sorting brass , How do you do it ?

skneub

skneub

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Any tips to make it easier ?

I find myself grabbing stuff that I can easily identify first.
Such as the magnums and 30/30

Then Grabbing the longer non magnums 30/06 , 270 25/06 etc

But it is still quite time consuming , made worse by a few that have the head stamps covered over with dirt...
 
Yes. Lee also makes one for I think $10 or so.

Personally, I sort cases one-by-one with bins in front of me for different cartridges and do it by eye. I guess I've been doing it long enough that I can differentiate, at a glance, a .30-06 from a .270, a .300WM from a 7mmRM, a .243 from a .22-250, a .357 mag from a .38 special, etc. etc. I've gotten pretty quick and can sort a 5gal pale of mixed tumbled brass in an hour or two.

Only one I can think of off the top of my head that's given me trouble is .30-30 and .32 Win Special. Only a .013" difference in the neck. Doesn't usually matter since they'll size up or down between the two when run through a normal sizing die.

After I have it sorted by cartridge, I resort those I'll be using right away by headstamp; each manufacturer gets a bin at that point. No way around that other than checking every headstamp individually. I also cull the oddball cases at the same time.

I also sometimes find a .45 Colt or two with the .44 mag after sorting but never the other way around for some reason.
 
LUTNIT said:
Yes. Lee also makes one for I think $10 or so.

Personally, I sort cases one-by-one with bins in front of me for different cartridges and do it by eye. I guess I've been doing it long enough that I can differentiate, at a glance, a .30-06 from a .270, a .300WM from a 7mmRM, a .243 from a .22-250, a .357 mag from a .38 special, etc. etc. I've gotten pretty quick and can sort a 5gal pale of mixed tumbled brass in an hour or two.

Only one I can think of off the top of my head that's given me trouble is .30-30 and .32 Win Special. Only a .013" difference in the neck. Doesn't usually matter since they'll size up or down between the two when run through a normal sizing die.

After I have it sorted by cartridge, I resort those I'll be using right away by headstamp; each manufacturer gets a bin at that point. No way around that other than checking every headstamp individually. I also cull the oddball cases at the same time.

I also sometimes find a .45 Colt or two with the .44 mag after sorting but never the other way around for some reason.
Click to expand...


Your hired :p
I think I have about 3 5 gallon pails worth to sort..all mixed (Not my brass) I keep my brass sorted out.
All pick up

I have not quite got to the point of sorting by manufacturer , but I do understand why it would be desired.

For one I dislike the Hornady primer pockets

Nice tip there , I have a few .32 win in the mix
 
I've accidentally had a couple .32 specials in batches of .30-30 before and didn't notice until it was all done. Because they were sized, trimmed, and loaded along with the .30-30 cases there wasn't a difference. They always shoot into the same group as the .30-30 head stamped cases in my experience.
 
I just bring home all my range brass, pour it into a large tray(s) and sit down to start sorting 'em. If they're packed with dirt, I'll toss them into the vibratory tumbler for an hour then deprime them with a universal decapping die. Then it's off to the wet tumbler.
 
This.

.45ACP, 44 magnum and large rifle cases stay in the yellow tray.
.40, 7.62x39, 6.8 SPC, 38 special, and 357 Magnum stay in thhe blue tray.
9MM, .223 stay in the black tray.
.22lr drop out the bottom
There is also an aluminum plate you can purchase to catch .380ACP

shellsorter5.jpg
 
yomomma said:
I have enough brass that I put the appropriate fired brass in its appropriate bin when I get home.
Click to expand...

Same here. At one point I had bags of them and sorted it hand, which is a long and dirty job. I find taking care of it when coming back from the range is the best way.
 
thump_rrr said:
This.

.45ACP, 44 magnum and large rifle cases stay in the yellow tray.
.40, 7.62x39, 6.8 SPC, 38 special, and 357 Magnum stay in thhe blue tray.
9MM, .223 stay in the black tray.
.22lr drop out the bottom
There is also an aluminum plate you can purchase to catch .380ACP

shellsorter5.jpg
Click to expand...

The sieves are great. They are especially good at culling any .40 cases, which get mixed in with 9mm or .45, prior to tumbling.
 
tjhaile said:
The sieves are great. They are especially good at culling any .40 cases, which get mixed in with 9mm or .45, prior to tumbling.
Click to expand...
I'm more likely to find a Colt Python for $500 than I am to find any .40 brass at our range. Too many IPSC shooters culling the brass every day.
 
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