Do you mark your brass?

[Father Kit Cool Gun Garth]

While picking up brass at the last match, I understood that those shooters who reload would be looking to get their OWN brass back. While I was trying to be diligent in picking up what appeared to be the most recently fired brass, which meant they should belong to the last shooter, I sometimes ended up collecting more brass than what was shot. Most likely when I didn't get all the brass from the last shooter, and now discovered them.

The thought then occurred to me, can a shooter mark their brass?

If so, I would like to know what methods are being used by those shooters who both (1) load their own ammo, and (2) mark their brass.

Always learning new things.

Let's hope my head doesn't explode with all this new found knowledge.

[Boggus Deal #64218]

I don't mark my brass. And while I am very critical of my ammo, I consider brass like bullets, powder and primers, part of the cost of playing the game.

[Grizzly Dave]

Nope, I don't mark my brass nor do I know anyone who does. Only time I've seen it done was by a shooter trying to keep different loads separate.

 

I figure I'll get back what I get back. Thru the course of a year I'll get back some cases for different calibers which I pass along to folks I know that shoot those calibers.

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

Most shooters simply take a magic marker of various colors and draw a line on the bottom. Easy to do when they are in a plastic cartridge box with the bases up. Basically a waste of time since after a few matches you still wind up with a variety of brass.

[Tombstone Tex]

I don't mark my brass for this game because of the folks picking up brass right after I'm done shooting. Sure we lose a few a match, but as Boggus Deal said, it is part of playing the game, and as Larsen said, those that I have seen marking them use magic marker across the primer area

[Jimmy Reb, SASS #54804]

The only thing I mark are the shotgun hulls that I want to throw away after I use them, because they have been reloaded

to the end of their life

[Yusta B.]

I mark BP loads only. Three shooters shooting BP or smokeless, depending in the whim of the day. BP in a smokeless category gets you some snickers from the posse. Smokeless in a BP cat gets you a P. Sharpie on the head does the job.

[Grizzly Dave]

The only thing I mark are the shotgun hulls that I want to throw away after I use them, because they have been reloaded

to the end of their life

 

I've seen some folks mark 38s for the same reason, they found a slight split or whatever in the case mouth after loading, so they marked them so they'd know to use only in pistols, only in side matches or practice, and to toss them after firing.

[Sedalia Dave]

Only mark them to differentiate different loads. Use wide tip Sharpie with different colors to to denote BP from Smokeless and pistol only brass from rifle. As I have them stored by load in bins. I mark them as I put them into loading block before the match. This is also when I check for high primers.

 

As stated above brass is a consumable. Sometimes I come home with less and sometimes I come home with more.

[Warden Callaway]

I'm the only one that shoots 32-20 and it's nickel plated. I've only loast a few in past year. Mary shoots 357 in rifle and has loast a few. But we gain back a few 38 Specials so it about comes out in the wash. Handgun ammo is unloaded at table so no loss.

 

I started shooting brass shotgun shells so keep close account on these. Not lost or damaged any so far.

[Boggus Deal #64218]

I load all of my ammo in Starline brass and load my girlfriend's BP ammo in Winchester brass.

[Smoken D]

Use Starline and mark around the center of the brass with a black magic marker. Makes it easy for me when looking for my brass. Only mark rifle, no need to mark pistol.

[Prairie Dawg, SASS #50329]

I mark my brass, not to get my own back, but so I know what's in it.

Black = Black Powder

Green = APP

Red = Smokeless

 

Works for me

--Dawg

[Jefro, SASS#69420]

Yep, Hot Lead Heather and I both shoot alota BP, no one wants our nasty brass touching theirs . And along with several others we mark our smokeless too, especially the 45acp and 44/40. No extra time is spent shagging the brass, ones we can't identify are left on the side of the dump tray, by the end of the match they have usually made it back to the original shooter, if not we'll find em next match. When folks look in the trash bucket they know any AAs or STS with the big black X have been reloaded at least one time too many , and the last time was with BP . With smokeless shot shells I start with a small blue X on one side, after about four or five blue Xs they get turned into the big black X one last time Good Luck

 

Jefro Relax-Enjoy

[Warden Callaway]

I mark my BP (BlackMZ) loads by taking a black Sharpie to a tray of primers before I dump them on the pickup tray. Give them a minute to dry before dumping. I use Winchester primers so they come in trays that facilitate this method. The case head stays clean so if and when you load smokeless, they won't look like they're loaded with black.

 

The only downside is that the loading table guy always spot a round without a primer until I show and tell.

[Singin' Sue 71615]

I believe we all understand that not ALL our brass will be found, nor that all the brass we come home with is OURS.

We mark ours with a line of black to show BP.

[El Hombre Sin Nombre]

I mark all of my brass because I shoot 3 different cartridges, always at least two for a match. My pistols are 45 colt and get a blue line across the primer. My 44-40 get a red line. And my 38-40 get a green line. The colors have no significance other than that was what they were in the package of four I bought, the fourth being black. I don't know if it helps me get my brass back, but it helps me not shove the wrong caliber in my rifle. I lose more 44-40 and 38-40 brass due to the necks getting crushed while stepped on than I do from not being retrieved. Just the cost of playing this game, and a small cost at that considering how much time I save in cleaning up after shooting those two cartridges.

[Bullett Sass 19707]

I mark my brass with a red sharpe. A line across the diameter of the base. I know something of the history of the brass. Bullett 19707

[Col. Cornelius Gilliam, SASS#5875TG]

I mark any rounds that don't pass inspection after reloading with a black sharpie across the base so they don't accidently get used in a match. They are practice only, then discard.

 

For Wild Bunch, I sharpie mark all 45 auto rounds that pass gauge inspection with one color, and any that fail with black.

 

Reloaded shotgun ammo is also sharpie marked to denote black powder and smokeless loads. I also use another color to mark my sons 12 ga loads (which are lighter).

[Buffalo Bill Mathewson, 37826]

I mark mine to identify loads or componits such as primer change or powder type. I have found that I get more of my brass back as others think I mark it for that reason.

[Totes Magoats]

I mark mine with a small dent in the primer when I fire them. If you see any on the ground with that marking, it's likely mine and I'd appreciate 'em back.

 

I do mark by SG hulls though to get a count on the reloads/life of the hull. After a few smokeless reloads, I will move it to the BP bucket for reloading with BP and toss it after.

[Al OVERA, SASS#26238 Life]

While picking up brass at the last match, I understood that those shooters who reload would be looking to get their OWN brass back. While I was trying to be diligent in picking up what appeared to be the most recently fired brass, which meant they should belong to the last shooter, I sometimes ended up collecting more brass than what was shot. Most likely when I didn't get all the brass from the last shooter, and now discovered them.

The thought then occurred to me, can a shooter mark their brass?

If so, I would like to know what methods are being used by those shooters who both (1) load their own ammo, and (2) mark their brass.

Always learning new things.

Let's hope my head doesn't explode with all this new found knowledge.

I use a florescent pink slash across the primer end. usually get 85% back from rifle. 100% from pistols. (LOL)

Al

[Gold Canyon Kid #43974]

The only brass I mark with a colored slash is to indicate hotter than normal load of various bullet weights and velocities.

[Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283]

Howdy

 

I usually shoot 45 Colt in my pistols and 44-40 in my rifle. I do not own a 45 Colt rifle. So just for easy identification at the loading table, all my 44-40 brass gets a black mark from a Sharpie across the base of the cartridge when I pop them into their plastic boxes. This is simply to keep me from putting a 45 Colt into my 44-40 rifle, which would be a bad thing. It is not meant to identify my brass to anybody else, just a crutch for my feeble brain.

 

 

 

 

 

As it turns out, many of the folks I shoot with know that an empty 44-40 with a black mark across it is mine, so many times somebody will come up to me later and hand me one of my empties.

 

Yup, everybody pretty much expects to lose some brass at a match. The brass pickers are not expected to spend the time to pick up every single piece of brass. They pick what they can, and return it to you while you are still at the unloading table. Taking the time to find every single piece will usually slow a match down, everybody understands that.

 

Many times I will get a piece of brass back that I know is not mine, that's just par for the course. And every match I usually wind up with some empty 38 Special brass that certainly was not mine. I try and pick it out of my rinse bottle before I throw them into the tumbler, because the vibration will jam a 38 Sp case down tight into a 45 Colt case and they usually both have to be discarded.

 

By the way, marking brass with a Sharpie is very common, but it is not a way to mark brass if you want to mark it permanently. After a little while in the tumbler, the Sharpie mark is always erased from my brass and I have to do it again when I load a fresh batch.

[BartEnder]

I mark the headstamp portion of my rifle brass with red sharpie because I am shooting a marlin that likes to throw brass downrange and me and the other unfortunate few who have the same problem have to sort through the down range brass together. Like most others have said though, you get back the majority. I will now start marking my brass based on primer because I just got a 73 rifle and have mixed rounds loaded using both winchester and federal primers.

[Cypress Sun]

Hey Kit

 

I mark my rounds for various reasons. Just use a Sharpie across the base/primer while in the box.....yer good to go.

 

I mark them (in order of importance) for the following reasons.

 

- I carefully inspect each case before ever going into the tumbler for splits, S & B/Amerc brass and obstuctions. If the brass is marked, I don't have to look for manufacturer.

 

- It shows that the round has been inspected by me and is ready for use. At the loading table, I know it's mine and not someone else's.

 

- I really don't care for getting someone else's brass and often will get someone hand me my brass two or three shooters after I've shot.

 

- When the Sharpie mark is faint or gone, the brass is ready to come out of the tumbler.

 

 

On a side note, your previous thread is a great post and your font is just fine. I really appreciate your help with posse duties last Saturday at Eustis. Keep gaining information....It's a good thing. That being said, you gotta shoot a match sometime. Take the offers of borrowing guns/ammo, you'll quickly find out what you like or don't. If I can be of assistance, let me know....I'd be more than happy to help.

 

Sun

[Matthew Duncan]

My brass is headstamped, "Tombstone". Easy to tell if the wrong brass was returned to me.

[Kirk James]

After a big match with three shooters in the family I sort my brass according to how many times shot. An x means it is new. A line through it means it was shot one to three times. We only shoot new brass in big matches in our rifles and brass with one to three reloads in the pistols. It is not a perfect system as I am sure we occasional get back others brass which also have lines through them. After the match all brass is sorted into separate containers and tumbled separately. Lots of brass are then reloaded and put away for future big matches. Any question and the brass goes toward monthly or practice. We shot a lot of rounds in the month of EOT. I am still reloading. We are thankful to Dillon Precision!!!!!

[Chili Pepper Kid, SASS #60463]

Red Sharpie or Green. I shoot 250gr in the rifle and 200gr in the pistols.

[Noz]

When I was shooting 44-40 and 32-20 I marked each piece of brass with a green line. They are expensive and hard to come by so I wanted as many as possible back.

[Jabez Cowboy,SASS # 50129]

Yep been marking the rifle brass for close to 20 years ....

 

If I shot .38 spl. I wouldn't care as much ...

 

It's about half the price of .38-40 brass ...

 

 

Jabez Cowboy

[Blackey Cole]

I haven't shot with anyone else who shoots the same caliber that I do. Not that others don't shoot 38-40 but I've never been possed with them . So I'm petty sure that if I get ten pieces back all ten were mine but I rarely get all my brass back I figure like bogus it part of the cost of playing the game.

[Cherokee Sam]

I mark B/P to separate from smokeless. Shotshells and brass.

[Ace_of_Hearts]

Any unmarked brass that will fit in my gun that I get back on the unloading table is mine.

 

 

For those who wish to argue

http://www.uniquetek.com/site/696296/product/T1515-A

[German Jim]

My .45 Colt Brass I mark with a Black mark (Black Powder load) or a Green mark (Green Dot load). .45 Schofield and 38WCF I don't mark because they are always loaded with Black Powder. .45ACP are marked with a Green mark (Green Dot load) and also I want my .45 ACP Brass back if possible.