Brass management

[DUSTY NOGGIN]

yes , and if you find something promising with one box of 50 at whatever stage in their life , you could try that same load in your virgin brass to see what it may do (( usually in the higher end of charge and should fully form , which'll catch em up to your developing load box ))

 

[JD Jones]

This is an off the shelf bergara 6.5PRC.

I realize I'm probably only overthinking this but I'm starting out and would like to start forming good processes

 

[JD Jones]

yes , and if you find something promising with one box of 50 at whatever stage in their life , you could try that same load in your virgin brass to see what it may do (( usually in the higher end of charge and should fully form , which'll catch em up to your developing load box ))

Ok ok. Starting to make sense now. This forum is super helpful. Thanks everyone

I'll be back with some more boot questions soon enough!

 

[Mikecr]

This is an off the shelf bergara 6.5PRC.

I hope you're up on these things blowing apart! https://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/another-bergara-6-5-creedmoor-explodes.4050126/

I agree with Dusty that you can cover a lot of useful ground during fire forming.
I would not POWDER develop until brass is fully fire formed to stable, which can take 2-3shts on it.
Given this, I only work with 50pcs at a time, and have never needed more at a time for any one gun.

I guess you could form replacement brass as you go through fouling shots with each range session.

 

[JD Jones]

I hope you're up on these things blowing apart! https://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/another-bergara-6-5-creedmoor-explodes.4050126/

I agree with Dusty that you can cover a lot of useful ground during fire forming.
I would not POWDER develop until brass is fully fire formed to stable, which can take 2-3shts on it.
Given this, I only work with 50pcs at a time, and have never needed more at a time for any one gun.

I guess you could form replacement brass as you go through fouling shots with each range session.

I was not.. the post indicates multiple instances. Is this a common occurrence? Is it bound?... curious if RCA is completed or if the fix is to just send new shrouds out at will vs recall a possible dangerous weapon

The story indicates poorly designed shroud and that it was possibly fixed but Im not gonna lie, now I have some added research to do.

 

[nksmfamjp]

Remember your barrel will probably speed up somewhere around 100 fired, I do no serious load development until this happens. Myself I would work with the remaining 60 to find a bullet and powder combination that looks promising and then fine tune the load once the barrel speeds up and keep the last 100 for latter times

Bingo. I tend to work in groups of 100. Fireform 100, then load development.

 

[jasonco]

Newb question #1:
I have a new rifle that I have broken the barrel in. I have 40 PCs of ADG brass 1x fired and 200 0x fired. I am about to start developing a load for my rifle. Should I use the 1x fired or should I start fresh and get all brass up to same fire amount (1x)? What suggestions do the nice folks here have for a guy

I'd say your doing just fine. Use the 40 pcs as your load developmental brass. The remaining as your "use" brass. As far as 1-2-3x fired cases and my custom barrels, I don't see a significant extreme deviation with loads from 0-5+x fired. My chambers are spec'd tighter than SAAMI. I only see an increase in barrel speed and maybe I'l adjust my load or seating depth, only if it isn't grouping and out of the velocity node. Usually just a seating depth tweak +/-.

 

[pdshooter2]

ok volume and thus velocity will change once the brass is fired once and SIZED FOR YOUR CHAMBER.
SO YES FIRE THEM ALL BUT JUST ONCE AND PREP THEM FOR "THE LOAD"
USE the first lot for load development, but since lot 2 os a diff lot you will have to do minor load development with that lot.
i would save the first lot for any new load development, but hunt with lot 2

 

[QuietTexan]

now I have some added research to do.

They blamed over-pressure hand-loads and washed their hands of it.

Bergara completely lost my respect when a brand new, right out of the box, didn't do a single thing other than open it, B-14 barrel had rust pits all the way down it. Their comment on the previous rust-pitted *** rifle was that it looked like I hadn't taken care of it correctly, but hey "it has a 1MOA accuracy guarantee" if you want to let us check it. 1 MOA hell, the *** Rossi 223 that's been behind my water heater for a decade can pull 1 MOA.

I paid cash money to prove that Bergara rifles are garbage that comes rusted out of the box. They can't make me not say it, because TRUTH is an absolute defense to libel. If they coughed up two rebarrels and a brand new B-14 that wasn't a rusted *** I might modify my statement to say they at least stand behind their *** barrels, and put up to show they can make at least one that doesn't come with the pre-rusted upgrade, but until that day nope. Sleezy Europeans and their dupes in Hotlanta.

 

[Reelamin]

I shoot it new and track what it does. Then I adjust and go with the once fired and compare the results. Then I will FL or neck size based on the second round compared to the first round of results. I have been FL 2K bump lately and it seems to be working ok. Just 2K bump instead of NS is the difference I am going now.

 

[Pdyson]

With the current crunch in components I hate to burn all that powder and bullets just to get fired brass. Why not experiment with fine tuning your COAL. I'd run all the brass with a .002 under mandrel to make sure the necks are straight, then pick a powder/charge and seat bullets starting near the lands and shoot groups of 3 to 5 shortening them by 6 to 10 thou each group. You might learn the sweet spot for COAL and you can refine the charge weight with 1x fired brass. I recently tried it setting up a new brass/bullet combo in very old 222 bull barrel varmint rifle that has been in the back of the safe for over 30 years. I tossed the old frontier brass and bought a box of Lapua and the Sierra BlitzKing and was happy with the results. I still had to fine tune to get to the center of the node but I was very close.

 

[L.Sherm]

Whatever you do dont mix your times fired cases up your bump will be all over the place if you do. You can save some new cases to foul your barrel after cleaning but I wouldnt fire full power loads through them as Mikecr stated it tends to expand the case Webb alot more than backing the first charge down so they take what I call a "set"

 

[smokey3]

They blamed over-pressure hand-loads and washed their hands of it.

Bergara completely lost my respect when a brand new, right out of the box, didn't do a single thing other than open it, B-14 barrel had rust pits all the way down it. Their comment on the previous rust-pitted *** rifle was that it looked like I hadn't taken care of it correctly, but hey "it has a 1MOA accuracy guarantee" if you want to let us check it. 1 MOA hell, the *** Rossi 223 that's been behind my water heater for a decade can pull 1 MOA.

I paid cash money to prove that Bergara rifles are garbage that comes rusted out of the box. They can't make me not say it, because TRUTH is an absolute defense to libel. If they coughed up two rebarrels and a brand new B-14 that wasn't a rusted *** I might modify my statement to say they at least stand behind their *** barrels, and put up to show they can make at least one that doesn't come with the pre-rusted upgrade, but until that day nope. Sleezy Europeans and their dupes in Hotlanta.

I guess they are on my "Do Not Buy List"

 

[Flintlock shooter]

One thing to keep in mind....always keep your brass lots separate. If you get to the point that you anneal your brass, different lots will anneal differently.