Prs "style" competitions and brass retention

[doctnj]

At staged rifle competitions do you
1. Just plain loose most of your brass, you count on it so you order new brass regularly.
2. Mark your brass and return after the match is over to scour the ground to find most of yours and occasionally some "other" as long as they are head stamped the same. This option also includes returning the next day or two to go through the collected brass after the stages are torn down.
3. Switch to cheaper alternatives like Win brass and really dont even spend much time looking for it because hey its only Winchester or insert Remington where it fits.

If you are one that switches to cheaper version, do you regularly practice with that brass i.e. "who needs lapua, thats for f class".

I shoot Lapua brass. I know what bushings give me the pressure I want on my case necks. My sd's are single digits. Why do I want to go and switch for competitions. Is it that much of a savings to nearly start over with load work up or at least where neck tension is concerned.

And lastly, during all my fits and spurts to run to the range between rains, I seldom shoot an entire box. I do have almost 200 pieces of brass in each caliber although I loose one per week from damage or just being lost. What Im getting at is I have no idea how many shots the brass has on it. Ive lost the ability to keep track when Im only refilling a portion of a box. I guess I could color code the brass but Im just not that guy.

What are the first signs to look for when culling bad brass? Right now I just mark a case that seemed to have loose primer seat. If that primer kicks out its trashed instantly. Deep dents in the shoulder or sharp dings in the edge of the neck from bringing down a die off center. All instantly trashed.

What are your personal guidelines?

[foxx]

Disclaimer: I don't shoot these events/competitions, but if I did, I think I would anneal and then full length size after every event and only scrap them after the pockets are bad. With Lapua brass, I get several reloads without any issues.

IDK about the rest of your question... seems marking your brass with perm marker or cold bluing would help identify yours when picking up brass afterward.

[upSLIDEdown]

I mark my brass and try to pick it up. Most matches here let you pick up brass. Some matches will pick it all up and sort at the end of the match. Marking would be essential there.

I FL size and anneal every time anyway, so that's a moot point with me.

[LongRange]

At staged rifle competitions do you
1. Just plain loose most of your brass, you count on it so you order new brass regularly.
2. Mark your brass and return after the match is over to scour the ground to find most of yours and occasionally some "other" as long as they are head stamped the same. This option also includes returning the next day or two to go through the collected brass after the stages are torn down.
3. Switch to cheaper alternatives like Win brass and really dont even spend much time looking for it because hey its only Winchester or insert Remington where it fits.

If you are one that switches to cheaper version, do you regularly practice with that brass i.e. "who needs lapua, thats for f class".

I shoot Lapua brass. I know what bushings give me the pressure I want on my case necks. My sd's are single digits. Why do I want to go and switch for competitions. Is it that much of a savings to nearly start over with load work up or at least where neck tension is concerned.

And lastly, during all my fits and spurts to run to the range between rains, I seldom shoot an entire box. I do have almost 200 pieces of brass in each caliber although I loose one per week from damage or just being lost. What Im getting at is I have no idea how many shots the brass has on it. Ive lost the ability to keep track when Im only refilling a portion of a box. I guess I could color code the brass but Im just not that guy.

What are the first signs to look for when culling bad brass? Right now I just mark a case that seemed to have loose primer seat. If that primer kicks out its trashed instantly. Deep dents in the shoulder or sharp dings in the edge of the neck from bringing down a die off center. All instantly trashed.

What are your personal guidelines?

like USD said...most matches let you or your team mates pick up your brass as you go.

the brass you use for matches is up to you...not a lotta cheap options for the 260 unless you want to neck brass up or down...and yes you should be using the same brass for practice...internal case capacity changes things.

i normally run 125pcs...the 25 are extras in case i loose a piece or two but are shot in the rotation...ive never lost a piece of brass but i could see it happening at the bigger matches.

id look for split/cracked necks(assuming your not annealing)and primer pockets that are to loose to hold a primer...i dont worry about dings as i FL size every time and any dings are straightened out by sizing or blown out when fired.

[yobuck]

[QUOTE=LongRange;

id look for split/cracked necks(assuming your not annealing)and primer pockets that are to loose to hold a primer...i dont worry about dings as i FL size every time and any dings are straightened out by sizing or blown out when fired.[/QUOTE]

The too loose to hold a primer part is interesting to me.
Just yesterday I went thru 115 pcs of very hard to get 300 ultra mag brass (acquired) as a result of yet another old shooter friends passing.
Its amasing to me how extremely fussy people can be over brass prep and sorting, yet be satisfied with primer pockets so loose they barly holdthe primer in place.
I saved 29 pcs of the 115 as being suitable for practice loads only. In fairness, he had them sorted into bags labeled as to which match season he had used them. And some were also labeled (for hunting only).
Meaning I assume its o k if you have a failure when your only shooting at an elk you drove across the country for. That cant possibly be as important as getting a cap for winning a relay lol.
I use a hand priming tool, and if it goes in with little to no effort its trashed.
I don't even waste the time any more to try to push them out by hand with a punch.
I have a friend who colors just the primer so he knows at aglance how many times the case has been loaded.
But in addition to the 29 I saved out of the 115, I also found 37 other pcs that had never been fired after pulling the bullets and dumping the powder. All in all a worth while effort.

[LoneWolf]

With my 243 I've ran Hornady and Winchester Brass. I don't anneal and neck size only after each firing. I buy 200-300 pcs and cycle through the whole batch throughout the life of the barrel. Some matches I've not lost a piece others 1,2, or 3. I usually make a buddy at the match and we grab each others brass while the other is shooting to make transitions from stage to stage easier. When the barrel is done the brass is moved to my stockpile of used brass and a new batch is purchased. I have on occasion rotated a few pieces from this brass into the run if I lost a large portion and these get FL sized and fire formed before switching to neck sizing.

Final note: I inspect my brass individually after decapping and cleaning before resizing.

[doctnj]

I do anneal and FL every time. I had good I intentions of keeping track of the number of times they were fired but mis starts and interruptions I lost the handle on that.
That is the reason I asked about overt signs of dead and dying brass. I love the feel of lapua brass. It doesn't stretch like winchester brass. Right now if I feel a primer slip in easy with little resistance, I mark that case and trash it after next trip to range.
The 308 mil brass seems to loosen the quickest.

[LongRange]

The too loose to hold a primer part is interesting to me.
Just yesterday I went thru 115 pcs of very hard to get 300 ultra mag brass (acquired) as a result of yet another old shooter friends passing.
Its amasing to me how extremely fussy people can be over brass prep and sorting, yet be satisfied with primer pockets so loose they barly holdthe primer in place.
I saved 29 pcs of the 115 as being suitable for practice loads only. In fairness, he had them sorted into bags labeled as to which match season he had used them. And some were also labeled (for hunting only).
Meaning I assume its o k if you have a failure when your only shooting at an elk you drove across the country for. That cant possibly be as important as getting a cap for winning a relay lol.
I use a hand priming tool, and if it goes in with little to no effort its trashed.
I don't even waste the time any more to try to push them out by hand with a punch.
I have a friend who colors just the primer so he knows at aglance how many times the case has been loaded.
But in addition to the 29 I saved out of the 115, I also found 37 other pcs that had never been fired after pulling the bullets and dumping the powder. All in all a worth while effort.

ive shot 300wm brass that would barely hold a primer...that was when things were real tight and even once fired brass was hard to find.

I do anneal and FL every time. I had good I intentions of keeping track of the number of times they were fired but mis starts and interruptions I lost the handle on that.
That is the reason I asked about overt signs of dead and dying brass. I love the feel of lapua brass. It doesn't stretch like winchester brass. Right now if I feel a primer slip in easy with little resistance, I mark that case and trash it after next trip to range.
The 308 mil brass seems to loosen the quickest.

your good then...as i said above i dont toss brass until the pockets are VERY loose.

[doctnj]

Yeah I guess most folks work one rifle up. I certainly have had my hands full getting us all up to speed. And LR you were right on the money about color coding. I have done that from cradle to grave on all my loading. The only exception is if I have only a few to run and Ill tuble them all together and do a sort after. Im not waiting on 3 cycles of tumbling for a total of 60 cases lol.

I have had a few issues to run down and lost the handle on the round counts.

We shoot currently in a hayfield and throw down an open drag bag to catch brass. Ive nearly ordered a metal detector. I lost a 338 cartridge that flew off my mat in prone and I never found it. This is why I ask. But I simply do need more brass. Next month.

Thanks for the feed back.

[Rob01]

As mentioned depends on the match. Most are good about letting you get your brass as more people have wanted to get it and some just collect it all and you have to go look for it at the end so mark it well. Like the helo and trench stage at Rifles Only you will lose brass as it will fall out of the helo and you can't grab it on the trench run. Don't have time. I plan on losing about 25% of my brass when I go to a match. If it's less then great. If I am starting with a new caliber I will buy 500 pieces of brass and usually take about 200 to each match and usually shoot around 125-150. Rotating the brass. I can shoot a barrel out with that amount of brass and the loss of some built in.

[yobuck]

Doctni have you ever checked the o a case head dimensions before and after firing a new pc of brass in your 338 Lapua?
Compare that sometime to your smaller cartridges.
As for losing brass while shooting or even while hunting, we actually lose very few pcs and some of that caused by snow.
But then our shooting methods differ, and since some of our guns are single feed, there is no ejector.