I use plastic 50 round ammo boxes, the brass always goes back into the same box after shooting. Each box is marked with a the letter in a log book with the date and load data for the 50 rounds. Each gun & caliber has it's own log book.

Data comes out like this - A12/11/13 27.5gr 10X 110AB 2.285 - then I add results after shooting the load. If I ladder loads, then I add the row (left to right 1 to 10) -
A12/11/13 27.0gr 10X 110AB 2.285 R1
A12/11/13 27.3gr 10X 110AB 2.285 R2
A12/11/13 27.5gr 10X 110AB 2.285 R3

The pain is when you prep cases.... 50 at a time in the same box.

 

Ziplocs marked 1X, 2X, 3X, etc.

 

I do this but mine only say once fired or multi-fired. I also have all mine separated by brand and all my brass is resized, trimmed and reprimed ASAP and stored in ziplock bags inside of ammo cans.

 

About the same as Cag, but I mark the label that's on the box, the target, if it is load development, and also the log book, when the box gets down to half full( lost or wont hold a primer), I will combine it with another box with the same number of cycles on it.

 

A combination of those Glad semi-disposable plastic containers and ziplocks marked with the amount of times fired and a card in the container stating what stage of process its in. For instance, "Twice fired" marked on the container and "tumbled/needs to be trimmed" on the card inside.

 

I use primarily MTM boxes and they have a sticker in the box that denotes times fired up to 10 if I remember. And as others have stated the fired brass goes back into the same box throughout the firing, cleaning and reloading process. I don't know if it is just in my head but I have noticed that some of the calibers I load for the brass starts to perform best accuracy wise after the third or fourth firing so I started keeping better track of it for that reason.

 

I just put the brass in the tumbler, pulled them out, resized, trimmed and loaded them. When the cases split or the primer pockets got loose, I tossed the brass.

This is how I manage my brass. I used to keep track of how many times it was loaded but I now have too much brass and it's too much a PITA to worry about.

 

Me too. About all I do for managing brass is to keep different calibers and different headstamps separated. I do not try to keep track of how many cycles each lot of 6.8 cases has been through. I have about 185 of my initial lot of Hornady 6.8 cases left and another 200 new Hornadys waiting for the first lot to wear out. I tend to shoot up all of the 185 before putting the empties through the clean/size process. I've lost track of how many cycles the first lot has been through, but its way more than 10 for sure. I chalk up their longevity to my practice of trying to avoid excessive pressure, i.e., no swipes. - CW

 

I am in the same boat angsniper and krorie. Just too much of a pain to keep track. But I do sort by head stamp and even have a mixed batch I don't care if I lose which is mostly brass on it's last leg.

 

This is my method as well. Other than sorting by headstamp it is just cleaned, inspected and prepped or tossed.

 

I use MTM boxes with a piece of paper inside w/load, # firings and such. all brass in any particular box has same # firings, same headstamp, and same lot#, and all have the same prep. I believe this gives me valuable information on what works the best, what I should continue doing, and what is a waste of time.

 

I've owned several .308s at a time, including a gas gun, so have kept brass separated for each rifle. I handload sporadically. So to keep things straight, after getting back from the range dirty brass for a particular rifle goes in a plastic container labeled with the rifle model, "dirty" and tally marks, e.g. "700 SS Dirty |||" would mean third firing, uncleaned, unresized brass. When I tumble that brass, usually after accumulating a 100 rounds or more, I'll decap and resize it all immediately after tumbling (or not remove from the tumbler so I KNOW) and put it in a second bin labeled "700 SS clean |||".

Handloading require a lot of attention to detail, if not for good results, just for safety. I write down die settings, etc. And now that I'll be loading for 6.8 will have to make sure I'm using the right powder when switching between that and .308. For the longest time, I've never run anything but Varget!

 

I have a hard time keeping track so once they are prepped I'll inspect them all and make sure they are good to go (if I didn't already catch the bad ones in the prepping process). I try being organized but it pains me too much sometimes! haha

 

Ziploc and sharpies.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Ziploc and sharpies.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Same here - gotta keep the range brass separated from the 1x fired for hunting ammo.

 

i manage to pick it up!
but like some of the others, its too much of a PITA to keep track. but i inspect it religiously.
i always eyeball it after shooting, again when i tumble it, deprime, trim, prime ext......and another good look before reloading. i have a single stage press so you obviously get to look at it multiple times. if its suspect i chuck it.

 

Ziplock bags, a sharpie and post-it notes dropped in, in case I need a note like "trimmed short to XXX", "shoulder bumped to XXX", etc.

 

I don't tally perse' but I do segregate by headstamp and by weigh lots. I have an 06' that knows the difference 1gr of brass makes in case cap. I have 2 boxes for each rifle that are considered premium match cases those 40 are for the hunt period. Those are marked for those guns what cycle 2x,3x,etc and details like trims hot weather or cold developed loads and true flight. Beyond that its shoot till it fails and that doesn't happen too often.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I have been enlightened. Now we will see if an old dog can learn some new tricks.

 

When the cases split or the primer pockets got loose, I tossed the brass.

I follow this method for most of my reloading. Only the long range stuff gets special treatment.

 

I use the 50 round MTM boxes and do my best to keep up with reloading count on my favorite brass, but a lot of it I just shoot until it splits or loosens up. I segregate head stamps of course and try not to mix up my brass as much as I can, but with younglings blasting away with semi autos, it gets hard sometimes. Heck it gets hard just finding it most of the time.

 

LOL With my 29 year old youngling blasting away, I am lucky to recover half of my brass!

 

I have X # of rounds for a given rifle. I shoot all the way through that amount and don't load any of it until the batch is all shot. When I get back from shooting that days batch is deprimed and tumbled. I then put it in a box labeled with the number of times fired and specific rifle. I'm running two different wildcats with three uppers for each. Guys don't trade bolts. I don't trade brass from rifle to rifle.

Greg

 

I use ziplock bags with a post-it notes inside the bag with the state of the brass written on it. For example 1x SSA - sized - trimmed- primed. I have a lot of brass in various stages of processing and the bags are easier to manage than boxes.

 

I used to mark the case heads when I shot the .308 (7.62 NATO) in a National Match M-14. You could only get three firings (two reloadings) from the brass before it had to be discarded. Tracking it was easy. You marked the head with colored markers after each reloading with red for the last. Not sure how long the 6.8 brass will last but the ziplock baggy idea sound like a good one.

 

I have a bunch of 6X68 brass with 11&12 loadings. Still going strong.

Greg

 

I use small plastic bins that are stackable and have lids. Place a Post it Note in each bins to record the number of uses and what prep is needed. For my 6.8 brass I sort between Federal, SSA and to a lesser degree Hornady. Most of my .308 and 5.56 is LC brass. So, just sort by number of uses. One day, I'll run out of bins and just shot, inspect and toss. But for now, since new to reloading will continue to sort to determine life span of the brass.

 

Sort by brand. Each brand has a different case capacity so can get pretty good variations in pressure/velocity by mixing brands of case. Yes, I know that there is also a variation in case capacity between lots of a certain brand but I don't believe it is as large as the different brands.