Newb question on manufacturer brass

[RSC12]

Hello,

I'm just getting into reloading and am curious about sorting through brass. I'm trying to work up a load in 243win for my daughters and have been shooting Barnes bullets in 80gTTSX and 100g JHP. Both cases are Barnes brass and look identical so I'm assuming that it is acceptable to throw them all together for reloading.

I understand that you want to stay with the same manufacturer but does it matter if the brass comes from a different load or lot or just that its head stamped the same?

Thanks.

 

[TaperPin]

Different lots of brass from the same maker can vary, but the difference is quite minor and I have yet to see a measurable change so for average hunting rifle accuracy I mix them up. You could always load some of each and shoot them - the groups will ultimately tell the tail.

 

[Leverwalker]

I'm like Taper - for precision benchrest shooting, I know a lot of shooters who sort by lot, and very tight tolerances (on everything, not just brass), but for hunting purposes, I don't think it makes any difference at all. I reload 45-70, 30-30, 30-06, and .338 WM, used to load .44 mag. Never made a difference.

 

[slowr1der]

Different lots of brass from the same maker can vary, but the difference is quite minor and I have yet to see a measurable change so for average hunting rifle accuracy I mix them up. You could always load some of each and shoot them - the groups will ultimately tell the tail.

Same here. If I was shooting in a long range competition I might keep. It separate by lot number, but I wouldn't worry about it for any other scenario. I've yet to see a noticeable difference with brass from different lots.

 

[SDHNTR]

I would at least weigh them to make sure there aren’t any significant differencesz

 

[wind gypsy]

Barnes has stated they have their brass manufactured by different makers IIRC which would make me wonder if having a barnes headstamp even means they are made by the same manufacturer much less the same lot. I'd keep em separated until proven that they behave exactly the same personally.

 

[TaperPin]

Barnes has stated they have their brass manufactured by different makers IIRC which would make me wonder if having a barnes headstamp even means they are made by the same manufacturer much less the same lot. I'd keep em separated until proven that they behave exactly the same personally.

That’s a really good point - I was thinking in terms of large brands that make their own brass - hadn’t even considered all the small brands that outsource brass.

 

[WCB]

In general you probably won't notice a difference from lot to lot on brass unless you are doing long range precision or bench shooting. Larger manufacturers that produce their own brass would be your best bet. But they more than likely just operate within SAAMI specs. So one batch could hit SAAMI minimums and the next SAAMI maximums.
Companies like Barnes, Sierra, Nosler etc that don't even load all their own ammo let alone make all their own brass is a toss up. They may have 2 different companies making the same caliber of brass for them. So two different lots of loaded ammunition may have used two completely different brass manufacturers.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I just make sure to match the head stamp for a batch of loads I’m making. If I’m making 50 rounds of something I make sure they all have the same brass.

It can look the same but you don’t know the inside diameter of the brass, might as well make it as consistent as you can.