Brass weight variances?

Getting ready to start a load workup for my 270 Win with the Hornady 145 Gr ELD-X.
I have a brand new box of Norma Brass and I thought that I might weigh it to see how consistent it is. Here is what I came up with. These brass have all been primed with CCI 200 primers. All weights in grains
181.9 (1)
182.0 (2)
182.1 (1)
182.2 (2)
182.3 (2)
182.4 (2)
182.5 (2)
182.7 (2)
182.8 (3)
182.9 (2)
183.0 (2)
183.3 (1)
183.6 (1)
Was just wondering what you al thought of these brass weights and give me some advice on how to proceed.

I weighed a brand new box of Nosler 257 Rob+P brass on Sat and had a 1.5 grain spread on all those, although 27 of the 50 were within .4 gr., I bagged those up separate and plan on working those into a 115 gr Berger VLD load for my Wife Kelli to shoot this fall on a Mule Deer hunt.
Thanks and take care.
Ed

Ed,

You have two variables going, brass weight and primer weight. I read a study awhile back, where their was "noticeable" primer weight variances. I don't recall what primers were tested nor what "noticeable" meant, if it was 0.01 grains or if it was 0.23 grains. Point being, you might want to weigh some CCI 200 primers and see if you notice a weight variance.

Personally I wouldn't worry to much about the primed brass weights until I knew that it was affecting the fired case H20 capacity and or producing flyers on target. In my very humble opinion a 1.7 grain difference in unfired and primed 270 WIN brass doesn't add up to much for the shots I take; your shots in Utah are likely different. Once I knew there is a difference in performance, I would cull the poorly preforming cases and keep them for fouling or general trigger time.

I know it is a few months out, but have a great Mule Deer hunt.

Well Ed, you are trouble for us OCD types. I weighed 200+ Remington 3006 cases and they ranged from 185.4g to 206.2g. Mostly clustered around 189.0 and 199.9. Maybe 2 sub contractors? Either way I sorted them into a couple groups. All cases were first full length sized, then trimmed.

I have 400 Norma 300 win magnum cases. Unfired. Next rainy day...after I order up my reloading dies.


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I used to weigh brass, but I don't any more. I do purchase good brass, and then I worry more about concentricity and finding a good seating depth than anything. I think those two things have meaningful impact, and I don't see brass weight variance on paper.

I don't even think powder charge weight variance matters much. + or - 0.1 grains is definitely close enough


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Well, the mean weight is 182.75 gr. and the difference from the mean on both ends is 0.85 gr. Leads me to believe it won't make a hill of beans, at least for hunting ammo. What the hell? I trim new brass to the trim too length, ream the flash holes and uniform the primer pockets. Doesn't leave me enough time to weigh brass. :lol: I seriously wonder if you loaded up five of the lightest and five of the heaviest just how much difference it's make in your groups. Oh well, as long as we're having fun.
Paul B.

I definitely resemble the OCD comment. :lol: I seem to have ES of 80 to some times 100 FPS in my loads. I have started looking at all my reloading processes and trying to be consistent. I weigh every charge now, I make sure all my brass are trimmed the same, I measure every bullet depth with a comparator tool. Now I am weighing brass.. I guess I should start weighing primers :shock: . I have been reloading my own hunting ammo for going on 30yrs and never paid much attention to details like I describe above. ES's were always up there, accuracy was I suppose "Hunting Accurate", as I harvested game and filled my tags and freezer. Since I joined this forum I do all the things listed above. My ES's are still unacceptable to me. I read a lot on this forum of those who start their load work up, go to the range, have 5 FPS ES, shoot .2 MOA and say.. WOW that was easy. :shock: :shock: Just hasn't been that way for me. But like PJ said.. As long as we are having fun..

I'm getting periodic fliers. With a spread of 20 grains in case weight.. that could explain weird things.
I did get a magnetospeed recently, so I'll know if my fliers are different in some obvious way.

It's all fun...and therapeutic for those of us participating in the rat race.


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Brass weight doesn't mean much at all. It's Case Volume and Neck tension. You don't need to seperate brass, wasting time. Trim all the brass to the same length, measure the case volume and go from there. Not in that order but you get the drift. How are you dispensing your powder? How consistent are your seating depths, have you reamed the primer pockets, deburred the primer hole on the inside of your cases? Check the case neck thickness etc.. annealing your Brass?

Those are the important factors

My wife thinks I only have 3 guns