Brass prep

[Joefrazell]

In your experience how important is new brass prep. Particularly 300 win mag and Winchester brass. The rifle is a long range precious build. Will I ever see great consistent accuracy without volume sorting, neck turning, on this less than perfect brass?

What I do now is debur the flash hole and run it through a Lee collet die when new just to be sure the necks are sized consistently.

Here's my process after firing.
1. Push out primers
2. Clean in stainless steel and soap for 1.5 hr, rinse
3. Dry brass
4. Anneal (usually every 3 firings)
5. Bump shoulder .002 and size body
6. Size neck .002" neck tension
7. trim
8. Clean again for 30 min. Rinse
9. Dry

This is what I do but I don't know if I'm doing enough for the consistency I'm looking for. I've never weighed out cases by their volume or turned necks. Should I be doing this or anything else? Or should I be using a higher end brass? Accuracy needed is under .5" thanks in advance

 

[Orange Dust]

This is what I do with new brass, YMMV. This is with premium brass like Lapua or ADG and sounds like more trouble than it really is.
1. Run them all through a neck expanding mandrel die
2. Debur flash holes and uniform primer pockets
3. Trim and debur
4. Skim turn necks
5. outside debur necks again
6. FL size without expander
7. Run them through the neck expanding mandrel again
8. Sort by weight
9. New brass is now ready to load.

 

[Len Backus]

Moved to RELOADING forum

 

[Coyote_Hunter]

I always size new brass to ensure neck uniformity of nothing else. And trim if necessary.

Fired brass:
1. Deprime and size.
2. Tumble in 20/30 grit walnut shell to de-lube and clean.
3. Trim if necessary.
4. Load, shoot, repeat.

 

[Joefrazell]

Do you guys clean after trimming? I always feel I need to to get all the brass flakes out and off the brass?

 

[Beardeddeer91]

My process for new brass is similar to Orange Dust except I don't turn necks (unless I need to). I start with higher quality brass (e.g., Nosler, Norma, ADG, Lapua, etc.) and have found little to no benefit in accuracy and velocity with neck turning, so I don't take the time to do it. This is just my experience with the rifles I have loaded for, and it certainly won't hurt you to turn necks and take as many variables out as possible. That said here is my procedure with new brass:
1. Uniform flash holes and primer pockets
2. Run them through a neck expanding mandrel to set bullet tension at .001"
3. Debur inside and outside of necks
4.Take/record brass measurements
5. Load

That is generally it. I check length and trim if necessary but usually never need to on new brass. After the brass is fire-formed I always clean the brass,bump the shoulder .002", set neck tension at .001-.002, trim to the same length, clean up necks, clean again to remove size wax/lube, and weight sort.

 

[Orange Dust]

Do you guys clean after trimming? I always feel I need to to get all the brass flakes out and off the brass?

No, I hold the case upside down with my thumb and index finger, and thump it a few times with my ring finger. I don't tap the mouth on anything. I treat cases like they are made of glass until they are fired.

 

[Dmagna]

I don't dry my brass before annealing. I shake the brass to get the most water out then anneal with a torch. The heat from the torch will dry the rest out.

 

[J E Custom]

I find I get the best results by fully prepping the brass before it has been fired and use a sizing Mandrell to help the fit of the turning mandrel, after the case neck is turned(Just enough to clean it up), Firing it in a good chamber produces a case that Is concentric when checked and ready to produce accurate loads.

Just my way of doing case prep.

J E CUSTOM

 

[birdiemc]

I find I get the best results by fully prepping the brass before it has been fired and use a sizing Mandrell to help the fit of the turning mandrel, after the case neck is turned(Just enough to clean it up), Firing it in a good chamber produces a case that Is concentric when checked and ready to produce accurate loads.

Just my way of doing case prep.

J E CUSTOM

I was just having a discussion about concentricity yesterday, your post falls in line, are you saying that the fire forming aligns the neck concentric to the case body after proper brass prep has been done?

 

[J E Custom]

I was just having a discussion about concentricity yesterday, your post falls in line, are you saying that the fire forming aligns the neck concentric to the case body after proper brass prep has been done?

No.
By turning the necks before the case has been fired in a concentric chamber, if there is any misalignment of the "NECK" (Off center) The chamber will true the case neck to the bore for perfect alignment of the bullet.

The outside of the case body will be whatever the chamber is but the neck will align with the bore because it has been turned true in thickness and expand evenly. Nothing can be done for the inside except for matching the volume of the case

If the neck is not turned true the difference in neck thickness will push the neck bore off center by the amount of difference of thickness. Also the thin side of the neck will move/expand first and try to fill the neck chamber, compounding the thinning of the neck in those areas. In many cases where the neck hasn't been turned a fired case will resist chambering because of the misalignment unless it is placed in the chamber oriented the same way that it was fired.

This is why I check for concentricity after firing the first time and then after sizing. also after bullet seating. This way I can tell where the weakness in the process and if I start with a concentric case. and if any concentricity is found during loading steps I can try to work on that part. If you prepare the case properly, a good chamber will correct any misalignment of the neck.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Savage 12BVSS]

Similar to others...

Deprime
Inspect
Clean Brass
Neck size brass
Cut all to trim length
Deburr primer flash holes unless already done at first firing
Uniform primer pockets
Inner and outer chamfer neck mouth
Case neck brush
Weight sort
Reprime
Ready to powder charge and bullet seat

 

[Orange Dust]

No.
By turning the necks before the case has been fired in a concentric chamber, if there is any misalignment of the "NECK" (Off center) The chamber will true the case neck to the bore for perfect alignment of the bullet.

The outside of the case body will be whatever the chamber is but the neck will align with the bore because it has been turned true in thickness and expand evenly. Nothing can be done for the inside except for matching the volume of the case

If the neck is not turned true the difference in neck thickness will push the neck bore off center by the amount of difference of thickness. Also the thin side of the neck will move/expand first and try to fill the neck chamber, compounding the thinning of the neck in those areas. In many cases where the neck hasn't been turned a fired case will resist chambering because of the misalignment unless it is placed in the chamber oriented the same way that it was fired.

This is why I check for concentricity after firing the first time and then after sizing. also after bullet seating. This way I can tell where the weakness in the process and if I start with a concentric case. and if any concentricity is found during loading steps I can try to work on that part. If you prepare the case properly, a good chamber will correct any misalignment of the neck.

J E CUSTOM

YES YES YES!!!!!

 

[birdiemc]

J E thank you...I got my words mixed up, meant to ask the question you answered. Confirms what i thought i was told about a year ago.