Weight Sorting Brass Question

Tony243

Tony243

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I have 200+ pieces of once-fired 7mm mag brass. Mixed headstamps, Win, Rem, Hornady and Fed mostly.
My question is, can I ignore brand and weight sort only? Or do I have to sort by brand AND weight? Also, what should my weight range be when sorting into batches? I have about a 16 grain spread among my 200 pieces.
 
I don't recommend mixing headstamps. I would sort brand. Then sort by weight. Some people don't sort by weight anymore but I still do. I have two 7mm rem mags. I really like nosler brass and that's all I buy now but Remington brass when sorted by weight also gave me good results. I sorted within 1 grain. If you find a really wide node, you could get away with more. Its all about volume and weight sorting is a crude & not guaranteed method but it's quicker than filling with water and it works for me. One of my buddies won an ftr state championship a few years back. He has a set up to measure case head thickness & sorts by .010". He swears by it. But weight sorting works good enough for me.
 
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I agree, if you looked at a picture of same cartridge but different brands you will see how mush the vary in case wall thickness in different areas.

Are you shooting competition or hunting??
I mean imo if you are weight sort even the same brand for hunting then I think its a bit overkill!

Don't throw it all away just yet, I have shot the same load in Hornady & Fed brass with minimal difference in accuracy & POI so all is not lost.

Try it for yourself & see the results.

But in saying that I do keep all my brass headstamps seperated & try to have as few as possible or just 1 if I can.
 
What is your application with this brass. I also shoot a 7mm RM. Been through a ton of bullet, powder, primer and brass combos to find the best load with low es/sd. I found that ADG brass is the best for me and it's made in the USA. Peterson also makes great brass. I stay away from Rem, Win, PPU, and other brands I consider below standard. Hornady, Nosler, and Starline are middle of the road IMO.
 
SergeantD said:
What is your application with this brass. I also shoot a 7mm RM. Been through a ton of bullet, powder, primer and brass combos to find the best load with low es/sd. I found that ADG brass is the best for me and it's made in the USA. Peterson also makes great brass. I stay away from Rem, Win, PPU, and other brands I consider below standard. Hornady, Nosler, and Starline are middle of the road IMO.
Click to expand...
Sounds like you have put much time into load development for 7mm rem mag as I have also. Just curious about what powder & bullets does well for you.
 
This is a new rifle. Rem 700 ADL that I got super cheap at Walmart. It shot factory Fed 150gr power points into 2.2" during break-in with junk scope that came on it. It will be a longer range deer rifle, as I have a .300 Ham'r for the shorter range stuff. Would also like to use it to accomplish a bucket list goal of "1000 yard kill shot" (on target).

I have H4831SC and RL22 currently, along with some 162 ELDX bullets and Fed 215M primers. Searching in vain for H1000 and Retumbo...
 
I don't have experience with the 162 eldx. I have shot 162 sst bullets with great results in my 26" sendero. I now shoot 180 eldm bullets with great results. .078 from lands with the sst and .059 from lands with the eldm. I will guess that you might find a node somewhere between 3040-3060 fps with the 162 eldx. You will probably need to be sure to let your barrel cool between shots. It is a hammer forged Sporter weight barrel, so there is good possibility that it might walk when getting warm. I do believe you should be able to get good accuracy from that rifle with some attention to detail in the right places.
 
Tony243 said:
This is a new rifle. Rem 700 ADL that I got super cheap at Walmart. It shot factory Fed 150gr power points into 2.2" during break-in with junk scope that came on it. It will be a longer range deer rifle, as I have a .300 Ham'r for the shorter range stuff. Would also like to use it to accomplish a bucket list goal of "1000 yard kill shot" (on target).

I have H4831SC and RL22 currently, along with some 162 ELDX bullets and Fed 215M primers. Searching in vain for H1000 and Retumbo...
Click to expand...
I think that your rifle will probably do it's best with a bullet around 160- 168 grains. Mine shot federal factory red box 165 grain sierras very well. If the 162 eldx doesn't work for you try the 162 eld m or Berger 168 classic hunter.
 
Tony243 said:
I have 200+ pieces of once-fired 7mm mag brass. Mixed headstamps, Win, Rem, Hornady and Fed mostly.
My question is, can I ignore brand and weight sort only? Or do I have to sort by brand AND weight? Also, what should my weight range be when sorting into batches? I have about a 16 grain spread among my 200 pieces.
Click to expand...
Although weight is important it must be combined with "stabilized" volume. Also volume & weight must be combined with stabilized forms, state of anneal, composition of brass itself (brand & lot number) and probably variables to numerous to mention.
My method;
1. Brand sort
2. Weight sort
3. Usual brass prep.. (ie; pockets, flasholes, sizing, chamfers).
3. After 2 or 3 fireforms (stabilized after repeat pocket uniforming shows no more rear-ward brass flow) , then size, trim, re-weigh sort to +or- .5 to .1 grain & then volume sort to +or-.3 to .5 gr (Tighter tols. with smaller cases).
4. Etch label cases by number (between case head & chamber mark).
5. Shoot sort...remove outliers(repeat offenders) after several groups.
Good brass makes the above process way easier. (Ie; Lapua, Norma, Nosler, Peterson etc)...
My .02
 
MNbogboy said:
Although weight is important it must be combined with "stabilized" volume. Also volume & weight must be combined with stabilized forms, state of anneal, composition of brass itself (brand & lot number) and probably variables to numerous to mention.
My method;
1. Brand sort
2. Weight sort
3. Usual brass prep.. (ie; pockets, flasholes, sizing, chamfers).
3. After 2 or 3 fireforms (stabilized after repeat pocket uniforming shows no more rear-ward brass flow) , then size, trim, re-weigh sort to +or- .5 to .1 grain & then volume sort to +or-.3 to .5 gr (Tighter tols. with smaller cases).
4. Etch label cases by number (between case head & chamber mark).
5. Shoot sort...remove outliers(repeat offenders) after several groups.
Good brass makes the above process way easier. (Ie; Lapua, Norma, Nosler, Peterson etc)...
My .02
Click to expand...
Yes, I agree. Good consistent brass makes reloading & load development alot easier.
 
MNbogboy said:
Although weight is important it must be combined with "stabilized" volume. Also volume & weight must be combined with stabilized forms, state of anneal, composition of brass itself (brand & lot number) and probably variables to numerous to mention.
My method;
1. Brand sort
2. Weight sort
3. Usual brass prep.. (ie; pockets, flasholes, sizing, chamfers).
3. After 2 or 3 fireforms (stabilized after repeat pocket uniforming shows no more rear-ward brass flow) , then size, trim, re-weigh sort to +or- .5 to .1 grain & then volume sort to +or-.3 to .5 gr (Tighter tols. with smaller cases).
4. Etch label cases by number (between case head & chamber mark).
5. Shoot sort...remove outliers(repeat offenders) after several groups.
Good brass makes the above process way easier. (Ie; Lapua, Norma, Nosler, Peterson etc)...
My .02
Click to expand...
Great info. Thanks!
 
djfergus said:
Sounds like you have put much time into load development for 7mm rem mag as I have also. Just curious about what powder & bullets does well for you.
Click to expand...
Reloder 22 has worked the best so far with Hornady ELD-X bullets. Took me years to develop but I can honestly say that my Ruger M77 has never shot a factory made round ever!
 
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