Marking your reloads

[Nwcid]

How do you mark your reloads?

I know many people put the load data on the box that they store the ammo in, but that only helps if the ammo is in the box. If you load up a few magazines, at a later date how do you distinguish what are different styles of loads or even from factory ammo?

One of the things I stared doing is marking my primers with a sharpie and then labeling that in my load book with the color. This allows me to easily distinguish loose ammo and once it is shot and the primer is knocked out there is no residual mark. I stared doing this after I was filling magazines with subsonic reloads that looked just like other ammo I had. I now do this with all my reloads for easy ID. The colors do not signify anything, they just happen to be what I decided at the moment.

Here is a picture for example with 9mm loads from left to right: Blue, 124 gr subsonic reloads; factory 115 gr that has "brass color" primer, Red, 147 gr subsonic reloads; factory 115 gr that has "sliver color" primers; Black 115 gr subsonic reloads. The 115 gr SS runs great in one gun, but not in the others and once expended will not be loaded again, the 124 gr was 50 rounds loaded for testing, the 147 gr is now my go to and runs well in everything.

Hopefully someone finds this beneficial.

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[Bobbygun]

How do you mark your reloads?

I know many people put the load data on the box that they store the ammo in, but that only helps if the ammo is in the box. If you load up a few magazines, at a later date how do you distinguish what are different styles of loads or even from factory ammo?

One of the things I stared doing is marking my primers with a sharpie and then labeling that in my load book with the color. This allows me to easily distinguish loose ammo and once it is shot and the primer is knocked out there is no residual mark. I stared doing this after I was filling magazines with subsonic reloads that looked just like other ammo I had. I now do this with all my reloads for easy ID. The colors do not signify anything, they just happen to be what I decided at the moment.

Here is a picture for example with 9mm loads from left to right: Blue, 124 gr subsonic reloads; factory 115 gr that has "brass color" primer, Red, 147 gr subsonic reloads; factory 115 gr that has "sliver color" primers; Black 115 gr subsonic reloads. The 115 gr SS runs great in one gun, but not in the others and once expended will not be loaded again, the 124 gr was 50 rounds loaded for testing, the 147 gr is now my go to and runs well in everything.

Hopefully someone finds this beneficial.

View attachment 1878517

I had to stop and think about this. I guess what it comes down to is, every rifle I reload for has a favorite recipe. I do label the boxes when I reload but can't recall the last time I had different recipes for the same gun. Maybe during load development. When I'm doing that, I segregate the ammo in a larger box because I'm typically only loading a few of each. Instead of having red primers or blue primers, I might say the upper right are one thing, while the lower right are something else, and the upper left and lower left are also different. The last time I recall doing this was several years ago for my .300 Weatherby Magnum. I tried a Nosler Partitions and Hornady Interlocks with H1000 and H4831, ending up with 4 different loads to try. (I got lucky with the Partitions and H4831 and landed on a very accurate load without even trying different powder weights.)

For pistols I only reload plinking rounds. For defense loads I use factory. If I have different plinking loads, they would be easy to identify by the bullet being used - wadcutter vs. fmj vs. hollow point. I think it's a safe bet that you do a lot more reloading than I do.

 

[DizzyJ]

It can also be useful when working up a load.

 

[Certaindeaf]

All Nato rounds are lacquer sealed, mouth and primer and I always thought that was a good idea so If I'm making some keeper loads I'll seal the primers with lacquer if it's a big batch and if it's small I'll use colored fingernail polish. I very rarely seal the mouths but have a time or two using lacquer.
So if I pick up some stray 9mm with hot pink or whatever around the primer, I'll know what they are.

 

[RVTECH]

When necessary I have done similar but by marking the case head with a particular design with a sharpie - such as an X, a cross, one vertical line etc. but like Bobbygun I just mark my ammo boxes with peel off labels as I typically load one load per gun.

 

[TDH]

Once I find a 'recipe', I usually only load that. And most of those, go into their own ammo can. Anything outside the ordinary, different powder, will get a sharpie stripe on the primer side and put in an MTM ammo box. I will usually put a note in the box, just so I remember what powder/load I was trying out.

All my defense rounds are in nickel cases, all the 9mm is in an ammo can, the other calibers are in MTM boxes. I only load 9mm defensive rounds in bulk, the others are too expensive to load more than 50ish (Lehigh), unless they are XTP.

 

[orygun]

I've been marking primers and case heads with Sharpies for years. Probably read about it in a magazine way back when. Keeping the marking info with the loading data is a great tool.
Thanks for the reminder, @Nwcid . This could be helpful to many reloaders.

 

[Nwcid]

I had to stop and think about this. I guess what it comes down to is, every rifle I reload for has a favorite recipe. I do label the boxes when I reload but can't recall the last time I had different recipes for the same gun. Maybe during load development. When I'm doing that, I segregate the ammo in a larger box because I'm typically only loading a few of each. Instead of having red primers or blue primers, I might say the upper right are one thing, while the lower right are something else, and the upper left and lower left are also different. The last time I recall doing this was several years ago for my .300 Weatherby Magnum. I tried a Nosler Partitions and Hornady Interlocks with H1000 and H4831, ending up with 4 different loads to try. (I got lucky with the Partitions and H4831 and landed on a very accurate load without even trying different powder weights.)

For pistols I only reload plinking rounds. For defense loads I use factory. If I have different plinking loads, they would be easy to identify by the bullet being used - wadcutter vs. fmj vs. hollow point. I think it's a safe bet that you do a lot more reloading than I do.

In your case it sounds like you only have one gun per caliber, or maybe unique magazines for each rifle.

I have several guns that use 9mm Glock magazines. In reality, I only have 2 main loads "standard" velocity and subsonic. Externally 115 gr FMJ super sonic and sub sonic look the same. So great care would have to be taken not to mix magazines up, or even worse, loose ammo.

 

[Koda]

How do you mark your reloads?

I know many people put the load data on the box that they store the ammo in, but that only helps if the ammo is in the box. If you load up a few magazines, at a later date how do you distinguish what are different styles of loads or even from factory ammo?

Blue tape.... When I load a box I mark the mtm box with the date I loaded it and it becomes a "lot" code. I put another piece of blue painters tape on the baseplate of the magazine and use a sharpie to write the same date code.

 

[TTSX]

You mean I'm not the only one who marks their reloads with sharpie??? I do it color coded for how many loads that brass has fired. Naked is virgin, black is 1, green is 2, blue 3 etc etc.

I remember the first time I saw my marking style on some brass at a range for a cartridge I don't load for. That was when I figured out I'm no more intelligent or creative than everyone else who does this. Nothing new under the sun.

 

[oremike]

I do that or some variant like it when experimenting and doing load development. Once I figure out what I want I just make that load. Lots and lots of that load.

 

[Koda]

For load dev I just write on the side of each case with a sharpie the chg weight or seating depth.
If one really wanted to go all out they could write a number or letter on each case associated with the load recipe. A,B,C etc.

 

[oremike]

I've only got 3 high power hunting rifles a .223 bolt gun that I've dialed in it's pet varmint load so for now it's good. Next up is my 25-06 that I envision being a wet-side Deer rifle or a lead free Pig hunter if I ever go somewhere that's required. So 2 loads for that rifle. As I work on the loads I load 5 of whatever put them in a zip lock bag with a post it note with all the pertantant information on it. As I shoot that load I put the cases back in the same bag and add to the note any information I feel needed like group size, sticky extraction or whatever. I've tried the dot and note book method but the zip lock post it method works better for me in the rough development. The dot and notebook works better for the fine tuning. Right now I'm trying to figure out what powder this rifle/load likes best. I'm loading mid range loads seated to the factory specs but with different powders. Factory hornady Interlocks shoot a 2" group and my first try did the same with the hunting bullets but shot a 4" group with the lead free ones. So more work needed.

 

[Nosferatu]

I reload in real time. No markers necessary.