Make my step by step reloading process better

[slas]

Been reloading, mainly for hunting, for around 8 years now and have slowly upgraded my equipment to make things easier but always working to improve the process. Here's my general step by step process but I would like to incorporate neck turning and expander mandrels instead of the sizing ball. I'm curious to see others step by step and at which point they incorporate the neck turning and expander mandrels in their processes. Also always interesting to see what tools are used in your processes, such as Chargemaster 1500 and/or other brands/types of tools. I realize mine is most likely lacking in many aspects to many of yours, but here's mine:

1 ) Visual check of once fired brass.

2) Deprime all with Lee universal deprimer.

3) Tumble brass in walnut shell media (I use lizard bedding from PetSmart)
I've thought about getting an ultrasonic cleaner but haven't been able to justify it.

4) Clean all media from brass.

5) Lubricate limited amount of brass, usually on a baking sheet, with one shot or RCBS case slick.
Question: I have imperial but how do most lubricate larger amounts at one time, and what lube do you prefer?

6 )Resize brass (with expander ball), either full or shoulder bump (mostly Redding or RCBS dies)
I've bought the mandrels so ready to incorporate. Also have seen question on trimming before resizing vs after?

7) Clean brass again, either individually or in media.

8) Measure cartridge lengths (Frankford digital calipers)
I also have a pair of Mitutoyo dial caliper but like the digital better.

9) With Frankford prep center, trim (if required), clean primer pockets, chamfer and deburr.

10) Set primers with hand priming tool.
Currently using a Lee and could probably use an upgrade here. Any suggestions?

11) With RCBS Chargemaster, calibrate, measure powder load out and fill cartridges.
The trick of the cut McDonalds straw in the end of the powder tube really helped on the accuracy.

12) Seat Bullets (various die here, some with micrometers others without).

13) Confirm proper OAL lengths.

 

[MagnumManiac]

1) Visual inspection for defective cases.
2) Weigh a sample of 10-20 random cases per batch (50 or 100 cases respectively)
If ANY are more than 2gr different, I then weigh all AND measure case volume with isopropyl alcohol.
3) De-burr flash holes.
4) Pass all cases through a neck only die, whether a modified expander type or a bushing.
5) Fireform while doing seating depth tests and initial powder/primer combos.
6) Tumble cases, inspect, size and measure.
Always measure AFTER sizing, trim if necessary, I let my cases grow while forming for tight chamber fitting, then when stable in chamber fit, I measure again, BUT I allow my cases to get within .005" of the end of the chamber and trim back .005" from there and keep them at that length. This is often .040" longer than the MAX CASE LENGTH.
7) Measure actual volume of EACH case, discard (set aside) any that are .2CC's or more different. I will say that this is rarely more than 40 cases at a time for me.
My hunting rifles get a little different prep, I don't measure volume in every case, just a random sample size and don't sweat it too much if they're .1-.3CC's different.
I work up loads in fireformed brass, but actually hunt with new brass. I don't get nasty surprises this way.
8) I don't weigh my powder charges, at first I do, then I calculate the volume of the powder in CC's and use my powder measure set to that CC amount.
I never see a huge variation in velocity doing this, as when I was weighing powder, my Harrel gives .1gr accuracy with the method I use anyway.
Nothing wrong with weighing powder, a Chargemaster is a good tool.
9) Do seating depth tests.
To do this, take a middle load of a middle top 3 powder, seat bullets from touching (or .005"-.010" away from touching) go AWAY .010" at a time. If this doesn't yield a good result, you can follow the Berger seating depth test.
I use Redding and Forster Comp seaters for almost everything, as Forster don't do any for a few of my cartridges.
I also use a few standard RCBS and Redding seater dies as there are no comp seaters available for them.
I also see many so called top shooters on YouTube that just pass the press handle down while seating with no thought in force.
I do my seating slowly with even pressure.
On some rounds I remove the case after half the bullet is seated and rotate the round 180 and fully seat. I see a difference on target doing this with my 7STW and 264WM. It also feels different when seating this way. However, I gave up measuring runout long ago, as I could not determine a difference in aggregate over 1 season of shooting at 600, so gave my measuring device away to someone that thought it was imperative to know such things.
There are also case dimension measuring tools, I like RCBS Precision Mics for measuring fired cases and shoulder bump.
I also have the Stoney Point head space set and the Hornady bullet comparator set to measure base to ogive in bullets and case head to bullet ogive.
I have 2 trimmers, a RCBS Trim Pro and a Redding mini lathe.
I have the K&M and Sinclair neck turning tools. I don't believe these are necessary for anything but precision rifles that use precision ammo.

Cheers.

 

[MagnumManiac]

I forgot to mention that I mandrel my necks prior to seating bullets.
Only on my precision rifles though.

Cheers.

 

[QuietTexan]

I don't do much different that you. One thing I do different is if you're going to do case prep in Step 9, then I'd decap after the initial tumble, not before. I don't think you're getting much cleaning action from the media in the pocket (I don't with corn cob for sure), so leave the plug in the case and clean the carbon out of the pockets in the later step. Less junk in the flash hole, and I run the decapper through it after tumbling to make sure it's open.

I double size or double mandrel, meaning I do it once, rotate 90-ish*, do it again. Lee collets or bushings without expanders usually, for one case I FL then mandrel. Mandrel is probably better for consistency, but I've started skim turning necks so using bushings instead of FL after that has been an improvement for me. Off the top of my head I want to say I'm using a LE Wilson "new" mandrel at 0.015" under caliber, but I'd have to go check.

Uniform the pocket and deburr the flash hole the first time on new brass. I only weight sort when new. I haven't done volume sorting, but if I can get a large enough batch of brass then I'll start. Combination of my scale isn't accurate enough to handle it, and currently I don't have any one lot sets of cases larger than 100 pieces, most are in the 80s after the initial cull anyways. One day I'll get 500 numbers matching cases to start with and really go all out on a pre-sort, just hasn't been a priority yet. I don't have any custom cut chambers, so I don't think that level of prep would do much for me currently, especially on a scale that doesn't have the accuracy to get down past a tenth with any repeatability. But when I get my lab balance I might start.

I lube precision stuff one case at a time with Imperial wax, and clean them off after sizing with a microfiber towel. Swipe finger in wax, wipe, size, clean, back in the tray, next. You get a good rhythm after a while. I don't media tumble a second time, if I did I'd have to go back and check the flash holes and case bottoms again. Bulk stuff I use One Shot, spray them in a reloading tray, and they're normally dry when it's time to seat. Dry lube the necks with Imperial graphite if I'm using wax on the body.

Step 8, I use case gages to check trim length. LE Wilson or Sheridan Engineering depending on what I'm sizing. Drop in the case, stand the gage on the head, check with a precision straight edge. I find this more consistent than calipers because most mouths are not cut true, especially after chamfering and deburring, so this catches ANY high spot right away. If they pass, they pass. If they don't I trim the whole batch at the same time. Standing the gage on its head puts the case at the max headspace, with usually puts the case mouth close to the end of the chamber by the time the case grows to that point. I run a bore scope down the barrel from the crown with the bolt closed on a sized case at max length to make sure I'm not actually jammed up on the end and have some clearance left.

Shameless plug, I love their slotted gauges:

Ammunition Gauges

Slotted Ammunition Gauges

sheridanengineering.com

 

[cdherman]

My suggestion has to do with lube. I see you are applying, removing lube. Potentially, if you are using a mandrel, you will have to lube inside of case neck. And that really needs to be removed afterwards.

right about when I started using mandrels after sizing, I also switched to graphite lube. You don't need to remove it. I use spray lube only when I need to FL resize or bump shoulders. Usually I neck cases with either a Lee collet or a bushing die. After decapping just as you are doing. My nitrided bushings and the Lee collect do not require lube. And then the mandrel get some graphite to the case necks ahead of time.

Cleaning cases, as much as they look pretty, does not improve accuracy often. I read tons on this a few years ago after switching to stainless pins. My accuracy was not any better, perhaps worse, and I was killing myself with extra steps.... I now only pin tumble brass after I anneal and that's only since I use tempilac to determine annealing temp. Need to remove......

 

[nhhunter]

I deprime and resize in one step on the press and don't worry about dirty brass unless it dropped in the mud I don't think it affects accuracy. Two powder measures would speed up the production