I've taken up reloading my LC 556 brass, which of course has crimped primer pockets. Needless to say, the first go-round after it's initial firing is rather time consuming. This processed brass winds up mixed up with now once fired brass, and unless you look at the head is basically impossible to separate.

Apparently liver of sulfur can be used to patina the brass, and is quite popular in jewelry making, able to produce a wide variety of colors. I don't particularly care what color it is, so long that it's a different color than plain brass and less time consuming to sort from other 556 brass not yet given the same treatment.

Has anyone ever tried it? How durable is it? Does it affect the brass's structure?

I know sharpies are very popular, but I'd like to avoid them if I can. I would prefer a more bulk process, so that I can clean, anneal, deprime, trim, (insert other processes here) a large amount of brass to start with, and have it sitting ready to receive components.

Just use a magic marker. It won't introduce any chemical alterations to your brass. Lots of people use them

I just use a brass catcher, and put the fired "reloaded" brass in a small cardboard box that I bring along.  This way I can keep my reloaded brass separate from any I find on the ground nearby.  When I get home, the brass goes in a bag with a tag indicating type and how many times its been reloaded.  This works better if you load up large-ish batches - I do 1500 in a batch, after I've fired them all up, I'll re-process them (no need to decrimp again, thank God) and note on the storage containers (#10 metal cans) that its on its X reload.

I've seen a guy use Dykem to color his brass.

It turned out very uniform and looked good.

He said he just rolled it on a pad.

I just bag up brass according to the level of prep and mark the bags with # of firings to keep track.

I absolutely get it and you are not alone OP.

Google "3D-printed brass case marker" (this is not a promotion for a particular item).

I made one using rain-bird lawn irrigation hose connectors and nylon screws (Lowes next to work).  Will try to remember to post a photo as a description I tried to write even confused me... It was easy, took 20 minutes to make and you can mark a lot of brass pretty quick.  I use it for my precision rifle brass but can see making another, easier, for 300blk and 556....

I can't imagine anything would be a whole lot easier or faster than a marker.
What I actually do with range pickup is just eyeball them after sizing while case gauging, and if they need swaging, I separate those, swage them, and then add them back in.

You could make a mistake and use too much LemiShine in the tumbler,  you get a nice copper color that way.

a colored sharpie in the extractor groove lasts thru several washings, and you can use different colors for ID
I also tried brass black to ID certain things, and it has held up years - IDK if it altered the brass or not, but I used it on the neck/shoulders of some 223 and haven't noticed any excessive cracking - I also used it on the bottom 1/3 of some target 38 spl, and it seems to still be fine, but that is a low power load.  I like the sharpie in the groove best... The fine-tip don't work very well.
I use sharpie head marks to ID test loads.

Well, I suppose there is a reason why it's the most popular. Perhaps it won't be as tedious as I'm thinking it would be.

I'm gonna head on over to amazon and find a good variety pack. I've been meaning to get some more ultra-fine tips.

You all may be interested to know, if you don't already, that they make a double ended sharpie now. Ultra fine on one end, regular classic sharpie end on the other.


That little marker holder is very cool, btw. Too bad I don't have a 3d printer, or unfortunately any friends with one. Hmm. Maybe on Etsy someone is selling them already made.

Someone mentioned lemi-shine coloring them more of a rose gold color if used improperly. That's actually one of the reasons I don't use it. That and I've never found it at any of my local stores. I use simple green. A shot glass or two (depending on how dirty everything is) in hot water seems to clean well, with or without pins.


thanks for the replies everyone

223 bulk reloads are simple I used sharpies to color the headstamp.  And, when I come back from the range they go in the appropriate bucket.  When there is enough worth processing.
It gets done, and bagged in zip lock bags with notes.  
Handgun brass is well easy....45 ACP is sort ww and fed  headstamps go for 625 used all else for semi auto use.  Revolver brass goes back in the MTM in came to the range in.
Same for precision rifle stuff.  Notes on brass history stay in the MTM boxes for rifle stuff.
When I make test loads up, I create a note card for load then color each test weight with different color sharpies.

They make simple inexpensive jigs to hold a sharpie and roll a colored line on your brass. Fast, easy, consistent. 3D printed jigs last forever and can be had in options for 2 or 3 lines on either Etsy or the big auction site.

I try to keep it simple. I fire once loaded (and already swaged primer pockets) for a mag or 10. Pick up brass and put it in a crown royal bag ( I have many for some reason). Then fire factory ammo and do the same with the brass. Once home I dump into a labeled can as to how many times it's been loaded.
Sort at the range. I do this with all pistol brass as well.