Ammunition labeling

[Don McDowell]

On Joes 45 colt thread the topic of what if ...... how would person x know what the ammo was for.
Well I am sometimes person x and have few rifles and handguns that duplicate the cartridge but not the load I make it simple enough that even I can figure out what gun to shoot it in.
I take a piece of masking tape or duct tape and mark each box of loaded ammo as to the load and the gun it is intended to be used in.
Examples of loads that can only be used in one gun are marked as such ie, winchester cases Savage only, etc.

I also have taken to marking each box of bullets with their intended powder charge and what cartridge. Example hornady 165 bts marked 45.2 grs 748 remington brass blr
Next box of same bullets marked 45 grs rl 15 winchester cases, savage 99.

Using this system I can send anybody to the ammo shelf for ammo and they come back with the right stuff.
Anybody who would succeed me at my reloading desk can instantly look at the bullet boxes and know what powder, case, and primer for what rifle,handgun.

[JohndeFresno]

Avery labels work fine; the Envelope address size fits on the end flap and on the box (8160 or 8460 for inkjets).

If you are into the computer generation of labels, it is much faster than hand labeling, but either works well.

I print a sheet at a time when I reload a large supply, using MS Word and the Avery templates (free online); then you can "Save to Document" and temporarily delete individual labels that you don't need, while printing, to save your stock for other labels. Just don't "Save the Changes."

On the example above, I like to import small images so that I can quickly spot the type of ammo; but this may be more work than many care to pursue. I save my label templates as documents, so I only have to create them once, using the "Save to Document" feature of Word as described.

In this example, you can see:
Caliber, date loaded, my Logbook Load Number
Bullet weight, company, type
Bullet Stock Nr / Powder and Amount
Muzzle Velocity, est. or actual (chronographed), my handle (JdeF for JohndeFresno), and usage

My Logbook Load Number allows me to look up additional information, such as C.O.A.L, primer type, accuracy of round or sighting in info, and other comments; stuff that would be tedious to add to the box.

Examples of usage: Varmints = Coyote; Plinking; Target; etc.

I don't put "Self-Defense" on the boxes for legal reasons. If I ever "happen" to have a pistol loaded with plinking rounds and end up in a defensive situation, then when the authorities take the box for testing and comparison it won't add fuel to some money hungry attorney's fire.

I don't collet size - I full-size my loads, and I rarely load hot loads. If I do, they are marked and are never shared with even my relatives, who I load for. Accordingly, I don't have to mark what gun the load is for. However, a relative uses a .223 carbine that has a different twist than other .223's (especially standard bolt actions); so if I ever loaded for a different rifle I would put that designation on the last line, e.g. ...(JdeF) Rem700VLS

In editing this after seeing Hobie's post, there are indeed some moderate loads that are not safe in BOTH types of firearms (rifle/pistol). I don't use any rifles that handle pistol bullets; for those who have matching pistol calibers in long guns, Hobie makes a lot of sense.

[Hobie]

I mark my loaded ammo thusly. E.g...

.45 Colt, 300 gr. Hornady XTP-MAG
23 gr. H110, CCI 350
FOR USE IN RIFLE ONLY!

[Charles]

A few years back I bought several cases of clear plastic ammo boxes. I also have a supply of old business cards. I just write the information on the back of an old card and place it in the box on top of the ammo. Works for me

[JP_TX]

When I have several loads for a particular rifle I use a sharpie marksalot and write on the brass of the rounds at each end of the box what is inside the case in addition to the label on the box. Works for me. The older I get the more help I need.

I especially do it if I am working up loads and have different charges in the same box that I may not get around to shooting for weeks. I mark every round. Funny how all those loaded rounds look the same after a couple of weeks. DOH!!!
.

[Don McDowell]

Jp I know exactly of what you speak on the rounds looking the same after a couple of weeks I had some test rounds loaded for Ol Butt Ugly, and things being what they are , they didn't get shot right away. Well come the day I finally got to shoot them , one of those loads put 5 rounds thru the same hole at 200 yds, had to go back and load the same chain of loads and fire the whole deal over again to see which one it was.

[Hobie]

Jp I know exactly of what you speak on the rounds looking the same after a couple of weeks I had some test rounds loaded for Ol Butt Ugly, and things being what they are , they didn't get shot right away. Well come the day I finally got to shoot them , one of those loads put 5 rounds thru the same hole at 200 yds, had to go back and load the same chain of loads and fire the whole deal over again to see which one it was.

I've done that...

[Don McDowell]

Agrevating as all get out huh Hobie

[Old Savage]

Unlike some expressed opinion on lack of concern for who might come after. If I passed on, my son or daughters would likely get my guns - there is nothing loaded here that couldn't be shot in anything that would chamber it here. So other than performance questions there are no safety concerns that I have created with my ammo and there won't be. I have already seen a guy with one blown up hand.

[pricecw]

I especially do it if I am working up loads and have different charges in the same box that I may not get around to shooting for weeks. I mark every round. Funny how all those loaded rounds look the same after a couple of weeks. DOH!!!
.

I went to a dot system for working up loads. I take a sharpie and mark the base of the brass, and then have a small notebook with the load info, and a table with the dots decoded. This is where I can make notes at the range.

That way, I don't have to decode tiny, messy handwriting at the range, just look and say 3-dots, look in the book and see that is say 25.5gr xxx powder.

--Carl

[Hobie]

Agrevating as all get out huh Hobie

When you're driving any distance to the range to set up your chronograph and... yeah, it is aggravating!

[Ysabel Kid]

I use a label maker to mark each box (I use MTM's for my reloads) with an abbreviated entry - the caliber, bullet weight and powder charge. I can read these when they are stacked for storage. Inside each both I have a card I print up, after logging the reload in a spreadsheet with the same information. The card states:

Caliber
Count
Bullet
Powder & Charge
Primer
Case
Overall length
Nominal velocity
Pressure
Date of Reload
Notes

In the "notes" section I will note if the load is for a specific weapon, or if it can't be used in any guns ("rifle only"; "do not use in Glock", etc.) and where I got the recipe.

This system works well for me. The big thing is that reloading is a serious endeavor, and should be treated as such. Think of it this way - if something happened to you, would you want your children using your reloads without knowing what they were? I imagine, with the amount of reloading I do, and ammunition I've purchased/hoarded, that I will be handing down some of this eventually. I ruined a cylinder on a S&W Model 629 once using unmarked reloads I bought at a garage sale. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I should have pulled every one of them but got lazy. Never again...

[JP_TX]

that sort of thing reminds me of a cartoon strip I saw once. I think it was Peanuts.

Charlie Brown comes running down the street shouting. "I found it! I found it!"

One of his friends stops him to ask what he found.

Charlie: "I found the secret of life."

Friend: "Wow, Charlie Brown, what is it?"

Charlie: Pauses, pauses some more. "Hmmm. I forget."

DOH!!!!!

[JohndeFresno]

I found the Secret of Life in the Service, but I can't share it with you. Sorry - Classified.

[Doc Hudson]

When I had two .45-70's, one a Rolling Block and the other a Marlin Guide Gun, I established a firm rule that the Rolling Block would shoot nothing but 510 grain cast bullets, and anything else would be smokeless for the Guide Gun. I also have an ironclad rule that .357 Magnum and .44 RemMag loads go only in magnum cases, and anything in a .38 SPL or .44 Spl case would be safe in any .38 SPL or >44 SPL revolver.

I never worried that I would load the wrong .45-70 cartridges in my Rolling Block or Guide Gun (the 510 grain bullets were too long for the Marlin anyway), but I did worry that someone who was shooting with me might load the wrong cartridge in the Roller. And since I generally used the same bullets in my .44's, and the same bullet in the .30's and .357's I did have a little concern about that.

I've always had a habit of putting load data on the boxes, but that is still no guarantee that another person would not mix up the loads. As a safety measure, I always made sure that my Rolling Block was cased any time heavy .45-70 loads were on the bench, and always put magnum loads only in magnum cases.

Some folks might consider my safety measures unnecessary, and they might be right. But at least I haven't blown up any guns, yet.

BTW, I've also been known to mark heavy loads with a stripe of blue fingernail polish across the case head.

[Gobblerforge]

Years ago, my father would use a magic marker to identify the several shotgun loads we had while reloading. He would color the primer only. By what ever code you use, the shell is immediately identifiable even when mixed lose in the vest pocket. We mostly hunt with double barrels and often use two different loads. Upon de-priming, the case loses it's designation and can get re-marked with the new load. It's a good system and all you need is one card at the bench with the color codes.
Gobbler

[JohndeFresno]

A little clarification is in order, here. If one goes by data published by the powder companies and bullet manufacturers themselves, there are certain loads that might be within the safe ranges for a pistol that are NOT safe for a rifle, or vice versa. I did a little research about 4 years ago, and here are my findings:

When you study the spreadsheet below, you will see that there is only an average of .9 grain leeway allowed in each SHARED RIFLE/PISTOL load. The comparisons are done with the same source, but looking first in the pistol section, and then in the rifle section - using the same bullet.

Succinctly stated, because of the minimum and maximum limits of a pistol versus a rifle load, you either load too light or too heavy for either the pistol or the rifle unless your loads are within a range of .9 of a grain either way, on an average! There is very little leeway, or else these figures suggest that your bullet will either stick in the rifle or blow up the pistol.

I realize that the manuals are written conservatively; but then again it's just not my style to hot dog my loads just to squeeze a dozen or so extra feet per second. I share this to enforce the admonition that if you share rounds between rifle or pistol, in many cases you should mark that use plainly on the ammo box (or ammo, if that is what you do).

Here it is, copied directly from my Hornady and Speer (#13) manuals for a 300 gr 44 Magnum load for pistol and rifle. It is a bit difficult to read, because I combined rifle and pistol loads. But the bold numbers show the limited range of powder weights that are safe for both rifle and pistol, with a given powder, with the 300 grain .44 Magnum bullet.