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Reloading - Looking After The Brass Cartridge Case By Matthew Cameron
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<blockquote data-quote="drhntr" data-source="post: 246111" data-attributes="member: 3119"><p>I think your are 'On Target' so to speak. Your thread contains very useful information for someone wanting to get all they can from their firearm. Granted there are limitations to the capabilities of the weapon determined by manufacturing. I also believe that anything worth doing is worth doing right to an extent. </p><p></p><p>Your right, the person shooting a regular production rifle for mediun deer size game out to 300 or so yards can get by with some of the premium factory loads. I have friends that shoot them and have good success. If they are a new hand loader, they probably don't need to ream the primer pockets or outside necks. They will need to trim the cases to specified lengths, inside and outside chamfer the case mouths. There will also come a time after several firing when the inside of the case mouths will need to be reamed. Under pressure the brass wants to flow forward toward the mouth, the walls of the mouth thicken and get longer as you indicated.</p><p></p><p>I believe you also need to chamber the round for that particular rifle. Make sure the seating depths of the bullets are the same for each round. Every rifle has it's own amount of 'free bore'. So my 25-06 cartridges may/may not chamber in yours. The bullet may contact the 'lands' of the riflings. My Model 70 Win likes a .035" distance between the bullet and 'lands'. My 7mm Rem Mag likes .050" for best groups. I'm working on the 6mm x 284 load now, (I'm necking down Lapua 6.5mm x 284 brass for this one). Granted the 6 & 7mm are custom built rifles varmint/deer rifles with match barrels, Timney triggers, full floating barrels and glassed actions but they are not benchrest grade. The Model 70 is still factory, it does have a floated barrel but thats it. It shoots .075-.875" MOA (3 Shots) at 100 yds with my hand loads. The 7mm shoots a touch better.</p><p></p><p>I make sure the cases are all the same length, case mouths are inside reamed, inside/outside chamfered, weigh every powder charge and check the seat depth on every cartridge. I'm not at the 'trim' outside neck stage, but it is next nor do I weigh every new case and probably never will for these rifles. Another thig I do after fire forming the case to the chamber (Fire the cartridge for the firet time), I only "neck" size the brass afterwards during the reloading process because I'm only using the brass in this rifle and no need to use energy reforming a case everytime.</p><p></p><p>I'm not sure how accurate weighing cartridges is anyway to determine a difference in case volume? No one can't tell where the excess brass is located in the hull by weight? Your 'assuming' it's all in the case wall? A closer way is to use something like 'wax' to seal the primer pocket, fill the case with water then empty the water into your scales and weigh it for each cartridge. Now set yourself some comfortable number for % weight difference between cases. The difference in weight will directly correlate to the difference in volume. I do this when I'm looking for that rumored min (85% used case volume) for powder charges. </p><p></p><p>I have been reloading for 28 years and still learn new tricks/hints all the time. I enjoy threads like yours. Your never too old to learn. Reloading should be an opportunity to improve the accuracy and enjoy yourself, but safely. Don't let it be a means to an end, we tend to get sloppy/unsafe.</p><p></p><p>Don't let your ammunition be the limiting factor for the accuracy of your rifle. It's the cheapest correction, if done right.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Thanks again for the information</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>drhntr</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="drhntr, post: 246111, member: 3119"] I think your are 'On Target' so to speak. Your thread contains very useful information for someone wanting to get all they can from their firearm. Granted there are limitations to the capabilities of the weapon determined by manufacturing. I also believe that anything worth doing is worth doing right to an extent. Your right, the person shooting a regular production rifle for mediun deer size game out to 300 or so yards can get by with some of the premium factory loads. I have friends that shoot them and have good success. If they are a new hand loader, they probably don't need to ream the primer pockets or outside necks. They will need to trim the cases to specified lengths, inside and outside chamfer the case mouths. There will also come a time after several firing when the inside of the case mouths will need to be reamed. Under pressure the brass wants to flow forward toward the mouth, the walls of the mouth thicken and get longer as you indicated. I believe you also need to chamber the round for that particular rifle. Make sure the seating depths of the bullets are the same for each round. Every rifle has it's own amount of 'free bore'. So my 25-06 cartridges may/may not chamber in yours. The bullet may contact the 'lands' of the riflings. My Model 70 Win likes a .035" distance between the bullet and 'lands'. My 7mm Rem Mag likes .050" for best groups. I'm working on the 6mm x 284 load now, (I'm necking down Lapua 6.5mm x 284 brass for this one). Granted the 6 & 7mm are custom built rifles varmint/deer rifles with match barrels, Timney triggers, full floating barrels and glassed actions but they are not benchrest grade. The Model 70 is still factory, it does have a floated barrel but thats it. It shoots .075-.875" MOA (3 Shots) at 100 yds with my hand loads. The 7mm shoots a touch better. I make sure the cases are all the same length, case mouths are inside reamed, inside/outside chamfered, weigh every powder charge and check the seat depth on every cartridge. I'm not at the 'trim' outside neck stage, but it is next nor do I weigh every new case and probably never will for these rifles. Another thig I do after fire forming the case to the chamber (Fire the cartridge for the firet time), I only "neck" size the brass afterwards during the reloading process because I'm only using the brass in this rifle and no need to use energy reforming a case everytime. I'm not sure how accurate weighing cartridges is anyway to determine a difference in case volume? No one can't tell where the excess brass is located in the hull by weight? Your 'assuming' it's all in the case wall? A closer way is to use something like 'wax' to seal the primer pocket, fill the case with water then empty the water into your scales and weigh it for each cartridge. Now set yourself some comfortable number for % weight difference between cases. The difference in weight will directly correlate to the difference in volume. I do this when I'm looking for that rumored min (85% used case volume) for powder charges. I have been reloading for 28 years and still learn new tricks/hints all the time. I enjoy threads like yours. Your never too old to learn. Reloading should be an opportunity to improve the accuracy and enjoy yourself, but safely. Don't let it be a means to an end, we tend to get sloppy/unsafe. Don't let your ammunition be the limiting factor for the accuracy of your rifle. It's the cheapest correction, if done right. Thanks again for the information drhntr [/QUOTE]
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