So the other day I was looking at my 308 cases wondering how I could mark them with the amount of times they have been shot/reloaded. I have seen competition pistol shooters paint rings around the case but I feel that anything painted or marked in that manner would come off during cleaning. The only solution I came up with that would not affect the integrity of the case was to mark around the Headstamp with a Dremmel tool. Sofar I have been making super light lines from primer edge to edge of head stamp. Not enough to cause issues but enough to see. Any thoughts? Ideas?
Marking your casings
- Thread starter towman32
- Start date
That would work but way to much effort for me . I keep mine separate while shooting . I place all cases back in the reloading box they came from while at the range . When I get home they go into a zip lock bag with all the data about those cases marked and a small piece of paper thrown in with the cases . I used to mark the bags them selves but continually crossing out old markings to put the new got old fast . I have three different stages they sit in the bags in . ( Dirty , Cleaned and ready to size and ready to load ) .
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I keep my brass together by case lots whenever possible. With range brass, after selection and packaging of a group for reloading, I still keep them together after the first reload. (The number of them kept together varies, may be as low as 50, or many more, stored in boxes, cans, ammo cans, and sometimes even bags.)
Then I mark the containers with reload information, and the number of times reloaded. For range brass, I just try to guessimate conservatively number of times loaded. If you want to continue to mark each case with the number of times loaded, that could get time consuming, especially for pistol brass.
Sometimes when testing different loads mainly for rifle, I mark the individual cases with permanent magic marker colors, or using sticky (avery) labels on the container, to denote the different loads.
Then I mark the containers with reload information, and the number of times reloaded. For range brass, I just try to guessimate conservatively number of times loaded. If you want to continue to mark each case with the number of times loaded, that could get time consuming, especially for pistol brass.
Sometimes when testing different loads mainly for rifle, I mark the individual cases with permanent magic marker colors, or using sticky (avery) labels on the container, to denote the different loads.
I understand there are many ways to keep them seperate with bags, journals, etc. I'm looking for someone who has info or ideas for marking each case. Yes I know it would be time consuming but I still want to hear any options out there. So has anybody marked the cases using something other than sharpie or nail polish? I only reload rifle, not into handgun considering how cheap it is to buy.
There's no reason to permanently score each case with so many other effective ways to keep track . If I remember right this will be your first time separating your brass and keeping it separated . Reason being is to get more consistent accuracy . You will find the case prep to do that is more work then just cheap plinking case prep . adding the extra step of actually marking/scoring each and every case every time you prep them is going to get old fast . Faster still when you're prepping 500+ cases at a time .
Most of my case lots are at least 250ct many are 500ct with a few being closer to 1k . The fact I separate and keep track of how many times each case has been fired . I work through the complete lot of cases before prepping for the next round . So adding the extra step of marking each case every time is just one step to far for me
That said if you're going to permanently mark your cases . What your doing will work . Unclenick here at TFL recently talked about lightly marking/notching the edge of the primer pocket with a hacksaw blade . He also brought up using a punch but said the punch displaced the brass and caused the brass to rise around the punched area which then throws off any measurements that needs that surface to measure off of .
Most of my case lots are at least 250ct many are 500ct with a few being closer to 1k . The fact I separate and keep track of how many times each case has been fired . I work through the complete lot of cases before prepping for the next round . So adding the extra step of marking each case every time is just one step to far for me
That said if you're going to permanently mark your cases . What your doing will work . Unclenick here at TFL recently talked about lightly marking/notching the edge of the primer pocket with a hacksaw blade . He also brought up using a punch but said the punch displaced the brass and caused the brass to rise around the punched area which then throws off any measurements that needs that surface to measure off of .
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When working up a load, I put each group in the same box, and simply paint a different color marker stripe across the top of each row, and then on the box label shows the charge for each color. For example orange stripe 17.0gr, black stripe, 17.5gr, no stripe 18.0.
This prevents a mix up, doesn't require writing a bunch of stuff on each cartridge, and I can still inspect the cases later knowing what charge was in it.
This prevents a mix up, doesn't require writing a bunch of stuff on each cartridge, and I can still inspect the cases later knowing what charge was in it.
"...That would work but way to much effort for me..." So's separating 'em into sandwich bags. snicker. Never bothered to mark my cases in any way.
Notching the edge of the primer pocket weakens the pocket/case. A Sharpie is the best thing if you think you need/want to mark 'em. No added anything other than colour to the case.
Notching the edge of the primer pocket weakens the pocket/case. A Sharpie is the best thing if you think you need/want to mark 'em. No added anything other than colour to the case.
I use too mark with a permanent marker on the case body. For a few reasons 1- sizing at the same position 2- chambering with the mark at the same position 3- adding another dot to the case each time sized. The first two I stopped , the third l list in my journal . I only shoot one rifle with the same 30 cases . When the time comes when one case shows splits , ring at the base or loose primer pockets, I'll bump them all and start with another 30. Keeping records I find very helpful.
towman32
Marking the case to know how many times fired is good , no matter what system. You could get 25+ reloads out of your cases, then marking is a problem. That's why I changed to keeping a journal. Helps in every way. Do you keep a record on barrel round count. Shooting benchrest , that's important to know. Barrels with high round count don't last forever.
Marking the case to know how many times fired is good , no matter what system. You could get 25+ reloads out of your cases, then marking is a problem. That's why I changed to keeping a journal. Helps in every way. Do you keep a record on barrel round count. Shooting benchrest , that's important to know. Barrels with high round count don't last forever.
This is the second round of questions on keeping up with cases. The last time I started to post a picture and then changed my mind; seems posting pictures requires too much effort, seems I needed a token. And then there are pictures that look like shouting.
Anyhow I have 35 Whelen cases that were 30/06 1942 LC before I necked them up to 35 Whelen. Most of them have a ‘chop’ mark on the edge of the rim. When keeping up with the cases it is not necessary to add chop marks like a trade dollar if the shooter works out a plan to index the mark; meaning clock the case with the LC or date stamp. Then there are different dates on the head stamps, 5 different dates allow the reloader to sort by head stamp date etc.
Then there are extremes, not easy nor is there a short cut; a very few reloaders mark the case divider and container and record the number in a log. Instead of marking the box or divider with the number of times the cases have been fired they keep the information in the log. Every position in the divider is marked with numbers from 1-20.
I use masking tape, when I run out of room to write I run another piece of tape around the container. When it comes to sorting I managed that by using different head stamps, when sorting after tumbling the same cases that were removed from the 20 round containers go back into the same container.
Anyhow, our government marked case heads at a few of the arsenals. I would not count them but I believe I have close to 400 of them, I have formed the marked cases and I have fired them with no serious after effects or failures; there are claims the marked cases were used for blanks, I have too many cases that are blanks that are not marked meaning they used new cases or did not mark the fired cases when reloading.
F. Guffey