looking for reloading material

[mtrmn]

to the original poster, THIS +1

ABCs of Reloading and Lyman 49th are 2 great resources.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=837228

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=217655

 

[bigrobkell]

thanks everyone. i finished reading the ABC's the other night. i going to go pick up the lyman manual in the next day or so.

quick question though, in the ABC's it says to sort brass by the manufactor, but in talking to different guys that reload they had told me that it really isn't necessary. i am getting conflicting info so what do you guys think?

 

[mtrmn]

thanks everyone. i finished reading the ABC's the other night. i going to go pick up the lyman manual in the next day or so.

quick question though, in the ABC's it says to sort brass by the manufactor, but in talking to different guys that reload they had told me that it really isn't necessary. i am getting conflicting info so what do you guys think?

It's all relative, it depends, etc......

If you are working on accuracy---by all means sort your brass, weigh it and seperate it into lots, etc etc. Every variable must be controlled if you want to shoot bugholes at long range etc.

If you are pushing the pressure envelope with max loads etc---yes, sort your brass. Each brand has a different case volume which could raise pressures beyond the limits. I've never found any REAL performance advantage in going max (been loading 30 yrs) and it really shortens the life of your brass and barrel.

If you are backed off of the max loads and just loading ammo for general shooting/plinking (like the vast majority of mine) then there's no real need to sort brass by BRAND. You DO need to sort by number of times it's been reloaded, especially if your loading the big magnums. On 300 winmag for instance, I only load them maybe 2 or 3 times and toss them due to the sheer amount of powder you're lighting up every time you touch one off. The cases stretch like crazy and this weakens the brass quickly.

I shoot a LOT of 223 and 308 in AR's and I've always found that max loads and real light loads don't really perform that well anyway. I pretty much stay on the higher end of the middle and get plenty performance without getting too close to the high pressure loads. I don't sort my brass unless I'm loading up some accuracy loads or hunting loads. The brass volume problem really doesn't bother me since I'm not close to max pressure. I've always managed to find a utility load with mixed brass that was more consistent (accurate) than all but the most expensive factory loads.

 

[bigrobkell]

thanks mtrmn. that is what i was thinking but wanted to get another opinion. i will be reloading just for plinking/ practice mostly.