Which brass do you use for competition

[marchx]

I have my first match in February and I was doing some thinking on the brass that will perform in the most consistent way during a match.
I shoot 6BR and I have around 200 cases. I would say 100 is fired 4 times, 50 is fired 4+ times 50 is fired 3 times.
I do not anneal.

After 3 firings I see increased in variation neck tension. So, I am wondering about he following scenario:
1.buy fresh brass, 2. fireform the brass, 3. size the brass using Forster bushing bump die +expander mandrel, 4. seat the bullet and shoot during match.
My assumption is that once fired brass will perform more consistently than 4 times fired&not annealed brass.

 

[DngBat7]

Do you anneal?

 

[Clancy]

Fire that last batch so that they’re all 4X, send it to DJs to get annealed, resize, shoot it once, reload it for the match. It’s probably due a trimming.

 

[marchx]

Fire that last batch so that they’re all 4X, send it to DJs to get annealed, resize, shoot it once, reload it for the match. It’s probably due a trimming.

Where should I send it to?

 

[Mark M.]

Djsbrass.com

 

[JFrank]

I have my first match in February and I was doing some thinking on the brass that will perform in the most consistent way during a match.
I shoot 6BR and I have around 200 cases. I would say 100 is fired 4 times, 50 is fired 4+ times 50 is fired 3 times.
I do not anneal.

After 3 firings I see increased in variation neck tension. So, I am wondering about he following scenario:
1.buy fresh brass, 2. fireform the brass, 3. size the brass using Forster bushing bump die +expander mandrel, 4. seat the bullet and shoot during match.
My assumption is that once fired brass will perform more consistently than 4 times fired&not annealed brass.

I do not anneal either, I use a couple batches of brass with many reloads on them tuned to print the same at distance, I turn the necks originally then after a few loads I may have adjust the neck tension a bit depending on what I see on paper, i always brush the necks with nylon prior to loading. Hang in there with the brass your on now until you build a brass history then make a performance based decision.

 

[Clancy]

Where should I send it to?

Yep, DJ’s brass. He did mine before I got my own machine.

you’ll be shocked how well annealed and trimmed brass will shoot for you. Just be SURE to resize afterward.

 

[47WillysGuy]

I have my first match in February and I was doing some thinking on the brass that will perform in the most consistent way during a match.
I shoot 6BR and I have around 200 cases. I would say 100 is fired 4 times, 50 is fired 4+ times 50 is fired 3 times.
I do not anneal.

After 3 firings I see increased in variation neck tension. So, I am wondering about he following scenario:
1.buy fresh brass, 2. fireform the brass, 3. size the brass using Forster bushing bump die +expander mandrel, 4. seat the bullet and shoot during match.
My assumption is that once fired brass will perform more consistently than 4 times fired&not annealed brass.

You say you don't anneal.
Why not?

I use Lapua brass. Three lots of 80 pieces. The oldest has 15 firing, the next two have 6 firings each. My waterline is good at 500 and 1000 yards. I'll have unexplained flyer occasionally. Wind?? Load?? Trigger finger?? Who knows...

But if your concerned over neck tension:
1-Buy the your favorite brass
2- delete this step; waste of time and components**
3-Full size both body and case neck to make every case uniform
4-shoot the match
** I shot a clean at 500 yards on the first load out with new brass. This was "Speedy" knowledge given.

Caveat; If it's different brand of brass you might want to do a load development process first.

 

[jobhopper66]

It appears the OP is from the united Kingdom so I think DJ's is probably not going to happen.

 

[marchx]

Djsbrass.com

I can't since they are in the us. far away.

 

[tsyarnall]

Hard to beat Lapua brass. It is the standard by which all other brass is measured by.

 

[Clancy]

Knowing you’re in the UK, trim and shoot them, unless a mentor has a good machine.

 

[marchx]

Maybe I buy an AMP one day. Probably I will. But not now. I think that I can get pretty consistent neck tension up to 3 firings and then I should anneal my brass. Considering the number of shots per season- both training and matches I can be ok with 200 cases per caliber/year.
Quick math.
AMP=1700 EUR more less
200 cases= 200 EUR more less,
So, I will be able to keep my neck tension pretty consistent per 8.5 years without an AMP, buying 200 fresh cases each year.

 

[marchx]

Hard to beat Lapua brass. It is the standard by which all other brass is measured by.

and?

 

[marchx]

I cannot be also sure that 100% of cases in one box have exactly the same number of firings. I think that during washing or decapping 10% of the cases could be mixed between batches. Anyway, after 4 firings I think it does not matter really whether one case had 5 or 7 firings. The hardness variation=> neck tension variation increases case vs. case.

 

[Matt_3479]

I only shoot alpha and Lapua other then my trainer I shoot winchester and hornady. I’m debating on get some Lapua for the trainer as well. I figured though I shoot with enough guys shooting win and hornady who don’t reload. So range pick up, anneal, resize to current die set up and fire away for trainer

as far as annealer’s go, if you want to try your hand at it. Gong joe annealer works great, excellent price, and super simple!!

 

[marchx]

I only shoot alpha and Lapua other then my trainer I shoot winchester and hornady. I’m debating on get some Lapua for the trainer as well. I figured though I shoot with enough guys shooting win and hornady who don’t reload. So range pick up, anneal, resize to current die set up and fire away for trainer

as far as annealer’s go, if you want to try your hand at it. Gong joe annealer works great, excellent price, and super simple!!

I use only Lapua. I built myself an induction annealer, but I don't use it anymore since I read paper on recrystalisation curve. I would rather pay somebody to AMP-anneal my brass. It would be good, it somebody would offer this to forum members at a reasonable price.

 

[6ShotsOr5?]

I have shot several club match winning scores at 100 yds using neck-turned Lapua brass in my 30BR. I use no-turn Peterson brass in my 6 Creedmoor at 400 and 600 yards and have not been able to win so far. These matches have a small field, usually only 6-8 shooters. I don’t think it’s the brass, but I suppose it could be part of the reason. I think it’s more related to my inadequate wind-reading skills, and maybe because the 6 Creed has more throat erosion and is more difficult to keep in tune compared to the 30BR.

 

[jimmymac]

I do not anneal. I keep my brass sorted by firings and neck tension variation hasn’t been much of an issue. I seat by feel. If one feels different than the others, be it on the high side or low, it gets relegated to a fouler or sometimes I’ll test on my sighter to see if POI differs.

 

[Dub]

I aneal every firing