Weight sorting brass

[dirtyw]

Would you be able to provide an example how your would group your brass using your method of 0.1? What ranges you keep to use or not?

Would anyone be able to provide and example let say out of 100pc of brass what weight you would keep to use competition?

I've just started and only have 100 pieces of brass. So I weigh them into lots of 20 pieces and load 20 at a time. I'm only shooting out to 300m max so probably not even necessary but it seems to work. I'm sure at these distances I would not even notice a difference +\- 1 grain. It was recommended to me for consistancy and am pleased with the results. I am by no means going out to 1000 where things really count.

I agree with others that volume would be better in theory but time consuming.

 

[dirtyw]

Would you be able to provide an example how your would group your brass using your method of 0.1? What ranges you keep to use or not?

Would anyone be able to provide and example let say out of 100pc of brass what weight you would keep to use competition?

So at this point I'm not concerned with overall weight as long as the 20 I'm loading are all the same, if they're the lighter 20 or heavier 20 it doesn't matter to me. As long as they're within 0.1 gr of each other on either end I'm happy. I just want a consistent POI with each lot as we all do.

 

[Nipigon Jack]

For those of you that measure by case volume, please elaborate as I am totally befuddled as to how this is done
-do you measure after firing with the old primer still in
-do you prime the case prior to measuring
In other words how do you keep the media that you are using from running through the flash hole and out the primer pocket? You are not going to prime the case and then start measuring with water.
Of course a piece of black electrical tape would likely make this job easy. Maybe I just answered my own stupid question
I assume that you transfer the media from one case to the next and compare the height in the neck and cull any cases that are out of a certain range.
I doubt that I am ever going to try this, but curiosity got the better of me

 

[LUTNIT]

The method I've read about several times is that you fully prep the brass (primer pocket uniform, neck turn, etc.) and put it through 1-2 firings to fully fire form the cases. You trim the cases, leave in the fired primers, and put them on a scale one at a time. You then zero the scale on each piece of brass and fill it with water (or 98-99% alcohol) and check the weight. Since liquids at ambient temperature have an absolute density this weight measures the case volume. If using water, by definition 1 gram equals exactly 1 mL. The actual volume doesn't matter so long as the cases hold the same weight of liquid.

The weight of the fired primer doesn't matter since the scale is zeroed before the liquid is added.

Brass can have a varying density depending on porosity, there can be voids or flaws, sections of slightly different alloy percentages, and slight variations in thicknesses that all have an effect on the weight of the empty case. Liquids generally don't suffer from these things at normal pressures and temperatures; that's why liquids are used in hydraulics. They maintain essentially an absolute density and don't compress a measurable amount.

There are other variations including dumping the liquid and weighing it but if a drop is left in the case you're measurements are going to be off. Also the use of tape or a piece of putty instead of leaving the primer in. Some also use a fine solid material to fill the cases with and weigh that; I've heard of people using corn starch, cream of wheat, or the plastic powder used as buffer in premium shotshells.

 

[legi0n]

For those of you that measure by case volume, please elaborate as I am totally befuddled as to how this is done
-do you measure after firing with the old primer still in
-do you prime the case prior to measuring
In other words how do you keep the media that you are using from running through the flash hole and out the primer pocket? You are not going to prime the case and then start measuring with water.
Of course a piece of black electrical tape would likely make this job easy. Maybe I just answered my own stupid question
I assume that you transfer the media from one case to the next and compare the height in the neck and cull any cases that are out of a certain range.
I doubt that I am ever going to try this, but curiosity got the better of me

you take cases fired in your rifle, primer in, unsized but cleaned and mark them with numbers
weigh them and write the empty weights down
next you fill them with water in such a manner that air bubbles are not trapped in.
you then weigh the water filled cases and write the weights down next to the empty weights
substract the empty weight from the full weight and there's your water volume

 

[Mystic Precision]

Thanks, appreciate the info as you are one of the few that can back up your talk...no offence anyone else.

So in your opinion is Lapua really worth buying new vs say Remington.. for the non competitive shooter. I do strive for the best accuracy out of my rifles though.

Cheers!!

Some of my best LR groups happened with Rem brass but in general, the alloy will not take higher pressure loads. So if you are not pushing the limits or needing to reload a bunch of times, most anything works.

Brass prep, outside neck turning, proper weighing of powder charge play big roles in producing good ammo. The case alone isn't going to solve other problems.

I am now using PRVI because it is every bit as durable as Lapua for less money. I do very basic prep and focus on keeping my necks consistent. Shoots very well for me.

If you have the resources and want little prep out of the box, Norma USA is the best brass to buy BUT it is expensive.

As for testing case volume... I put a row of 1F cases in a tray. Fill with a super fine gunpowder like WCC680 or even salt. Tap it as much as possible to the powder has settled as much as it is going to. Now dump into the next case. If the amount if correct, it will actually sit into the funnel a bit and required to be tapped down again.

Compare the level in the case.

Repeat and you can very quickly compare case volumes. As long as the OAl case length is within normal limits, levels much above or below the top is cause for concern.

I usually allow for 1/8" above or below (you can work out the CC volume but it is small). It is a very rare case that varies that much. The vast majority are dead level.

This is the fastest and most reproducible process that doesn't require a bunch of tools or make a mess. Simple to try and I think you will learn alot from the results.

Jerry

 

[horseman2]

After reading about weighing brass in the late 60's, two boxes of Dominion 30-06 weighed 186 to 203 and the 2nd 183 - 206. Two boxes of Norma 6mm Remington varied 1.1 grains in total.
That was enough to convince me there was merit
Still using the same Pacific scale where there is about 1 grain variation on the scale (high and low from centering) and if it rests on the top or bottom stop they can be scraped if there are insufficient numbers.
Most brass today shows great consistency and for hunting purposes this is good enough for me.