.223 brass processing - to debur & chamfer or not?

[SOcalsurferx]

Hey all-
I just recieved a bunch of military processed brass, about 2000 pieces of mixed LC 07 and 08 headstamp brass. It came cleaned and the primer pockets were reamed to remove the crimp. I had read about a bunch of people who load bulk ammo for 3-gun and the like who didnt bother with much brass prep, eg. case trimming, chamfer, debur, flash hole ream / chamfer... I loaded approx. 100 rounds up with wolf 5.56 primers, 24 grs varget, seated to cannelure and crimped with dillon crimp die. I noticed that the case lengths varied so much that the seating depth in relation to the cannelure was different almost every time. This is when I started to trim the cases back to 1.75

I am using a forster classic trimmer and while it doesnt leave too bad of a burr on the outside or inside of the throat, I am wondering if is is necessary to chamfer / debur. I was afraid to chamfer because I didt want to take away the "edge" of the throat that woudl be crimped into the cannelure. Also, I figured the dillon crimp die would pretty much get rid of the outside burr. Ami wrong? Just trying to save a step.

-SOCAL!

 

[fivering]

I personally always deburr inside and out whenever it is necessary to trim a case.
The burr on the inside of the case can score the bullet when seating, and a burr on the outside can affect the rounds chambering.

 

[fdshuster]

SOCAL: I also use LC brass, mostly for the AR-15's, and case mouth de-burring is a standard procedure. I also prep all my brass/ all cartridges from 222 Rem to 30-06 using the K&M inside taper neck reamer, as it eliminates the sharp edge left by the standard de-burring tool, which can be damaging especially when seating flat base bullets. Have loaded thousands of 223 rounds for the AR-15's and a lesser amount of 30-06 for an M1 Garand, and have never crimped a single round. Have never had an ammunition related malfunction/alibi in a CMP or NRA Hi Power rifle match. Really a moot point anyway, since of all the match bullets I use, none have a crimping cannalure groove.

 

[necchi]

I'm with those guy's, although I don't have a neck reamer, I chamfer and deburr. I also got a bunch of LC 08 and some of those where LOOONG!

I did/do the inside flashhole ream/chamfer, you only have to do it once and it's surprising when you feel one that needs it, there IS defenatly something hanging inside that hole on I'd say 1 in 15 cases or so.

Those 3 gun shooters sometimes aren't worried about super accuracy, don't get me wrong they'er good, but usually it's an 8" gong and it's about the "timed" part of the event. 6" accuracy is all that's needed to score a "hit" on an 8" target. A really fast shooter can usually afford 1 or 2-5 second penalties. Thus use cheap bulk and scrap it.
Alot of those guy's will leave 50-100 cases lay for scrap during an event, it's really not worth picking for reload cause it's all mixed from several shooters and there is no way to tell load count.

scrap brass is $1.40 a #, that's about .02 a piece for 223. It doesn't take long to fill a bucket if you use a leaf rake

 

[coues52]

Midway has a "Forster 3 in 1 case mouth cutter 22 cal item #220395 $54.95" trims to length ,inside & outside champers,all in 1 step,neat tool ... they also make them in 30 cal& 6mm

 

[Ron10x]

I use the RCBS power case trimmer with the trim pro cutter. This setup trims to length and deburrs both in and out in one operation. It works very well on the AR .223 and M1 06 brass and saves a bunch of time over my manual Forster.

 

[effendude]

With all due respect, it sounds as though you got 1/2 processed brass. If it was tumbled and reamed, why didn't they size, trim and chamfer it? I've bought thousands of 223 pieces from Top Brass in the last few years. While not bench quality, it worked great for XC, F-class and prairie dogs.

I just sent 4000 pieces to a company in TX who will tumble, size, trim, swage the crimp out, chamfer in/out for $.03 a piece. A friend found this guy, and he does great work. I can't do it myself for that price.

Scott

 

[SOcalsurferx]

I got a great deal on it so I'm not complaining, most of it was range brass police training classes and from LEO 3-gun mtches. The rest of the brass I have was purchsaed from an internet company and was processed on a Scharch machine which just checks for cracks and gets rid of the the crimp... bummer it cant trim and size like you said.

 

[Longtrain]

I always chamfer and debur all my cases. I generally process in the off season, lots of work waiting for the cold and snow to go.

All my 223 cases are resized then trimmed, chamfered and deburred using a Gracey trimmer, takes literally a few seconds per case at most. These units aren't cheap, but they are worth it in the time saved.

Tony

 

[effendude]

Socal,
Give Danny a call at http://www.custombrassprocessing.com/. He uses equipment from Scharch. I shipped him 4K last Monday from MN, and he processed and shipped it yesterday. Amazingly fast turn-around time. You don't have to apologize for getting bargains. I grab every piece of brass I can get my hands on. Sometimes I wonder why...

Everything from Federal now has a crimp, even their American Eagle stuff that the local LE agencies use for training. The crimped primers really slow down the reloading process until the crimp is removed. I've tried the Dillon Super Swager, I just don't have the patience.
Scott

 

[SOcalsurferx]

Scott -

thanks for that response, that is exactly what I was looking for!!!! I will give them a call today!