Cover Your Brass

By Bill Wade

In the January issue, I discussed the importance of record keeping and
some methods of doing so. This month I want to expand on one particular
area of records that is a perplexing side of the chore.

Keeping track of brass.
It is a lot more difficult than it sounds. Having tried different
boxes, labels and memory, I have decided that neither of these are
accurate enough to suit me.

Lets start by looking at a single piece of brass you found laying on
your bench. Where did it come from? How many times has it been used?
Was it neck sized last time or full length? Maybe it came out of your
pocket after you scored on a coyote last weekend or maybe you picked it
up at the range. No matter how it got there, now you have to deal with
it.

Though tempted to toss it just to keep from screwing up records and
consistency, the price of brass encourages me to be patient and figure
it out.

Today, it is very simple, I turn the case around, look at the head and
see what color it has on it, look at the correct Lot for a Batch that
is missing a case. It is almost too simple and I wonder why I have not
been doing this for years.

So far I am only doing this on one caliber, but since I got the new 220
Swift, that is all I have played with. Starting with a fresh caliber
and no brass, I was determined to do my best at keeping track of the
brass for this new rifle.

After contemplating my options, I came up with a scheme that actually
works and works very well.

I purchase 100 pieces of brass and immediately, mark the case head with
a colored permanent marker from a set I purchased at a hobby store. The
set contains red, blue, green and black.

Then I go to my computer and enter all the information about this new
brass into a database. But it could be as simple as writing it down in
a notebook.

Usually, I load 20 cases at a time, so a "Batch" is 20 pieces. This
means 5 records for a package of 100 pieces of brass.

The following fields are available for each record:
Batch # (computer generated)
Lot # (I assign)
Batch Quantity
Brand
Caliber
Date of Purchase
Vendor
Price
Color Code
and check boxes for - Neck Turned - Flash hole Debur - Pocket Uniformed
and a field for Comments

Most of the fields are self-explanatory but a couple require
explanation.

Batch #, is a number that will be specific for that Batch of 20 pieces
of brass, and it never changes for the Batch.

Lot #, I assign because I want a descriptive way of telling me where
the brass came from, but it has to be short and simple.
For example: A bag of 100 pieces of Remington brass, would have a code
like this; BBR100 That is Bulk Brass, Remington, 100 pieces. So I
should expect to find 5 records that contain BBR100.

I pick a color that has not been used or not used on this brand but
there are a zillion ways this could be handled.

The resulting records for a bag of 100 pieces of brass then, would look
something like this.
Batch # Lot # Qty Brand Caliber Date Vendor Price Color
118 BBR100 20 Rem 220 2/99 Fred's 21 Green
119 BBR100 20 Rem 220 2/99 Fred's 21 Green
120 BBR100 20 Rem 220 2/99 Fred's 21 Green
121 BBR100 20 Rem 220 2/99 Fred's 21 Green
122 BBR100 20 Rem 220 2/99 Fred's 21 Green

If you happen to use a single box of Winchester factory ammo, it would
simply be a Lot # like FAW20A, Factory Ammo, Winchester, 20 pieces,
where the extension of A is the first box.

You can and probably should add the manufacturer's lot number to
records if it is available.

Now, when I load a Batch of brass, I simply reference the Batch # and I
am set.

The actual case status information is kept with the load record. If I
neck size this Batch and load it up, when I find the piece of brass
laying on my bench, I simply look at my load data to find out when it
was loaded last and I know which Batch it belongs in and its case
status.

It sounds more complicated than it really is and you may come up with a
system that works better for you, but I have found this to be fantastic
for keeping my brass in order.

I can generate a report that tells me everything that has happened to
this Batch of brass, by date.

Interestingly, I have found that with the 220 Swift, I can neck size 4
times before needing to full length size. Granted, the loads I am still
playing with are not "Hot" but I am still in the process of working up
to a "Pet Load" for this cartridge/gun combo.

The tumbler is the only thing that has an ill effect on the marking and
black seems to disappear faster than the other colors. The way I solve
this is only put a specific color in the tumbler and simply re-mark
once they are out of the tumbler.

These markers also work great on the side of the case unless you tumble
or FL size, then it is gone.

Bill Wade