What do you see with virgin vs. once fired.

[LocalJW]

I did a bunch of ladder testing, seating depth, and OCW. Got these 2 loads below with N570 and RL26.

205 Bergers
Lapua Brass Virgin
Winchester Magnum Primers

My main question, is I shot these using Virgin Brass? Should I expect these to change with the 1x fired brass once I have those reloaded in the brass that's been shot.

RL26 I was getting 3020fps and N570 was 2850fps

 

[Mike D Texas]

What cartridge?

 

[LocalJW]

What cartridge?

300prc

 

[Jud96]

In my experience, I almost always see 20-50fps increase in velocity with the same charge weight when going from virgin to once fired brass. I personally no longer do in depth load development until I have 50-100 pieces of once fired brass so I avoid chasing my tail or having to redo load development on down the road. Just experiences.

 

[MagnumManiac]

Simple answer is most likely.

Cheers.

 

[Mike Matteson]

It was my understanding that seating depth was one thing that can be done in conjunction with fire forming your cases?

 

[Beluebow]

In my 300wsm I normally see about 10-15fps difference between new and fired. No experience with 300PRC.

 

[Rosebud]

I haven't seen any difference in the way they shoot. You may pick up some speed but mine shoot to the same POI as new brass in most everything I shoot. But I'm picky in brass prep. Anneal, resize, tumble, trim if needed. This is on my hunting guns. My .223 play in the summer gun is not annealed but about every third or forth firing. I'm just getting trigger time.

 

[Mikecr]

My main question, is I shot these using Virgin Brass?

That's not a question..

Should I expect these to change with the 1x fired brass once I have those reloaded in the brass that's been shot.

Yes. You wasted efforts on ladder and OCW testing with new cases.
You should plan things

 

[LocalJW]

That's not a question..

Yes. You wasted efforts on ladder and OCW testing with new cases.
You should plan things

How should I expect them to change?

 

[Mark37082]

Mikecr can find the fly poop in pepper. No offense intended, but he has regimented process he subscribes to in load development. I personally believe you can find out a material amount of information with virgin brass. If you are trying to win a bench rest competition, I wouldn't rely on this info. However, in my experience my POI really doesn't change that much, and I'm getting time behind the trigger. If you are fire forming brass, you might as well learn something in the process. JMO

 

[LRNut]

Here is what I do: once I have a load that shoots well and I need to load new brass, I find out how much more powder I need to add to match the velocity in fired cases - normally not a lot, and normally the POI doesn't change. Then I shoot. I can't see shooting new brass just to fire-form. I would add my .338 Edge shows absolutely no difference in velocity or POI in new vs fired brass. I would also add that the chamber seems to be a bit sloppy (I get case head separations even well before primer pockets enlarge - even though the shoulder is pushed back .001), so maybe a fired case expands just as much as a virgin.

 

[Mikecr]

How should I expect them to change?

Brass character changes with fire forming as seasoning changes wood.
Without knowing your clearances and sizing plan, I could not predict the changes.
But if you want valid data with load development efforts, then you should want stable brass.

It takes at least 3 firings to stabilize cases, and potentially more if fighting the process with FL sizing.
If you FL size a lot, your cases may never reach stability.
There are things you can do during FFing, it's not a total waste. But ladders and OCW are not really useful there.

Mikecr can find the fly poop in pepper. No offense intended,

I've actually fulfilled a good career detecting fly poop in pepper.
And thanks,, not offended.

 

[cohunt]

Brass character changes with fire forming as seasoning changes wood.
Without knowing your clearances and sizing plan, I could not predict the changes.
But if you want valid data with load development efforts, then you should want stable brass.

It takes at least 3 firings to stabilize cases, and potentially more if fighting the process with FL sizing.
If you FL size a lot, your cases may never reach stability.
There are things you can do during FFing, it's not a total waste. But ladders and OCW are not really useful there.

I've actually fulfilled a good career detecting fly poop in pepper.
And thanks,, not offended.

Yet ive seen plenty of match shooters fl size their brass. Each shooter seems to have their own regimen that they feel gives them optimal results --- the saying goes "you do you"