Brass on hand

[Mike Matteson]

I use to get 50 to 100 cases for my belted mag's. I have seen in days gone by where brass was hard to get, and as it is now. About 2 yrs ago I place an order for 280AI case for Peterson brass. It took about a year to get them. To size to 6 mm. Which that took 4 steps to achieve that reducetion in neck size. Crush a couple of cases, and figure that will happen again. I did get 500 Peterson case for that rifle build. Now working on 25/280AI chambering. I got a 2nd 500 lot of cases from Peterson. Price move from about $550.00 to $750.00 per 500 lot. In setting up to have the 25/280AI built. I purchase a 2 Rem 700 LA. Setting up the 2nd action to be used to fireform my cases. I presently have the one reamer and will have the 2nd reamer shortly. I'll change out the barrels in the one action to different barrels to fireform the cases. I am using older barrels that can be set and rechamber to my reamer. That should cut down on the barrel burning. Those barrels will set up by the smith, and I'll learn how to R & R the barrels. I had a extra stock and trigger housing for the 700 Rem action. So the stock trigger and housing was a not brainer.
If I am going to purchases cases, I will get in either 250 to 500 lots per chamber.
I have and still do, if I come across cases in a sizable lot I will get them. Being a part owner in a recycling business, we have brass cases come in, and depend how they have been use. I will take them and store them for a rainy day.
In my belted mag I use lose my cases in about 3 reloads due to case separation. I changed to neck sizing and stop that. I still lose my belted mag case in 10 to 12 firing to enlarged primer pockets. Yes my powder loads in those belted mag are about manual max powder charge.

 

[mdmiller]

My hunting guns usually 100-500.
Target and P-Dog guns 500-1K
And I still buy more when theirs a deal!!
Just me!!

 

[Leader]

For my hunting rifles I try to have enough for the life of the barrel.
if it's a new caliber I will try to get different brands of brass, like
Lapua, ADG, Peterson, 100 each and see witch one the gun likes
the most. I also will buy the primers and powder to load for that rifle.

 

[Grey Goast]

I keep 1000 rounds per caliber reloaded and rotate the fired round each time I hunt or hit the range . I take the rounds from the hunt or range day reload them and place them in the ammo box for that caliber, I have 2 ammo boxes for each caliber one for the thousand rounds and one for each reloaded round when i get to the bottom of the thousand round box I know each round has been fired once , I keep a log on eack can to know how many times they have been reloaded. I'm sill working on my new 6.5 creedmoor boxes till I can get to 1000 as for primers, brass large primers are rare and all the brass i got when I started on the creedmoor was gifted to me from a god fearing lady that i still need her address to send her a 18th birthday gift. I pick up a few 6.5 brass at the range now and then and other shooters that dont reload are happy to give me there brass if there shooting a caliber I use. when I'm at the range I only shoot about 10 rounds of each caliber i carry and finish out my day at the range with my ruger 22 lr. while I talk to the other shooters helping many of the young new shooters with there scopes and the range rules of being safe. If the SHTF and we cant get brass or reloading stuff like primers,powder or brass I'm covered for a few years at my age it mabe in my life time. AMEN.

 

[Montana'eer]

I have 100 pieces of quality brass p/hunting rifle. Peterson usually.

 

[wasskeet]

At least a 150 here, some more depending on availability.

 

[Pointman]

I try to use only high-quality brass for my long guns; Lapua is my 1st choice, then ADG or Ptereson. I started purchasing primers, powder, and hard-to-get brass every time I visited my local shop. That habit has kept me stocked during the current component famine. I am also very fussy about keeping my brass in as good a condition as possible. , my answer would be, "You can't ever have too much."

 

[chav0_12]

It depends a lot on the cartridge. How quickly will it go through brass? How hot are you loading it to go through primer pockets? How hard is the brass to get? How many rounds can you get down the barrel before it's toast?

I have about 200 pieces for my 28 Nosler. 100 pieces of ADG as soon as I could get some. I'm working with 50 at a time. 200 pieces should be close to lasting the lifetime of the barrel.

Other rifles I have upwards of 500 pieces. My 6.5 Grendel is fun to shoot so I have a lot for that. When I bought my 243 WSSM brass was non-existent or very hard to find and expensive, so I've ended up with about 500 pieces of brass for that rifle too, I'll be hard pressed to use it all. When I got my 6.5 Creedmoor I ended up buying 200 pieces, that brass is common enough and won't go through brass quickly, so I'm not worried about it. I've never bought brass for my 7mm WSM, I haven't shot it a lot either, I do have 150 pieces brass from factory for it though and I'm kicking myself for not buying some decent brass when it was available.

I usually try to get at least 100 pieces when starting out with a new rifle, that usually gives me enough to lose a few and still have a full case of 50 rounds to shoot. I try to be careful with barrels so a 50 round day on one barrel is pretty high, especially with the types of cartridges I like.

 

[memtb]

When I got my .375 AI, as I knew it was my only hunting rifle "till death do us part"…..I bought 500 pieces! I haven't shot near as much as I thought that I would…..at this rate, I have another lifetime of brass left! That said, the component (brass) shortage hasn't affected me! memtb

 

[gunaddict]

For me I buy a lot of brass; Just for example:
7 Rum, I have over 650 rds, all fully prepped.
300 Rum, I have over 650 rds, all fully prepped.
338 Rum, I have over 600 rds, all fully prepped.
375 Rum, I have over 450 rds,all fully prepped.
They are all Remington brass. That is why I have not bought ADG brass for them.

 

[haisardao]

For me I buy a lot of brass; Just for example:
7 Rum, I have over 650 rds, all fully prepped.
300 Rum, I have over 650 rds, all fully prepped.
338 Rum, I have over 600 rds, all fully prepped.
375 Rum, I have over 450 rds,all fully prepped.
They are all Remington brass. That is why I have not bought ADG brass for them.

That's a fantastic stockpile!

 

[gunaddict]

That's just for 4 . You ought to see the rest of the list!!

 

[RockyRandy]

I like the 400-500 number myself. I just received my 22 Creed that I had built and with what we have had to deal with in the shortage of supply, I have 400 small primer pocket and the same in large pocket. It's all Peterson brass. I will use the 22 Creed to shoot steel and rock chucks.

 

[RockyRandy]

I'm a believer in 200 for a hunting rifle these days. Let me explain.

First, I tend to sort by weight. Before anyone takes off on a tangent on that, just let it be. But sorting 200 rds from the same lot gives you larger lots that are within 2 grains. IIRC, brass is 20x denser than powder on average. So the volume of 2 grains of brass is the same as would have been occupied by 0.1 gr of powder. Roughly calculated. Many disagree that weight of brass is a proxy for case capacity. I believe they have not understood Archimedes adequately. But not a discussion for this thread. Anyhow. I like lots that are within 2 gr.

Regardless, the whole point its to have lots of brass than can be used over time and be "batched". I like to prep cases in decent sized lots. 40-60 a time is the best. Baggies and little paper notes can identify # of firings, how long its been since annealed etc.

With 100 rds of brass I find I am always just a few cases "short". I prepped all my brass 2 years ago for a hunting rig, say 32 in a lot, used 18 rds for a little group and sighting verification, but now have only 14 rds left for this season. Ugh. Kind of close. This is example.

Other reason to start with 200 -- you always tend to lose some brass. In the heat of the hunt, brass goes flying into the weeds and you cannot find it. Or you loan your gun to a buddy who is far less organized and views brass as "expendable".

And late in the life of the brass, you will lose some brass to neck or primer pocket failures.

At the end of the day, its probably overkill. But I like 200. And 8 lb jugs of powder as well....

Also -- one of my buddies just keeps on buying 20rds of this or that loaded ammo "cause it was on sale" or "cause they had it in stock". Then I get this random batch of brass to reload. Ugh... Don't be that friend. He's really nice otherwise though, and a wiz dressing a deer!

Question on sorting your brass and keeping them separate, Do you load them different than the one that are heavier or lighter or do you just see where they are hitting and note them and shoot them accordingly? Just trying to understand your thought process.