Different Case when reloading?

phillips321

Well-Known Member
Guys,

Not started reloading yet as have only just purchased my first 222CF. When purchasing i also bought 20 packs of different ammo to see how they group;
Federal, Norma, Sako, Remington and PPU. As such when i finish shooting these I'll have 100 cases in total of 5 types.

Can i disregard the fact the cases are made by different manufacturers when i start reloading for the first time or should i only be using the same brand cases?

Many thanks
 
As said above, different brands will have different thicknesses and therefore different internal volumes which in turn will develop different pressures and potentially give different POI.

Essentially you need to stick to loading / shooting batches of the same brand of however many you intend to load, generally 50 / 100 or more. If its a round you'll not use a lot 20 would be okay I guess but loading a 100 round batch means you'll get better consistency than 5 x 20 round batches.

Once fired is quite cheap but you get the odd rogue he has reloaded it multiple times and then posted for sale as once fired (not happened to me on here but has elsewhere). For not too much more than once fired you'll pick up new .222 and it will all be the same batch so probably worth the small extra outlay.
 
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Take a serious look at Lapua, it is well worth the initial investment. Their cases are manufactured to high standards to allow many reloadings.

 
I think when starting out you need as few variables as possible different brands may effect poi the last thing you want now is to save pennies on brass and waste bullets and powder, once you have your load you could try that load in the other brass if it shoots straight great if it doesn't you have wasted 3
Jake
 
IMHO, if you are long range competition shooting maybe stick to one case maker.

Just the views of a tight wad.

PPU perfectly adequate for normal game shooting distances where I feel that the variables induced by the nut behind the butt far outweigh the possible differences in case volume etc?

Buy a Lee manual, follow the info after reading it thoroughly about powder choice and COL , get out and practise more?

Save loads of money, time and frustration?

Enjoy?
 
Lapua brass in my 222 has had in excess of 15 loadings and is still good for more.

For foxing/rabbiting loads i use ppu so not fussed about losing a few
 
The bullet is the most important factor regarding accuracy, the cartridge case is the vessel for holding the propellent and the bullet so is much less important in terms of extracting utmost accuracy, however as has already been said, you should stick to one brand of case in order to eliminate any discrepancies in case volume and wall thickness, which could effect accuracy by giving inconsistent pressures and possible neck tension issues.

Ian.
 
Phillips - (From another tite wad) New brass is the ideal but not essential for producing safe & acceptable hunting ammo.
Fire your 100 factory rounds - Enjoy!
Prepare all 100 cases for reloading - deprime, clean, FL size & trim all to the same length. You could anneal all the necks to possibly give a more consistent neck tension if you want - although once fired brass usually doesn't need it to perform.
Weigh sort them all. If this is done, & all are similar weight (hence the same internal volume) crack on & reload them all.
If one batch of 20 is significantly different from the others, leave them out of the ones you load. (Normally military brass is heavier with thicker walls & less internal volume. It can give higher pressures).
Choose a starting load & fire grouping tests with each brand on a different target.
You will be safe doing this & will prove to yourself whether you can see in your own real world any difference in point of impact.
You could fire the rounds over a chronograph to give yourself an additional measurement of performance.
Do keep the batches of 20 separate to help you percieve any difference.

Ian
 
The bullet is the most important factor regarding accuracy, the cartridge case is the vessel for holding the propellent and the bullet so is much less important in terms of extracting utmost accuracy, however as has already been said, you should stick to one brand of case in order to eliminate any discrepancies in case volume and wall thickness, which could effect accuracy by giving inconsistent pressures and possible neck tension issues.

Ian.
This is simply not true. There needs to be a degree of consistency across the whole recipe to produce a good load.
Brass is critical to this, without consistent volume, flash holes and neck tension you will be all over the place regardless of the bullet.

Bullets have significant variances in weight, length and shape within 1 batch, even match bullets.
 
Have a mess about with the factory loaded brass that you have, learn the fine arts of reloading with these cases, find a load that suits your rifle. Then go and buy Lapua brass and make sure you pick every one up after firing it...
 
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