I’m sure this has been covered, but I figured I would ask anyway. I’m gonna reload some 77grn bullets for my AR-style rifles and all things considered we all want one-hole groups, LOL but that aside do you guys keep with all the same headstamp/make, or is mixed ok? I have buckets of once-fired mixed and for general 55grn blamo I have no concerns. For my bolt gun it’s all the same and documented times fired, etc but being an AR just wondering if it matters. Thanks for any thoughts of input. For what it’s worth I will have access up to 1000yrds which I know is pushing the 556/223 anyways but figured I would ask.
I never used to sort 5.56 brass, but now I sort it all because there’s so many different brass weights. Used to be everything was pretty close, but with more import ammo there’s greater variations.
I keep it simple. All LC regardless of year, All FC, etc.
If you weigh the different brands you can get an idea of which ones to run together, but I’m at the point where I just run Wolf Gold or PMC in their own batches.
I’ve been running all headstamps together for blaster ammo and saving the LC for accuracy loads.
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I kinda so similar. If I get a good bath of LC, I load good stuff… 77s, etc.
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That’s good info guys, thanks. I have tons of LC, just all different dates mixed together, so I’ll pull out the LC and call it a day. I know there is Rem/PMC/ROC/ FC, etc but I’ll grab LC 5.56. Thanks, dudes! 
Not trying to duplicate my Tikka but I have one decent 18-inch DMR BBL that should do good enough with a little TLC. I’ll let ya know how I make out once winter finally stops its crap around here, LOL!
I don’t sort all of it, I get good accuracy with my primary load with mixed brass as it is, but I do have some of that segregated into separate HS, for longer range, or when greater accuracy is desired, as in zeroing, testing various things, etc.
It DOES make a difference.
Match grade stuff does get sorted by HS, to get the most out of those match-grade bullets.
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The more you can limit variables, the better accuracy/consistency you’re going to have. I keep all my brass sorted by lots. The only exception to this is that I will mix lots of the same headstamp if the headstamp is dated. One key that I’ve found that makes this pretty easy is doing the sorting immediately after shooting.
Last stupid question,LOL I just sorted out about 500 LC brass out of a can. All is LC but various years. Would you say that “most” LC is held to the same standard or they can vary year to year? Just being lazy but figured I would ask one more silly question. Thanks.
I’ve seen people who sort by year have great results, but I’d wager it’s a minor part of a very well done reloading process. I’ve experimented with other things, such as deburring and uniforming flash holes, but never sorting by year.
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I’ll admit I’ve wondered about that too, and when I’ve sorted for shooting really tight groups, I have sorted it into groups of the same 2-3 years.
Never done any empirical testing myself to know if it really mattered or not. I generally just throw all LC together, and still get good results.
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I weigh every case and group them accordingly. Some brass is much heavier, thicker case walls, less capacity. I have had loads that filled to just above the bottom of the neck in some cases, overflow others, so I started sorting by weight as it is quicker for me than to read the headstamp. If accuracy is priority, consistency is key.
That said, if all are the same headstamp they should be consistent in weight as well.
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This is why I still load blocks of 50 at a time and examine them with powder in them. I’ve had random cases completely full when every other case was only up to the neck. Call me risk-adverse, but I try to take every safety variable possible out of of the equation. Better accuracy is an additional benefit.
While I agree with you for the most consistency, weighing cases is the last thing I’m ever gonna do, LOL I’m not shooting PRS/Benchrest, etc and I’m fairly content with decent accuracy at minimum involvement. And yes, I am lazy, LOL. Just trying to develop something decent that may hang together well @ 2/3/400yrds, after all it’s only a 5.56 so I’m pushing it to say the least. I know markm and PB push it out to 1K and just have fun with it and I will be doing the same just for shits & giggles. Here is a target/group I shot a week or so ago with my 18-inch Ballistic Advantage bbl and an 8x scope, still gonna tweak the load and maybe swap a primer and see what I get and call it a day.
Velocity is down coming out of an 18-inch bbl but I’ll just deal with it, LOL Thanks everyone for their thoughts and ideas, I plan on getting out Sun/Monday as the weather is getting bearable in my neck of the woods so I will update after I hit the range. The top target is just some generic 55 FMJ bullets over TAC,2nd one is Berger 77 over CCI 400 SRP, and N140 @ 23.5 bottom is the same but a bigger dose of N140, can’t remember now I don’t have the info in front of me. Velocity for the 77s out of the 18-inch bbl was, 2310.5 AVG with the 23.5, ES was 78/SD 27.4. The next 77-grain load was 2454.3AVG with ES of 40.8 & 13.3 SD. Everything was better with a warmer load. I guess I will sort by year and see if that helps & I also have some new Starline 5.56 brass so I will load some of that and see if I get any better results. More info coming! All shots are @ 100yrds from a decent rest.
To me, what you’ve got there is acceptable.
I too have a BA 18", and my 75gr OTM, 55gr SP, and 62gr FMJ & SP loads all show groups just like yours. Same in my other barrels too, BA 16", PSA & DSArms as well.
I’ve taken the 62gr FMJ load to 460 yards, with both BA barrels, with excellent results. 1st round hits on steel 12x20 all day, once I learned the dope.
So to me that looks good. I get just a bit tighter groups w/ same headstamp, and I absolutely know they’d be tighter still if I sorted cases by weight, AND weighed every single charge.
I just have no real need, ot desire, to do the extra work. I’m less concerned about shaving 1 /16" off a perfect group, in perfect conditions, than I am abouy just hitting what I’m aiming at.
The last coyote I smoked didn’t look at his side and say “is that POI perfect?”, he just dashed a few yards and went DRT.
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That sounds good to me! Last night, I took the brass that I had prepped and looked @ the headstamp, sorted 10 02-LC and 10 04-LC, and pulled them aside. I had it already for my bolt gun/brass prep so I ran them through my mandrel die. Loaded as usual but put a very light crimp on 5 out of the 10-02 brass with the Bergers. On the 10-04 brass I did the same but loaded 5 Sierra 77TMKs & 5 of the Berger OTMs all loaded to 2.250 OAL, no crimp. Then I pulled some new Starline 5.56 brass from my stash, ran the mandrel through them, and loaded the same (24.8 N140) so I will get an idea if it’s a brass issue. I can’t get to the range till Sunday but plan both Sunday & Monday to finalize everything and go from there. I have a ton of Nosler 77s and some Hornady 75s also but as good as they perform I think the Berger & TMKs are a tic better, I’ll find that out as I go along.
Never tried those, but I’ve shot alot of 75gr Hornady BTHP (basically an OTM), and they perform very well, even out of a cheap-assed BCA barrel.
This experiment you’re performing is excellent, pure reloading experience right there. Eager to see results.
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