Brass sorting, and life

[straightshooter]

Just wondering if anyone has any stats on what effect brass life has on accuracy. The reason I'm asking is because I bought what was advertised as once fired Lake City Match 308 brass, on the third firing I got a blown case. If brass is actually mixed, some fired more than others, what would you expect to see happening with groups? Also for those who sort their new brass, does it seem to make a difference in group size, and if yes, how much are you seeing?

 

[Kevin Thomas]

Straightshooter,

what was the nature of the blown case you described? Are we talking a blown or pierced primer, or a head separation of some sort? You mention that the LC cases were Match, but are you sure of that? If this stuff was run through an MG, there's likely some major stretching or other damage here. The headstamp for current headstamp for LC Match brass doesn't have "Match" on it as older M118 brass did, but it stil lacks the crimped in primer found in normal NATO production stuff. Worth checking, anyway.

Keep your brass sorted. It may make no difference at all with some brass, or the differences could be huge, you just never know before shooting. Why find out the hard way? Besides, it's just good handloading practice.

 

[straightshooter]

Kevin,

Thanks for the reply. The case was blown higher than the case head. Blown out almost completely around the whole case about 1/2" above the bottom of the case. This causes me to think it is old brass that was actually shot out. It sized fine, one full length, and one neck sizing. The brass was not crimped but I bought some 223 brass advertised by the same supplier also as once fired Lake City Match brass and it was all crimped. I am not actually sure that any of the brass is match now that this one blew out, and I sure don't think it was once fired. I only bought 100 rounds of each just in case something like this happened. This brass already has a new home in the garbage. Since I will be starting over with new winchester brass, I was wondering what difference it would make to sort it buy weight. I am curious though, as the brass gets reloaded more, is anyone seeing a drop in accuracy. We all talk a lot about barrel life, but what about brass life?

 

[Kevin Thomas]

That sounds like a fairly routine headspace issue that caused this. No problem to isolate the problems and correct them, so don't toss it just yet. Gotta dash for now, but I'll be back later on and maybe we can sort this out then.