...

[Beaverhunter2]

The truly random 2's and 3's I throw together loaded with my standard load- 43.0gr of IMR 4064 or 42.0gr of SWM or Tu 5000, pretty much any LR primer and a 150gr or 147gr FMJBT. Shoots 2.5" or better groups at 100yds with similar POA. Then I put it on the shelf for a rainy day. Cheap blasting ammo but accurate enough to be usable.

You'll be surprised how it adds up over time.

[Wag]

I wouldn't get that OCD about it unless I were loading for competition. Aside from that, just put the odd brass into a plinker batch and load away.

Most of us don't shoot competition and if you did, you'd want to fine tune every tiny little detail from buying brass that is from the same lot, to using competition dies and primers, to measuring the least variance in case volumes. Etc. Etc. There are a hundred such details.

But you buy once-fired range brass, you're already NOT getting the consistency you can get with a truly engineered OCD box of ammo!

For what it's worth, I used to sort brass by head stamp too but in recent years, I'm not that worried about it any more.

--Wag--

[Budzilla 19]

I separate the military from the commercial, and headstamp ,like LC Match, get put together,in its own batch box. Plinkers get the few” oddball” headstamps, and, like mentioned before, if shooting for score,or for meat on the table, those loads get the most attention as to the details, like trim length, weight sorting, flash hole debur , etc, etc. Otherwise, load them middle of the road, plinking loads, and be happy. Just my .02. Be safe, and Happy 4 th of July!!!!