load work up on virgin brass?

[Bigeclipse]

Is load work up on virgin brass a waste of time or does it give you a basic idea on accuracy/stability nodes and such or does your once fired brass completely change and you need to start all over after the first firing? I am planning on making some loads for my 6.5prc using adg brass and hammer bullets. If the first loading wont tell me anything then id rather just use a very cheap bullet/powder combo to once fire the brass but if some valuable info can still be learned ill use the actual powder and hammer bullets I intend to use. Thanks!

 

[BallisticsGuy]

It's not that the first loading doesn't tell you anything. It's that it often tells you something slightly different than what you'll see after one or two firings. In my experience new brass is more consistent unless your brass prep routine is far more extreme than mine. I don't see enough difference to care about it in what I'm doing which is mostly competitive shooting and screwing around and I don't have the barrel life to spend doing full power fire forming. When I get a new barrel cut, I get all the brass, bullets, powder and primers that I expect it to live through at the same time. I therefore almost always develop my loads on new brass and shoot the new brass till they've all been shot. On second loading, I'll check velocities and zero for the inevitable tiny change and then I'll repeat those checks every ~500 rounds or so. When I run out of components it's time to pull the barrel.

 

[rsmithsr]

depends on how long you want your brass to last.
if you stay way from top end loads for the first 2 firings
yes you can find out a lot and have well formed brass.
ask around but competition shooters seem to says 2 firings
and the brass is set.

 

[Dosh]

Big, in getting new brass one or two firings, I use up pulled and odd bullet lots and undesirable powders occasionally to get there. Then I can get my loads started. Factory ammo doesn't have this luxury and I have seen people go no further in development after an accurate load shows on new brass.