Brass weight and primer pockets

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cjd966

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I'm reloading for my Savage 12 in .223, and I've just recently started to sort my brass. I am using Winchester brass because I have lots of it, and because I don't compete. I have two questions:

1: This morning I weighed 100 cases (fireformed and trimmed to length). I reduced the lot to 60 within 1.5 grains (23.5 - 25.0). Is this a reasonable tolerance to use?

2: I just finished hand priming all 60. Of the 60, 50 felt fairly consistent, but I had 10 that were significantly easier to press the primer in. Should I cull the 10 cases right away, or just wait until after I see how it shoots?

Thanks
 
Are these your once fired brass or could they be someone else's reloads?
They should be kept separate. They may be safe but neither you or I know.
I use a plus or minus one grain for separating brass. My biggest concern is when I find one that is significantly heavier or lighter.
 
It depends on the difference in feel when priming. If they are sloppy as heck then get rid of them now. If you know the history of this brass and they went in with some resistance shoot them.

If you've gone to the bother of weight sorting I'm guessing these are new or brass you have once fired.

Which priming tool/press are you using?

Watch out you could be turning necks next. :D
 
There's nothing at all wrong with Winchester brass. I compete in iron sights prone shooting at 300 to 1000 yards, and I would not hesitate to use out-of-the-bag (unsorted, unweighed etc) Winchester 223 or 308 brass at a national competition at 300 500 and 600 yards (and to be honest I wouldn't lose much if any sleep using unsorted unprepped Winchester brass at 900 and 1000 yards either).

Those cases with the loose primers are likely to shoot just as well as the others. But since you do have lots of brass available, why not cull those loose-ish ones now? If not cull them, at least put them aside in a "figure out what to do with these, later" bucket.

In your weight sorting, you would have found your heaviest and lightest piece of brass. Mark their weight on them and set them aside. During your load development or testing, load them with your standard load. When things are going well with your standard load, also shoot the two rounds of ammo you've made with your heaviest and lightest pieces of brass. See if they differ in performance _at all_ from the rest of your sorted brass (if you're firing over a chrono, see if their speeds are within the range; if you are shooting on a target, see if their point of impact is inside the group; etc).
 
I've done the sort by wieght with 223. I used new brass and kept all the ones that were within 1gr of each other. I have to say that I did find they shot tighter groups than the unweighed brass.
 
The brass was bought as once fired, but has all been used multiple times through my gun.

I use a Lee hand priming tool. Of the 10, there were two or three with very little resistance, but all 10 had noticeably less resistance than the other 50.

I'm more concerned with if these ten will shoot differently than the others. I guess I'll cull them. FL size and shoot them through the Swiss, and that will probably be the last I see of them!

Thanks.
 
Wow you guys are pretty fussy with your brass.
personaly i prime,charge with powder and check and trim to length after 3 or four reloads.
i have never weighed my brass,should i?
i have about 300 .223 reloads in various bullet weights ready to go and none of the cases were weighed?? i just visualy inspect them to make sure they look good no cracks etc..i also never bother cleaning primer pockets or tumbling and they seem to shoot just fine MOA in my rifle.
 
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