differences in brass companies...mainly flash holes.

[ubetcha]

I have some 45acp brass that has a larger flash hole than others. I believe they are Winchester. Has anyone noticed a difference in pressures or anything detrimental if small or large hole brass were loaded the same with primer, powder or bullet. I no longer have a 45, but I gave most of my brass to my brother because a friend of his recently purchased one. I did not give him the large hole brass mainly because I wasn't sure if the larger hole brass need to loaded different.

[6bg6ga]

There was a comment about the case being an extension of the chamber and I don't buy that until the bullet has left the casing. The reason is this .... inside the case there is a volume and the volume can change as a result of thickness of the brass and length. I don't see that primer hole size comes into play other than its ability to direct the spark to the powder for ignition. The older reloading manuals would state a accurate or a maximum load using a specific case. Now, upon ignition pressure builds until the bullet leaves the case. Different cases= different volume=different pressures.

Reason for innacuracies with a mixed headstamp are simply different case volumes which equates to different pressures which in my warped mind = different powder load of possibly .1-.3 gr of powder. All cases being equal would equate to no devaition in the powder load.

[captaint]

I would have to agree that the internal volume of the BRASS, after sizing, is what will affect pressure and therefore accuracy/consistency. There are certainly other factors, but some are more important than others. Mike

[hickfu]

Wow, I just went through my 45acp brass a couple days ago and was dismayed by the amount of burrs to the inside of the flash holes. Hell, some were darn near non-existent. I went through everyone of them with a drill bit to knock off the burrs and put a very tiny recess on the inside flash hole. I never want to do that again but I will when I pick up more brass.... I dont have any unloaded 9mm yet but Im dreading them as well....


Doc

[paul edward]

Noticed big flash holes in some, but not all, FC cases.

I now have enough range pickup 45 brass that I can afford to be fussy. I sort for my two preferred headstamps, and trade or give away the oddballs.

[gwpercle]

I'm not sure if reloading, especially with cast boolits is a hobby a person with OCD should have. All the variables could keep them entertained measuring, weighing, making lists, recording data and creating spreadsheets to no end and never get around to doing much shooting.....On the other hand it might drive them stark raving mad.

When it comes to 45 acp I pick up brass where I find it , load it and shoot it . I do inspect it and maybe run it thru the case polisher.... Not much into weighing and measuring empty cases .......life's too short for that, I want as much range time as possible.

Gary

[Shiloh]

There was a link on Cast Boolits or one of the other forums with pictires of radically off center flash holes as well as flash holes that had the web ripped out creating a flash chasm. I did a short search bu no luck.

Shiloh

[mold maker]

You guys frustrate the heck out of me. I just finished hand sorting 4600 pieces of 45 ACP by head stamp, after cleaning and polishing.
Now you've convinced me I need to do it all over with another criteria.
I did check for primer size along the way, and my old eyes are about looking backwards.

[Texantothecore]

I started using a flash hole uniformer and have been quite pleased with the results. I found least one case which was bit of a mystery as the flash hole was so blocked that I couldn't figure out how it fired.

[mozeppa]

I'm not sure if reloading, especially with cast boolits is a hobby a person with OCD should have. All the variables could keep them entertained measuring, weighing, making lists, recording data and creating spreadsheets to no end and never get around to doing much shooting.....On the other hand it might drive them stark raving mad.

Gary

really?? i'm not that bad!

signed: Adrian Monk

[10mmShooter]

I do flash hole ream and deburr and primer pocket uniform only on my .308 LC brass for my M1a, for pistol.....ha I do none of that, but I do sort by headstamp so my crimps are consistant, other wise varying case length will mess up your crimping.

[Banjobird66]

So on the same note. Is that the reason, blank rounds should not be used for live loads? The only difference I have noted is the size of the flash hole. Wt. brass thickness, diameter, length, manufacturer all the same. Flash hole much larger on the blank.

[lka]

I sort rifle but not pistol, pistol just gets a quick inspection, cleaned, quick inspection and loaded oh then a quick inspection.. Rifle gets a lot more attn, especially the mag stuff.

[C. Latch]

I'm not sure if reloading, especially with cast boolits is a hobby a person with OCD should have.

I'm guessing that somewhere there's a shooter than keeps inventory of everything he has in stock via a spreadsheet, and there's a column for the last time he counted the pins in his SS tumbling media, how many times it's been used, and how many pins he's lost since he bought it.

[gray wolf]

My 44 mag off a sand bag rest shoots 3/4" groups one after the other if I don't screw up. My brass is range P/U
lend me and some given to me, I think I have every head stamp made ( almost ) I trim to length, load and shoot.
So your saying i could shoot better with all the same flash holes ?
Now for my rifle it's a bit different.

Sam

[C. Latch]

Ok, I admit....after sort of laughing at this thread, last night I grabbed some .45 cases to reload and looked at the flash holes before priming.

Wow.

Little holes, big holes, oblong holes, cloverleaf-shaped holes, and everything in between.

[6bg6ga]

I've looked at my flash holes too. All my brass a mixed bunch. In a perfect world sorting out the brass by manufacturer should equal better accuracy. Thus equal sized flash holes should equal better accuracy? Lets see what the flash holes do..put simply they allow the primer to ignite the powder. So, as long as the powder touches off who cares?

[HeavyMetal]

If you think flash holes are big news buy a primer pocket reaming tool and do a few 45 case's!

The amount of brass that come out of the average 45 case, or most others, will amaze you.

I got into reaming primer pockets years ago, it only needs to be done once just like flash hole uniforming, because I could never get a primer to "seat just below flush" as suggestd by every loading manual I ever read.

Now for years I just ran my pistol brass through the Dillon and it worked great, and still does, but after prepping my brass, weekends watching a good john wayne movie, I find groups are more "uniform" and tighter, long distance shooting has benifited as well.

Case volume is a much bigger player in loads, so I sort by HS, but a blocked flash hole is not a big help!