How to Mark Your Reloads to Prevent Confusion- Quick Tip
When I work up reloads I typically start at the minimum suggested load in the manual and work my way up to towards the maximum. I may not always make it to max, it depends on my purpose for that cartridge, pressure signs and accuracy nodes. To me it is extremely important to keep my reload increments separate. I even had one occasion when I knocked over a box of incremental reloads and mixed up the different powder charges.
After that I decided I needed to figure out a way to mark my powder increments. Enter the colored Sharpie! Now, whenever I'm working up a group of powder charges I mark the powder with colored sharpie. I then write the powder charge and which color it belongs to and place that paper in my ammo box. This guarantees that I will know which loads belong to which powder charges when it comes time to test them for accuracy, pressure and velocities.
Here is a quick video to explain the markings and a way to mark your bullets so they will leave a mark on the target:
You can also mark your reloads to distinguish your brass from everyone else at the range. This is especially handy if you are shooting competitive matches such as IPSC, IDPA, etc. The nice thing about this method is that once you knock out the primer and tumble the brass for the next loading the marker is gone.
More quick tips:
The reloading logbook
How do you mark your reloads? Let me know how you mark them or an idea for another quick tip in the comment section below.
After that I decided I needed to figure out a way to mark my powder increments. Enter the colored Sharpie! Now, whenever I'm working up a group of powder charges I mark the powder with colored sharpie. I then write the powder charge and which color it belongs to and place that paper in my ammo box. This guarantees that I will know which loads belong to which powder charges when it comes time to test them for accuracy, pressure and velocities.
Here is a quick video to explain the markings and a way to mark your bullets so they will leave a mark on the target:
You can also mark your reloads to distinguish your brass from everyone else at the range. This is especially handy if you are shooting competitive matches such as IPSC, IDPA, etc. The nice thing about this method is that once you knock out the primer and tumble the brass for the next loading the marker is gone.
More quick tips:
The reloading logbook
How do you mark your reloads? Let me know how you mark them or an idea for another quick tip in the comment section below.
Great Blog! I also use the colored sharpie to mark my reloads. For my competition brass I also take a very fine small file and lightly score the edge of the rim to keep track of the number of times I have reloaded it; the marks don't come off when tumbling like sharpie does. Normally I only reload the competition brass five times and then transfer it to plinking/practice, but I have one group of 7mm TCU brass that is sitting on the 10th reload.
ReplyDeleteMy dad used to paint the extractor grove on his .45 IPSC ammo with bright pink fingernail polish so when the police call came at the end of the day he would get his brass back. Many of the guys he shot with did the same, I remember all these men standing around the sorting table asking things like "who has the red rim?" "Bruce is yours Pink?" and "Where in the world did you find that shade of green?".
I have heard of people using files to mark total loadings, I haven't tried that myself, but may try it on my next batch of new brass.
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