Did I just ruin once-fired Lapua brass?

[pcswann]

1. Did you clean the "new" sizing die before letting it go to work? New dies need to be cleaned before use. 2. While I know many who think one shot is the best lube there is, I would personally never use it again. (been there, had issues) So many other options (pretty much anything else) that are both better and cheaper to use.

Yes, I cleaned/degreased the new die before use. As for One-Shot, I know it's a polarizing product, and I also have Imperial Sizing Wax, and since I'm new to rifle cartridge reloading I'll probably try as many products as I can until I settle on what works in my situation. Thanks!

 

[searcher]

Unless the cases are some raggedy-a$$ crap, i.e. Winchester straight-out-of-the-bag, you shouldn't *need* to chamfer before sizing. Typically when you size, the case grows in length, you trim it, and *then* you chamfer to break the edge of that freshly cut cas mouth. Doing it twice just seems... silly.

Yes - in 50+ years of reloading, I never chamfered before sizing. I never had a die imbed brass and scratch like that, though I did have it happen to a steel neck bushing (non-titanium coated) once.

 

[pcswann]

I got so much great advice in this thread I wanted to chime back in to wrap everything up. In the end I decided it'd be smarter to send the die back to L.E. Wilson. So I contacted them and they advised sending some fired brass along with the die. So I packaged it all up and sent it off. This was during the Christmas break so it took a little longer to get back, but L.E. Wilson kept me informed all along the way. Got the die back yesterday and it works perfectly. No scratches. Thanks, again, to everyone who took the time to respond to my questions.

 

[6ShotsOr5?]

Sorry I’m late to this party but I have had a similar problem, scratches on new Lapua brass beginning with the first time it is FL sized. There was a thread on this forum a few years back where @KMart talked about one cause of this problem, and how to fix it. It worked for me, thanks @KMart. Ken’s reply is near the top of page 1 in:

Post in thread 'New Lapua brass'

New Lapua brass

What do you all do to new brass. Never bought new brass before. Should I FL size, neck size. Just curious. It’s Lapua brass for 22-250

forum.accurateshooter.com

 

[pcswann]

Sorry I’m late to this party but I have had a similar problem, scratches on new Lapua brass beginning with the first time it is FL sized. There was a thread on this forum a few years back where @KMart talked about one cause of this problem, and how to fix it. It worked for me, thanks @KMart. Ken’s reply is near the top of page 1 in:

Post in thread 'New Lapua brass'

New Lapua brass

What do you all do to new brass. Never bought new brass before. Should I FL size, neck size. Just curious. It’s Lapua brass for 22-250

forum.accurateshooter.com

Great advice. Someone in this thread also advised getting that blue oxidizing off the neck/shoulder area. And I've seen people use very fine steel wool to remove it, too.

 

[KMart]

Great advice. Someone in this thread also advised getting that blue oxidizing off the neck/shoulder area. And I've seen people use very fine steel wool to remove it, too.

The goal is to get the oxidation off the outside of the case and the inside of the neck. To me, it is less labor intensive to put 50 or 100 cases in the tumbler than to handle each case by hand to clean inside and out. As long as the goal is attained, it doesn't matter how you get there. Your hands and elbows will thank the tumbler later.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Doesn't really matter how shiny and perfect looking a non-hardened die is. Every one I've ever seen makes brass look just like the op's. Too smooth may actually make it worse instead of better. They pretty much have got to be hardened by one means or another...and I don't think anyone would regret doing it right, ever. It's not ruined, just fugly.