weighing brass?

Colonel Sanders

Colonel Sanders

New member
Just wondering how many of you guys weigh your brass? Tried it tonight...Kinda suprised at how they vary. The winchester brass varies a few grains. They were all from the same box. The lake city stuff I have was a little more consistent. As was the hornady stuff. Not sure if I even need to weigh it. But just wondering if you guys do and if it plays any roll in performance. Sorry bout the icon my little boy liked the green one.
 
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Well, I weigh my brass for the 22-250, but as far as the other bigger calibers go...I just stay with the same brand casing and don't worry about the weight.
 
Helps determine case capacity, reduces fliers. I've done it once, not worth
it to me. It's a must in bench rest competitions but in the field I have a lot
more working against accuracy than the case variances.
 
I'll check by headstamp to make sure they're all in the same general weight. As far as sorting it down to a couple grains, nope.
I made a test run to see if that ".223 military brass is heavier/thicker than commercial" story was true.
Nope, none I ever found.

7.62 NATO is a lot heavier than .308 commercial, though, so be aware of that little nugget of info. I won't mix those together.
 
I sort all of my brass by weight. The criteria I use is 1.5%.
So, I sort by putting all cases that fall within 1.5% of each other in one group.
I've never used any Lapua brass, but I hear good things about it. I do have some Norma brass, and it needs no sorting as it all falls well within the 1.5% criteria.
I think addressing case weight variation is just one of the many variables in the accuracy equation.
Besides, I'm retired and time is available to do the case weighing. I feel there is a correlation between case weight and internal case volume, and that's why I do it.
And, my groups have not gotten worse by weight sorting, but they sure have improved by doing it along with addressing all of the other variables in shooting accuracy.
 
I have shot some of my smallest groups with random brass - I am sure it makes a difference, but not sure it is worth it (and yes, I have done it myself).

Maybe if you had a custom with a blue printed action, etc.
 
If match shooting or even PDs, I will. I try to keep all brass sorted by lot and times fired, even the stuff I don't weigh. Does it make a difference?......That depends on what you are looking for. When sniping prairie poodles at distance, I contend that it does. And I am certainly not going to drive a thousand miles for a highpower match with mixed brass.
John
 
Quote:I feel there is a correlation between case weight and internal case volume, and that's why I do it.


There absolutely is. If they weigh more, and the outside dimensions are the same, the internal volume has to be less (as long as they use the same alloy).
Brass weighs a lot more than powder or water, though, so it's not even close to a 1:1 ratio.

For hunting ammo where I'm shooting an unknown distance and using my knee for a bench, it's a waste of effort to shoot benchrest-quality ammo.

That's just my opinion.

I'm not weighing the bullets, checking for run-out, uniforming every primer pocket and meplat, shooting match-grade bullets or neck reaming, either.

Quote:And I am certainly not going to drive a thousand miles for a highpower match with mixed brass.


In that case, it's a different story, I agree. You do a lot more than just sort the brass by weight, though, I'll bet.
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I sort my cases by weight after I prime them and right before I start loading powder. It's too easy with the RCBS Chargemaster. I load them in the tray and can figure on pretty consistent 5 shot groups that way or at least rule out the brass weight being a factor.
 
Col.Sanders...virgin brass is inconsistent in its weight due to diff lengths & inside burrs...no sense weigh'n cases til cases hav all been trimmed to same length/necks turned/flash holes deburred/primer pockets uniformed....virgin lapua & norma hav a reputation as being the most overall consistent...i do all the above for about half of my long guns but i don't weigh cases...unless i just get plain curious one day.
 
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This is all once fired brass that has been resized, trimmed, deburred, and ready to load. I weighed it out of curiosity. But I was surprised at the differences. Probably should have never put it on the scales, I've added another variable that I'm not sure if I need. Gun shoots 3/4" groups I guess I was looking for the holy grail of sorts. Probably need to just shoot it and be merry.
 
Now I find this kind of stuff very informative and helpful in trying to produce more accurate reloads. Thus far, I've been separating my resized brass using .10 as the variance tolerance. But heres something I'm not sure about, I don't weigh the casings UNTIL I've put the primers in them. IS there any difference in weighing the resized brass without the primers. What really leaves me wondering sometimes, is I re-weight the finished casings (with bullet in place) and I'm finding even a less difference between those and the resized brass without powder and the bullet. Even regardless of those difference, I'm actually not noticing that big of an improvement. SO are my expectations to high or am just not paying enough attention to the final fired groupings?
 
I really don't know how to explain your observation. So, you are saying the variance is actually less once the round is complete. I have never tried that, for that purpose. I do sometimes weigh with the primer in place, it does not seem to make a difference.

I don't think your expectation are out of whack. You can mess up one thing in the whole process and turn out bad ammo. In order to turn out excellent ammo, you have to do all the little things right. Even if you don't shoot BR, it is really informative to learn their brass prep techniques. Talk about anal......
John
 
Thx for the response. And as to weighing the final product, that was strictly a FLUKE (sorry no stroke of genius...far from it), but once I did it, I actually found less variance than when I started with just resizing an empty casing. And yeah, I'm finding I am starting to fit that "Anal" category, but its more from being concerned about a possible mistake than anything else. Guess I'll do just about anything to put five rounds through one hole in the target. That is pretty much an impossibility, but it sure is fun trying to get there. It may never happen, but it ABSOLUELY won't happen if I don't try.
 
KFC...then the weight variances ur seeing is wall thickness and/or head/rim variances...brass is mechanically drawn so it's amazing to me that it's as good as it is...i hav only 1 benchrest type rifle & when i play with it i keep notes...there are other aspects of my shooting abilities that affect my group size than brass weight...
 
I don't weigh my cases. I've got a couple of rifles that will shoot under a half minute consistently without doing so. I can't imagine enough variation in case capacity, as measured by case weight, to make a difference in anything but the highest level of benchrest competition, certainly not hunting or varmint rifles.

Bullet runout, that's a different matter. If I were of a mind to get real anal about my homeload QC, that's where I'd start.
 
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