MIXING CASINGS..

[DoD1776]

I've mixed up a lot of my 06' casings, what do I do? Is there a way to know which brand is which? I.e. The primer?

 

[DoD1776]

Bottom paragraph

 

[dsdmmat]

Look at the head stamp

 

[meketrefe]

Dayten,
A) read a reloading book and take notes of all your questions but do not stop because many will be answered as you move forward.
B) Watch some youtube videos.
Among all the garbage this guy is an exception and he seems to have very good close up footage and he obviously knows how to reload very well. I have only seen a few videos but it looks to me this could be of great help to someone new.

 

[Acer-m14]

some brass has thicker walls which can have a effect .... research the stamp on the case .. who made it
.. thicker wall , less volume for powder ... the head stamp will be like WIN .. winchester , REM .. Remington .. marked around where the primer goes




in reloading go low and work up ...
you know i reload for 270 .. same brass as 30-06 just neck is made for 270 and not 30 cal
i'm not shooting 500 yrd at a deer .. under 100 yrds where i hunt .. why would i load to max ?? just to hurt my shoulder lol ..
there is a lot you can do when making your own ammo ..

lots to read and absorb into them brain cells LOL ..

this is just for 223 to 300 blackout .. 223 case 22cal to 30 cal with same case cut down ..
go and no go from case wall .. neck around bullet head to thick .. may not chamber correctly ..

STICKY - Good/Bad brass list converting 5.56->300blk - 300BlkTalk

 

[Acer-m14]

i reloaded a bunch of rounds for my 270 .. went to range wth .. can't close the bolt .. and this bullet profile is sleek to the other .. wth the hell is off .. the REM .. Remington brass i picked up needed the neck shoulder to be resized back a bit more .. the guys here help me figure that out ..

when in doubt .. post and we will help ya ..

 

[thegatman]

Always be careful when reloading. Military NATO brass is sometimes thicker. Like putting 5.56 into a .223 chamber.

 

[meketrefe]

Always be careful when reloading. Military NATO brass is sometimes thicker. Like putting 5.56 into a .223 chamber.

thegatman,

if you mind let me add something because I think your comment might lead to some confusion.

While certain military brass might be thicker at the web/call junction area it doesn't make any difference after full length resizing and trimming to spec.
In this case what it might be different is that there is slightly less capacity so when building a load one should take note of the brass and consider this when one is aproaching high pressures, and also for consistency with the average loads.
But in fact many military cases are not thicker but what they are is harder brass. Lets say Lake city NATO vs. the 223 remington. The lake city has actually less thickness and more capacity yet it is a much stronger case than lets say a federal case that is soft brass.

This is what makes LAke city and WWC NATO cases great donors for achieving the greatest performance.
Regarding putting a 5.56 case in a 223 chamber most modern 223 chambers are backwards compatible with the 5.56 and the most critical dimension is
on the throat and the free bore so as soon as the brass is trimmed accordingly and bullets are not rammed into the chamber it makes no difference.
There are at least a dozen 223R reamers that 223 chambers are cut with that are perfectly compatible with 5.56 and while the chamber might be labeled
223R it will take any load and any bullet. I mean giving this is a modern firearm with a proper bolt and such that in most cases have no problem of taking
the 62K psi of the hottest 5.56 recipe. In terms of the other critical dimension that is the headspace they are totally compatible.

So in summary one should know one's chamber by spending some time taking some measures and perhaps assembling a couple of dummy/inert rounds
that indicate the maximum Cartrige overal length. This will also tell you about the freebore. If one can find the longest possible cases available one can find out about the Max trim length for the neck that is always a good thing specially because after resizing once fired or even new brass one should trim
for consistency and safety.

One should also understand the brass and segregate accordingly by headspace, batch/year and weight if one has time. But in a case like the 30-06
and larger, small differences in internal capacity have less relevance than in smaller cases like the 223. Simply because 1 grain +/- over 30gr is a much
larger % variation than 1gr+/- over 69gr. In a winchester magnum small variations in powder charge have zero effect while in a small case like a 5.7FN
can be the cause for huge changes in speed and even over pressure.

I hope this makes sense.

Example of 223 reamers most backwards compatible with 5.56 ammo. There are many more.

 

[thegatman]

very informative @meketrefe. Thanks.

 

[BerettaGuy]

I tried separating my 38 target loads, Total bordem set in, I made it a game for my grandkids event they got bored after a while. Screw it, I just inspect the case at every stage. tumbling case sizing loading crimping The silver ones tend to split. If you are dealing with precision long range rifle then that is different, it is also unlikely that you have 12 to 1500 rifle rounds to load so the separation issue is highly down sized.

 

[meketrefe]

very informative @meketrefe. Thanks.

Thanks for the kind comments. I am just trying to add some info in good faith not to criticize anyone.
Many times we hear things but there is no explanation that might make things even more confusing especially for beginners.
I would say with military brass there is always the consideration of cutting or swagging the military crimp from the primer pockets
that adds one extra step to the brass preparation (one time deal only) but other than that spent military cases can be as good as the
brass one can buy new.

I would say for cases that are really old like late 40's, 50's one should take some time in disassembling some and dissecting one or two cases
and see the state of brass and cutting through the web to see if there is any corrosion or any indicator that will prevent us from using
that brass. Other than that once fired surplus 30-06 for example can be used for reloads even very old cases. No difference.
Of course after properly inspected, segregated and prepared just like anything.

In this case a rimmed case has been cut to inspect the situation of the walls after several high pressure firings.

I would say this is the most critical area in terms of avoiding head separation so any stretching or rust or anything looking abnormal and
not solid below that point should be discarded. This is also why head-space and proper case support at the base is so important upon firing.

 

[Darth]

I separate brass by headstamp only for rifle. I use mixed brass for pistol.

 

[Exonautic]

This topic made me think of a question. So i know that factory 556 should not be fired in a 223r chamber.what if you load a light 5.56 casing though. Does the difference in case dimension really make that big of a difference that a light load would cause a spike in pressure that causes unsafe conditions?

 

[meketrefe]

This topic made me think of a question. So i know that factory 556 should not be fired in a 223r chamber.what if you load a light 5.56 casing though. Does the difference in case dimension really make that big of a difference that a light load would cause a spike in pressure that causes unsafe conditions?

I was hoping I answered that above.

A 5.56 might be fired on a 223 Remington chamber if the 223 chamber has been made with a reamer that allows for this.
We don't see too many 223 SAAMI chambers with the tightest tolerances that is why one should understand how the chamber is made.
Currently manufactures use 223 reamers with more tolerances to improve in two areas: A)Versatility B) Prevent potential liabilities

A 5.56 casing light or hot (it doesn't matter) might be fine as the case itself can take the higher 5.56/NATO pressures.
The key is to know what type of 223R chamber one has and of course one's rifle but most modern rifles can take higher pressures without
any problems.

The critical dimensions are on the neck length, and free bore and there are 223R chamber variants with higher tolerances than
the 5.56 itself. Even the 5.56 can be different depending on the reamer chosen by the barrel/chamber maker.

An old surplus case longer than usual, perhaps out of spec, might pinch the mouth of neck in an older 223R chamber and this might create additional pressure. But if you look at some current reamers you will see some 223 chambers will give more room than the 5.56 itself. Same thing with the freebore to make sure bullets are not jammed into the lands (rifling). The 5.56 gives plenty of tolerances to make sure they can run with NATO and 223 ammo from all over the world including dust and filth from battle. But as you can see they are not the only chambers that can take extra neck length or extra freebore.

Don't think about the 223 and 5.56 too differently but in order to pump loads to 62K psi one needs strong brass and for this a lot of military brass is good but also lapua, nosler, winchester, etc...

The key is what 223 reamer was used to cut your chamber? When in doubt, ask the manufacturer. ..but it can also be measured.

 

[Shadow2]

doe they have different amounts of firings? or is it just random lots of brass?