Virgin Brass

[canderson]

Has anyone noticed more variation in new brass being fired for the first time? I seem to be having variations in group size and consistency. Just curious if the non fired formed brass may be the cause. Group sized ranges from 0.4 to 1 inch. Cartridge is 204 ruger. I have not checked with concentricity gauge yet, waiting for it to arrive.

[J E Custom]

Are you preping the brass before firing the first time??

If not then I would recomend the following.

Run the brass through your full length sizing die.

Trim,chamfer neck inside and out, deburr primer pocket and
weight sort all cases.

This should solve the problem.

J E CUSTOM

[RT2506]

It very well could be your new cases. I once had a Rem 700 in 7mm Mag and got new cases and did all the prep work to them. While working up loads I could not get that rifle to shoot under a 1 1/2 inch @ 100 yards no matter what bullet load etc I tried. I was using the new cases every load. Then one day I decided to load up some of the once fired cases with the load that had been the most accurate. I shot three shots @ 100 yards into a bug hole. From then on almost any load and bullet combo in that rifle would shoot under 1 inch all day long as long as the case had been fired at least once and then FL resized. Try some of the cases that you have fired and you may see a great difference.

[canderson]

Thanks for the insight. I FL sized, trimmed, deburred inside/outside, and neck turned. I have not tried weight sorting. I will also have to reload some of the once fired. Thanks again.

[Boss Hoss]

Don't bother about the weight sorting as it will tell you nothing. There is no way to tell if the weight variations in a given set of cases have any resulting impact on the volumetric capacity of the case. You are pretty much wasting your time on that.

[J E Custom]

Originally Posted by Boss Hoss

Don't bother about the weight sorting as it will tell you nothing. There is no way to tell if the weight variations in a given set of cases have any resulting impact on the volumetric capacity of the case. You are pretty much wasting your time on that.

I have to disagree with Boss on this one!!

I have been loading ammo for over 50 years and have tried
almost every thing known to man to try and make my ammo
more consistent and weight sorting has been one of the things
that has helped to lower the standard deviations(Very important
for long range shooting)Reducing the amount of vertical stringing.

Also if weight sorting is not important then how can Nozler and other
premium brass makers charge over twice the cost of non weight
sorted brass and sell all they can make.

Volume has a large influence on burn rates of a given powder charge
and weight sorting is the simplest and fastest way to get the volume
of your cases consistant.

But if you are satisfied with 1 to 1 1/2 MOA then it may not be worth
the effort ,But I like to squeeze ever .001" out of my loads .

Nothing personal Boss just my opinion
J E CUSTOM

[yote bomber]

Originally Posted by J E Custom

Also if weight sorting is not important then how can Nozler and other
premium brass makers charge over twice the cost of non weight
sorted brass and sell all they can make.
J E CUSTOM

Nosler doesn't make any brass... they just sort it and prep it. The brass is not only sorted by weight, but also chamfered (inside & out), pockets are uniformed, flash holes de-burred, and are ready to load right out of the box. I'm thinking all that contributes to the increased cost... not just the weight sorting. ~yb