New rifle is in the works and should hopefully be done end of the month or early February. I have new 6mm creedmoor alpha brass and Redding type s bushing fl die set and titanium bushings. I’m wondering what you guys do for new brass prep. Would love to have everything ready for when rifle arrives?
New brass
- Thread starter Matt_3479
- Start date
jepp2
Gold $$ Contributor
- Measure the case head to datum to see if I need to size it
- If I don't size it, run an expander through the mouth to make it round, running it through a bushing would also accomplish this
- Check length and trim if necessary
- Inside and outside chamfer the case mouth
- Uniform the primer pockets
- Deburr the flash hole
- Optional is to weight sort it into similar weight "batches"
New brass will chamber in every rifle unless the headspace is too short so you don't have to worry about any measurement.
Run the brass through a 6mm mandrel or if you have a die with a expender ball, set up the die so only the expander works the neck.
Chamfer inside the brass mouths.
Load and shoot.
You can do one extra step you can do right before seating the bullets. As I grab a bullet to seat, I dip the bottom of it in motor mica so have a consistent seating force and neck release.
Once the brass has been fired I don't use the motor mica because the powder residue inside the neck does a good job as is. Lyman and Forster among others sell mica for inside neck lubing.
I've heard good things about Alpha brass, so I wouldn't be surprised if they're already chamfered & deburred.
The only time I uniform the primer pockets is after the first firing.
On Winchester brass I deburr the flash holes from inside the case. But again, Alpha brass probably will not need it.
Run the brass through a 6mm mandrel or if you have a die with a expender ball, set up the die so only the expander works the neck.
Chamfer inside the brass mouths.
Load and shoot.
You can do one extra step you can do right before seating the bullets. As I grab a bullet to seat, I dip the bottom of it in motor mica so have a consistent seating force and neck release.
Once the brass has been fired I don't use the motor mica because the powder residue inside the neck does a good job as is. Lyman and Forster among others sell mica for inside neck lubing.
I've heard good things about Alpha brass, so I wouldn't be surprised if they're already chamfered & deburred.
The only time I uniform the primer pockets is after the first firing.
On Winchester brass I deburr the flash holes from inside the case. But again, Alpha brass probably will not need it.
Most new brass will chamber in every rifle, but not all. In higher quality brass I've found that there is less clearance due to tighter tolerance, so there's less stretch on first firing. Where it's a rifle you don't have in hand yet, I wouldn't load up too awful many, just in case it is a minimum head space chamber.
I only mention it because I've run into this problem before. If you are concerned, talk to your brass manufacturer. I haven't dealt with Alpha yet but I'm sure they are top notch. I would just round out the necks to your desired diameter and wait to load up.
I only mention it because I've run into this problem before. If you are concerned, talk to your brass manufacturer. I haven't dealt with Alpha yet but I'm sure they are top notch. I would just round out the necks to your desired diameter and wait to load up.
jepp2
Gold $$ Contributor
Up until about 4 years ago, I would have totally agreed with you. I would read where ~75% of the folks full length size their new brass, and I always felt they were just adding a work cycle to hardening the case neck. Then, I encountered some Hornady (I know, not the best brass) for my 204 Rugers. I started to notice the bolt was hard to close on some, so I measured, and it was indeed long. So now I don't ass-u-me anything and I measure. And I want to know how short it is, for the first firing.
I always use a Sinclair Chamber Length Gauge before I trim any cases. I prefer to run my case lengths .015-020 less than overall chamber length. You have to be diligent to measure and trim when necessary. Additionally, I wait until I have fired the case before I uniform the primer pockets. No real reason except I use a uniform tool to clean the pockets after every firing - cleans them slick as a whistle.
I like to shoot a new rifle 80-100 experimenting with powder some. I typically order my own reamer with a particular bullet in mind, so I'll try some powders that others have had some success with - doesn't always work but it often does. I ordered my 6BR reamer to shoot the Berger 90gr Targets but later discovered my rifle likes the 87gr VLD much better.
Whatever you decide to do - good luck with it & enjoy.
Gerald
I like to shoot a new rifle 80-100 experimenting with powder some. I typically order my own reamer with a particular bullet in mind, so I'll try some powders that others have had some success with - doesn't always work but it often does. I ordered my 6BR reamer to shoot the Berger 90gr Targets but later discovered my rifle likes the 87gr VLD much better.
Whatever you decide to do - good luck with it & enjoy.
Gerald
Shynloco
You can lead a horse to water, but ........
Matt,
I agree with most of what jepp2 suggests. But I fireform all my brass and DO NOT trim my brass UNTIL after fireforming because you'll likely have to TRIM again after the first firing of your brass. Of course measure the length of all new unfired brass to make sure you do not have a odd ball one. The other thing I do with new brass is I run every piece of new brass (Lapua and Peterson brass) through my 21st Century lathe and take off a scant .001 to make sure I have excellent concentricity with all my brass on it's first load; as well as the brass going through the expansion and contracting process that occurs upon firing. And I do have to run the casing through a expander mandrel to both be able to fit the neck onto the lathe mandrel and to make sure the neck is perfectly round and not have a high or low spot somewhere on the neck. And I do have to run each casing through a Neck Die to get the neck sized properly. Doesn't have to be a "S" die at that point and a basic Neck Die works fine. But on your next reloading, do use an "S" die to get that .002 (or less) Neck Tension. Hope that helps.
Alex
1. Visually inspect for defects or deformed necks. Weed out defectives that can't be fixed by resizing, resize to straighten deformed necks or other deformities that can be fixed by sizing. (Note 1)
2. Check fit in chamber - resize if necessary (I've had new brass (i.e. Hornady) that was slightly over on headspace that required sizing before it would fit the chamer.) (Note 1)
3. Check overall length - trim if needed.
4. Chamfer inside and outside of necks.
5. Debur flash hole
6. Uniform primer pockets
Note 1: As a general practice I full size all new cases setting the cam from "0" to slightly more depending on fit in chamber. I idea here is to produce uniform neck tension and case dimension.
2. Check fit in chamber - resize if necessary (I've had new brass (i.e. Hornady) that was slightly over on headspace that required sizing before it would fit the chamer.) (Note 1)
3. Check overall length - trim if needed.
4. Chamfer inside and outside of necks.
5. Debur flash hole
6. Uniform primer pockets
Note 1: As a general practice I full size all new cases setting the cam from "0" to slightly more depending on fit in chamber. I idea here is to produce uniform neck tension and case dimension.
I would wait until the rifle was in front of me, then Mandrel and chamber three rounds to be fired 3x with a modest charge and cotton ball. Once you have Fire Formed and measured those cases you can select a Die
Coyotefurharvester
Silver $$ Contributor
I have two Lilja barrels at the gs now,both will be rem 22-250. Because of the freebore of the custom reamer (my reamer)the gs wants me to setup 3 test fire loads for each at his shop. I will use once fired brass from the previous barrel and one other factory 22-250, hopefully one is a very close minimal sizing fit. I will make a dummy round, and die setting brass up also. The second rifle final headspace will be set using the fired brass from the first, hopefully matched so brass is interchangeable.
I shoot benchrest 308 only , each range trip I shoot 30 rounds 3 10shot groups , each season I start out with 90 cases and rotate each set of 30 .After that season I'll dump the 90 and start all over again , it's worked out well for me . I know my chamber measurement I size all my cases at first as close to that measurement until fire formed . All sized , trimmed , chamfered , pockets uniformed , flash holes deburred also make sure flash holes are the same size . I won't load the cases until one or two weeks before I'm going to shoot , preventing a cold weld between the clean neck and the copper bullet . Try to make everything be as exact as possible . Hope I Helped in some way .
Chris
Chris
I'm a bit of a newbie, so, is reloading 1x fired brass, and bumping 1-2 thousands right away, the wrong way to do it, because the brass doesn't stretch fully after first firing? Or should it be neck sized and fired again if it chambers? Thanks in advance.
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