Case cleaning importance........

[watercam]

I am not saying that the Ultra-cleaning-every-time system is incorrect - every shooter does what they feel is working for them. I am saying that over the years of tracking my Palma loads (95% of my shooting) I am seeing no changes in velocity/ES/SDs over the 13-14 firings with my media-cleaned Lapua cases. Same lot of powder/same primers/same bullets/same powder charge over the course of the year. I check my loads continuously during the shooting season.
Guess I could use that time to wash and dry cases but shooting is more fun! Also forced to go to IMR 4064 (which is working very well thank you) and it does seem to be a tad more sooty so I may be washing cases this coming season!

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Dusty , you say you loose .4 - .8 after the first shot . does each additional shot lower case capacity more ? I'm not nit- picking , I'm trying to learn something . I'll have to run a few cases from new and watch this . this is something I've never given much thought . thanks Jim

I need to check that but i suspect itll burn some out and be different again. Ill find out and let you know. Give it a try yourself in the meantime. If youre worried about them clean necks seating bullets get you some graphite lube in a spray can, spray it into the lid of the can til its just as deep as your neck is long and give r a dip

 

[jimbires]

I need to check that but i suspect itll burn some out and be different again. Ill find out and let you know. Give it a try yourself in the meantime. If youre worried about them clean necks seating bullets get you some graphite lube in a spray can, spray it into the lid of the can til its just as deep as your neck is long and give r a dip

I appreciate the info , and please let me know your findings . I'll do a little checking too . good tip on the spray neck lube . Thanks Jim

 

[dmoran]

Jim -
AGS has liquid graphite in bottles, as a alternative to spray. Link and image below:
Donovan

Link: http://agscompany.com/product-category/lubricants/home/graphites/

 

[waldo1979]

...
Depriming as a separate step only because I am having ongoing issues with the consistency with the body die so I want the primers out to be able to measure the cases correctly.

I will probably get a whidden FL size die to combine 2-4 to a single step. When I bought the redding set I was not FL sizing every time so I figured having the different dies would be beneficial but now I'm more than ready for a single step solution.

I shoot mostly .308WIN as well but at 300 in hunter class bench rest. I'd like to shoot FTR but it would take too much time away from my family.

I stopped neck sizing based on a thread here. I bump the shoulder .0015" on a Redding FL sizer. I've been toying with the idea of getting a bushing die as well to reduce neck tension.

I use to use a Lyman universal decaping die in a Lee hand press, when I was experimenting with SS tumbling. Now I'm just using my Redding FL die with the decaping pin. I've also experimented with removing the expander baller and using a separate expander die, but I didn't notice a major change (I.e. Wasn't worth the extra work).

For cleaning I have a SS tumbler and an ultrasonic. If I do clean, it will be 20 minutes in the ultrasonic which only removes loose material (doesn't remove neck carbon). I have a bald eagle US cleaner and use Hornady fluid, not the greatest setup but does seem to remove the exact amount of carbon you'd want removed. The SS tumbler while producing shinny brass doesn't produce good groups.

I just got my Dillon 550B setup with a Uniquetek floating tool head. So far it's producing very low run out (~0.0005-0.0015") ammunition. I still need to run more ammo through it. I switched to the Dillon because loading was taking too much of my free time (100 rounds of bench rest quality ammo could easily take 6 hours).

I haven't been annealing but am in the process of building an induction annealer. I'm also using Lake City LR brass which is a bit softer than Lapua (but took ALOT of work to prep).

 

[dkhunt14]

Yall should weigh some and shoot em and weigh em again after a few firings. I use ss pins as much as i can once i tested the volumes and how inconsistent that inside carbon is. Nothing shoots like fresh brass

Dusty, I believe there are a couple of reasons for this. I believe the new stuff is more consistent. Matt