[El Chorizo]

Do any of you do anything "special" for your case preparation? If I have new brass I basically just full-length re-size it to -.002 of an inch since I know the size of fireformed brass for my chamber.

Then I trim it and chamfer the edges to remove any burs.

Are there any other special "tricks" I should be doing? I don't weigh and separate the brass, since I'm not shooting at distances where that kind of precision is needed.

 

[BK]

I don't know if it makes a lick of difference, but I generally run a flash hole uniformer in new brass. http://lockstock.com/products.asp?dept=670

 

[El Chorizo]

Hmm... that looks interesting! From reading the description, it looks like it's inserted from the case mouth? I have noticed that sometimes when the case is punched that there will be a little metal "tab" on the inside of the flash hole. What are the different collored ends for? One end for pistal cases the other for rifle?

 

[BK]

Yes, in the case mouth.

The different application are just for size issues... the PPC series of cartridges have a smaller (and I thought drilled, so this product would be redundant) flash hole, .062", while standard brass uses .080" flash holes. The shaft was traditionally sized for .224" shells, so when the .17s ans .20s started getting popular, they had to reduce the diameter of the shaft.

 

[El Chorizo]

I see. Nevertheless, still a handy little tool to have.

 

[BK]

That's one of the cool things about handloading. You can get by with a pretty small amount of equipment if you have to, but if you want to go crazy with little tools (OK, toys) you can go crazy.

Next on my list of things to get are gauges that check bullet/neck/case concentricity and that check neck thickness, made by Redding.

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=311160
http://www.redding-reloading.com/pages/caseneckguage.html

 

[El Chorizo]

Yes... toys is correct.

Redding makes some good equipment I hear. I have out of curiosity just put a caliper of the case neck wall to see if I could "see" any variation in thickness. I think for measuring that kind of thing, a caliper isn't quite the right tool for the job. But hey, I was curious!

 

[BK]

Yeah, Redding is good stuff. Wish I could justify replacing all of my RCBS (and one each of Lee and Hornady) dies with new Redding dies.

Down the road I'd like to replace my RCBS Partner and Rockchucker presses with a couple of the new Redding turret presses.

 

[hypno]

All I do with factory brass is size the necks. (they can get a little dinged up) As far as after firing I FL size and tumble till they stretch out to 2.015-2.020" then trim em up and keep shooting!


dom

 

[BK]

That's the great thing about reloading... you can do things your way, and have perfectly good results, and I can obsess over every single step, and both of us are happy!

 

[El Chorizo]

That's the great thing about reloading... you can do things your way, and have perfectly good results, and I can obsess over every single step, and both of us are happy!

Excellent point BK! People will find what works for them, which means there's lots of information that can be shared around!

 

[M700]

Before I started using Norma brass, I uniformed the flash hole, trimmed to length, neck sized, said joo joo prayers over the brass and I even weight and sorted at one time.

Now I small base size, i do check the brass length and I load all my .308 to 2.80" OAL.

 

[El Chorizo]

Before I started using Norma brass, I uniformed the flash hole

Are you finding with Norma brass you don't need to uniform the flash hole? I suppose with higher end brass it's pretty much ok as is.

 

[Trigger_Puller]

I use the RCBS Case Master Gauging Tool to sort brass by checking thickness and run-out as well checking for signs of potential case seperation (for fired brass) and bullet run-out after loading.

Before running the case through either the FL sizing die or the neck sizing die, I coat the inside of the neck mouth with a fine powdered mica which acts as a lubricant for the expander ball.

I also use the Lyman Flash Hole Uniformer Tool and the Possum Hollow Primer Pocket Uniformer Tool to insure that the primer pockets and flash holes are all, well uniform!

 

[BK]

joo joo prayers over the brass

That's way too funny!

 

[M700]

Before I started using Norma brass, I uniformed the flash hole

Are you finding with Norma brass you don't need to uniform the flash hole? I suppose with higher end brass it's pretty much ok as is.

I've been getting once fired Norma brass for nothing. The brass is excellent, but my Rem 700 didn't like Lapua brass. Federal brass WAS excellent but the last 6-8 years, it's been way too soft and I found that the primer pockets open up too easily.

I have some LC '71 and LC '72 brass that reloaded at least 25 times and still no signs of failure. 41.1gr/H4895 - old lot - did not stress the brass. Was never impressed with Winchester or Remington brass.

Another premium brass was DA '64. Canadian military brass. The ammo for that year was sniper quality but for the regular grunt.

 

[El Chorizo]

Where do you get your once-fired Norma brass or do you just know someone who can give you a good deal?

I've been using the Winchester brass, so far I'm on the 6th reload with them. They do seem softer but my chamber is a little tighter so I don't get much expansion that I notice when I re-size them. The primer pockets still seem tight. I am loading them just lightly under the "max" level (according to the manual) so I'm probably not pushing them as hard as I could be.

I thought Lapua brass was the best. How come your 700 didn't like it?

 

[thornblom]

With new brass, I usually just full length size, de-burr the flash hole, chamfer the case mouth and load.

It is after the fire forming process that I reall go to work.

1: vibratory clean in walnut hull media
2: remove cases from media, empty, and make sure flash holes are clear of media
3: clean primer pockets till bright and shiney
4: clean inside case necks with appropriate size bronze bore brush
5: set sizing die up to clear shell holder 1/4 turn with ram at top of stroke
6: lube inside case neck with q-tip and rcbs lube
7: roll cases on rcbs case lube pad
8: resize
9: clean lube from cases inside and out
10: trim to 2.005"
11: chamfer case mouths inside and out
12: weight each case on electronic scale and arrange in order of lightest to heaviest and put in mtm case guard 50 round box in rows of 5 starting from left and work towards the right
13: now you have 50 near perfect cases in order of 5 shot groups where no case in 5 will vary more than .2 grain
14: prime with your favorite primer
15: charge with your favorite powder charge weight, weigh each charge
16: seat your favorite bullet to the rifles most accurate length

Boy howdy, this sounds like a lot of work. It is! You might ask, with all that work, why didn't you uniform primer pockets. Well, with several calibers I have tried that and have yet to prove to my self that it does any good. Actually, I am almost to the point where weighing and sorting cases in order of weight might be considered busy work, but in my mind it will almost eliminate the occasional flyer.

If you are using cases prepaired like this, 168 grain smk's, fed 210m primers and 43.2 grains of IMR-4064 (weighed) and the bullet seated to 2.800" or longer as your rifle permits, you will be shooting ammo that is potentially more accurate than federal gmm.

It just takes a lot of time and work to get there. I like itty-bitty groups.

Sincerely,
Dave (Bubba) Thornblom

 

[BK]

With new brass, I usually just full length size, de-burr the flash hole, chamfer the case mouth and load.

It is after the fire forming process that I reall go to work.

1: vibratory clean in walnut hull media
2: remove cases from media, empty, and make sure flash holes are clear of media
3: clean primer pockets till bright and shiney
4: clean inside case necks with appropriate size bronze bore brush
5: set sizing die up to clear shell holder 1/4 turn with ram at top of stroke
6: lube inside case neck with q-tip and rcbs lube
7: roll cases on rcbs case lube pad
8: resize
9: clean lube from cases inside and out
10: trim to 2.005"
11: chamfer case mouths inside and out
12: weight each case on electronic scale and arrange in order of lightest to heaviest and put in mtm case guard 50 round box in rows of 5 starting from left and work towards the right
13: now you have 50 near perfect cases in order of 5 shot groups where no case in 5 will vary more than .2 grain
14: prime with your favorite primer
15: charge with your favorite powder charge weight, weigh each charge
16: seat your favorite bullet to the rifles most accurate length

Boy howdy, this sounds like a lot of work. It is! You might ask, with all that work, why didn't you uniform primer pockets. Well, with several calibers I have tried that and have yet to prove to my self that it does any good. Actually, I am almost to the point where weighing and sorting cases in order of weight might be considered busy work, but in my mind it will almost eliminate the occasional flyer.

If you are using cases prepaired like this, 168 grain smk's, fed 210m primers and 43.2 grains of IMR-4064 (weighed) and the bullet seated to 2.800" or longer as your rifle permits, you will be shooting ammo that is potentially more accurate than federal gmm.

It just takes a lot of time and work to get there. I like itty-bitty groups.

Sincerely,
Dave (Bubba) Thornblom

Pretty close to what I do. I skip #4, because at step #7 I use the RCBS nylon brush to lube the inside case necks. At #9 I tumble again. #12 I skip. #15, depends on the powder. If I'm using something like H380, I weigh the first five charges thrown from my RCBS powder measure, then every fifth or so, because it doesn't seem to make any difference in charge weights. If I'm loading something like IMR3031, -4350, -4831, or the Hodgdon versions of 4350 and 4831, I weigh all of them. I also tend to use ball powders for stuff I load a lot of (.223 and .22-250) and extruded for stuff I don't load a whole bunch of (6mm Rem, .25-06, 7mm RemMag, .300 WinMag, .35 Whelen). A 'whole bunch' being 200 or more at a time.

 

[Trigger_Puller]

I skip #4, because at step #7 I use the RCBS nylon brush to lube the inside case necks.

Don't you think that your transferring contaminates to the nylon brush and thus the mica?