Keeping track of brass
 

How do you keep track of your brass? Do you shoot through all of your brass prior to using the same brass twice? Do you put it right back into the mix after it has been fired? Do you divide it into lots to keep track of the times it has been fired? I am just getting started and would like to use some good method.

Thanks
David

RE: Keeping track of brass
 

I use glad freezer bags. Usually I will buy a lot, from somewhere, or someone. I like it to be at least 100 pieces. I will then go thru all 100 pieces. I will transfer the once or twice fired brass to a new bag marked "once fired". After I go thru all 100 pieces, I resize and do it all over again transfering it back to the original bagmarked twice fired, and so on until I feel its time to anneal the neck. I keep that up until a start getting failures or cracked necks, etc. Then toss.

Definately keep different brands separate.

RE: Keeping track of brass
 

I've tried to keep all brass on the same rotation, but now that I have a few different loads for each gun it's getting hard. Basically I label bags with how many firings that brass has on it, and same with boxes of loaded ammo.

NEVER MIX BRANDS. Case size will be different and a load that is safe in one brand may be over-pressure in another. Especially if military brass is mixed in!!

RE: Keeping track of brass
 

I load my brass and keep them in those MTM or similar 50 round boxes. On the info label I not how many times it was loaded. I won't reload a partially fired off box just for the sake of having a full box. I wait until all the rounds in that box are fired off before loading.

RE: Keeping track of brass
 

Its pretty easy for me with big game rifles as I use only what I need and load the same batch thru til I feel like they needed pitched but all will have been loaded the same number of times. Then break out a new batch. Usually batches of 100.

ammo for prairie dog shooting is a whole nother beast. Four different rifles in three different chamberings makes for some organizational skills beyond me. I try and for the most part do pretty good using boxes and bags but we talkin 500-600 rds. minimum. Some good late spring weekends we'll use 400-500 rds. in a day.

RE: Keeping track of brass
 

Like most everyone else, I usually buy in lots of 100. If I'm doing load workup, I'll pull 20-25 casings and use them until they're done. The reason for the 20-25 is that I MOST always shoot 5-shot groups, and usually head out to shoot with 4-5 different powder charges per bullet/primer type.
I continue to run this routine until I get a combo I'm satisfied with. If it's a deer load, then I'll run off a couple of boxes of it. If it's a varmint load, considerably more.
Just the way I do it.....other guys like their own routines too.......

RE: Keeping track of brass
 

I usually use some brass for working up a load for accuracy in a given gun. I save the rest for when I actually find the load. I will try to load each piece of brass after that the same number of times, but the stuff I make for hunting is kept separate.