What? FL size new brass?

[Iron Worker]

Oh know have I been doing some thing wrong the last 33 years of Hand loading? I never have made it a practice to full length new brass. Just seat a primer,load a powder charge,seat a bullet,pull the trigger.I load for standard,improved,and wild cat. Now wildcat stuff I have no choice ,to make it happen a loader has to FL size to neck their cartridge either up or down.

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

Well it just goes to show not everything we do realy matters. I did not do it at first.

IRON what do you do for a living?

 

[britz]

I always do just to make sure the necks are sized properly and to take out the dents and dings from shipping. It only takes a few minutes anyway.

 

[Willys46]

New brass I just run ove the expander ball the take out dents on the necks and then shoot.

After the first firing I then do my brass prep, FL size or neck size denpends on application, Primer pockets, trim all to the same lenght, and weight sort.

Then recheck the load to make sure it stayes the same after the first firing.

 

[woods]

I think it depends upon your definition of full length sizing. On new brass the shoulder is already further back than it needs to be, usually by .010" to .030" and the case body is smaller than your chamber. All you can really do is to neck size which will take the dents or irregularities out of your neck and possible change the bullet grip.

Let's take the instructions for the regular RCBS Full Length Die which says to thread the die in until contact with the shell holder, lower the ram and then adjust the die in an additional 1/4 turn. On new brass this will not contact the shoulder. The expander ball will go through the neck, the neck brass will be reduced and then the expander ball will be withdrawn leaving the neck resized. No other sizing takes place. I have not seen a new case where the case body is sized at this die adjusment on new brass.

So you are essentially only neck sizing. It would be more appropriate to ask if you should neck size and take the inconsistencies out of the neck, IMO.

 

[ss7mm]

In the grand scheme of things it only matters if you want the best handloads you can produce. Chances are you could load them and shoot them and maybe not even notice any difference. Certainly neck sizing would make the first firing more consistent.

I've proven, to my personal satisfaction at least, that it is entirely possible to have a new, unfired, unprimed case that has been altered during shipping and handling that is out of round. I've proven this with a runout gage and also by trying to chamber the case that the gage said was out of round.

For me it doesn't take that long to full length size new brass and it gives me the personal satisfaction that I know it's as good as I can make it until I fireform it to my chamber by the first firing. I understand that the factory new cases have to be sized to work in any chamber but after the first firing they become my little works of art.

 

[clos90009]

New brass I just run ove the expander ball the take out dents on the necks and then shoot.

After the first firing I then do my brass prep, FL size or neck size denpends on application, Primer pockets, trim all to the same lenght, and weight sort.

Then recheck the load to make sure it stayes the same after the first firing.

What Wills46 said, but i don't weight sort.

 

[J E Custom]

I probably go overboard but I like to start with prepping all of my brass before
I load it.

I full length size,trim to length,de'burr flash hole and weight sort and load in
weighted lots within 1 grain . This way I start with the best brass I can.

Just the way I do it.

J E CUSTOM

 

[kraky]

I think it depends on your gun and your expectations. I see posts from guys that are fireforming their bechrest cartridges (from a different cartridge) and are shooting in the .2" and .3" area.
For me the accurizing is best done after the first shooting of virgin brass.....I'm the kind of guy that plunges the virgin case over a a lyman M Mandrel.....loads up a favorite recipe...and heads off to the range.

 

[Iron Worker]

There was an article in Hand Loader magazine about the futility( my choice of words) of case prepping. Well at least cleaning and squaring of primer pocket and de buring flash hole. How it just doesn't make any difference. My best shooter is my 6x284, upon reading that article I stopped doing all I listed. (This is a case where truth is stranger then fiction) I've been getting more under 1/2MOA group then ever before,since I stopped those practices,plus speed-ed up my loading operation to boot.So bottom line is I'm making it happen with out doing all that extra work.