How much of a difference does a head stamp make?

[SippyCup]

For what you’re looking to do mixed will be fine. I wouldn’t be running up near max pressure though. Like other have said, if you want to eliminate one thing from the potential issues of developing a good load you’d want to run same brand and lot.
If you keep pressures low 200-300 piece of quality brass will last the life of the barrel of both the calibers you listed.

 

[shmtastic]

Another vote for you should be fine. Have I done it in the past? Heck yeah I have. Do I any more? Not at all. Best thing to do is test it! Load up three and three, send them at 500, see if you have a six shot group or two three shot groups.

 

[hunterjrg]

Yea it’s gonna matter for your itty bitty groups way out there and tight sd/es.
It won’t matter much on a whitetail to a few hundred yards

 

[doc holiday13]

0-500 yards Mix all the headstamps.. You won't notice a difference unless you're trying to have sub MOA groups. 1.5 MOA at 500 gives you a ~7" group at 500. Thats kill zone

 

[thinhorn_AK]

To be clear, you are talking about basically making a batch of rounds (say 50) but with mixed brass???

I guess I think hand-loading is about consistency and by mixing brass consistency just goes out the window.

Will it matter? Maybe who knows unless you try it but…why try it? Just buy some good brass.

 

[Castle Rock]

To be clear, you are talking about basically making a batch of rounds (say 50) but with mixed brass???

I guess I think hand-loading is about consistency and by mixing brass consistency just goes out the window.

Will it matter? Maybe who knows unless you try it but…why try it? Just buy some good brass.

Plenty of us load in batches of many hundreds of rounds.
I have tested a lot of stuff and found that often ( mostly) the difference was minimal or lost in the noise.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

I agree that some differences can get “lost in the noise.” I don’t think it matters that much if you have a reasonably full cartridge case (but not compressed) and some bullets your barrel likes. It’s fairly easy to tell by loading up enough to form a decent sample size and shooting them.

 

[coyotekilla]

Some cartridges matter more than others. In 223, ill admit I mix my brass. Rifle still tosses 1/2 moa, even to 300 with mixed brass. My theory is that the small volume case, the difference is minimal.

My 25-06 its a concern. I have new hornady brass, and older brass formed from 30-06. The 30-06 brass has a good bit less volume, shoots 150 to 200 fps faster, and impacts 2" above where the hornady hits.

As with all reloading, this has been my experience, in my rifle, yours may be different. Follow the saftey guidelines and learn your rifle.

My tikka 223 seems very ammo insensitive, the weatherby / howa 25-06 shoots well, but has alot of supressor shift and is brass sensitive, it may be a more temperamental rifle.