Prepping once fired range brass w/ body and collet dies?

[skeet_man]

Getting ready to prep some once fired LC 5.56 brass (range brass, so fired from a myriad of guns, none of which are mine).

Long term, I am planning on bumping the shoulder and sizing the body with a Redding body die, and sizing the neck w/ a Lee collet die. This seems to be a decent combination without having to spend a bunch of $ on dies.

However, I'm wondering if I could/should go through the same steps with range brass, or if I should run them through a full length sizer for the first load.

 

[jonbearman]

Your way will work but a full length small base sizer is what I use on range brass. Make sure you trim the brass to length as well along with prepping the primer pockets because some may have a crimp.

 

[AckleymanII]

Your way will work but a full length small base sizer is what I use on range brass. Make sure you trim the brass to length as well along with prepping the primer pockets because some may have a crimp.

+100

Machine gun brass can be awful to work with. The brass keeps expanding out to that huge chamber, can still be expanding months later....so keep your ammo fresh.

 

[Homerange]

Getting ready to prep some once fired LC 5.56 brass (range brass, so fired from a myriad of guns, none of which are mine).

Long term, I am planning on bumping the shoulder and sizing the body with a Redding body die, and sizing the neck w/ a Lee collet die. This seems to be a decent combination without having to spend a bunch of $ on dies.

However, I'm wondering if I could/should go through the same steps with range brass, or if I should run them through a full length sizer for the first load.

For some consistency...yes.
Other than the standard steps one would normally do with new brass I never bother for a M700 action. However I will say that my loads are not hot and I wouldn't expect too much from unknown brass until it has been fire-formed in my rifle. Lee collet dies are what I use and for the M700 based 223 I don't bother with FL sizing as the camming action of the bolt is powerful enough to chamber fired cases with very little effort. Just keep the bolt lugs lightly lubed.

 

[Patch700]

Myself personally if i was to pickup strange brass , i would be measuring them and comparing to what came out of my rifle... Makes no sense to go blindly sizing something that could either be toast after one firing.

And if i were'nt sure of their history i would assume them to be trash.... In the big scope of things brass is cheap and it's the foundation to which you're building.

Good luck

 

[fguffey]

Myself personally if i was to pickup strange brass , i would be measuring them and comparing to what came out of my rifle... Makes no sense to go blindly sizing something that could either be toast after one firing.

Patch700, I have purchased brass from firing ranges, my favorite brass is brass that has been fired in a trashy old chamber. I want brass that will not chamber in one of my rifles. To begin, I measure my chambers, I know the length of the chamber from the shoulder to the bolt face. My next to favorite case is the case that is fired in a machine gun, I do not have as much trouble returning the cases to minimum length as other reloadersm I can only guess there are differences between methods and techniques.

Last when picking cases it helps to know what chamber the cases were fired from.

F. Guffey

 

[Patch700]

Myself personally if i was to pickup strange brass , i would be measuring them and comparing to what came out of my rifle... Makes no sense to go blindly sizing something that could either be toast after one firing.

Patch700, I have purchased brass from firing ranges, my favorite brass is brass that has been fired in a trashy old chamber. I want brass that will not chamber in one of my rifles. To begin, I measure my chambers, I know the length of the chamber from the shoulder to the bolt face. My next to favorite case is the case that is fired in a machine gun, I do not have as much trouble returning the cases to minimum length as other reloadersm I can only guess there are differences between methods and techniques.

Last when picking cases it helps to know what chamber the cases were fired from.

F. Guffey

Mr Guffey , I understand where you are going with this with regards to taking oversize brass and being able to mold it or manipulate it to your particular needs...
My problem with that scenario is simple , without knowing the history of the brass I've no idea wether or not it has misused and for how many times..
In example if i were to stumble upon some range brass that looked to be in "good condition" and ASSUMED it was in good order and then merely sized it to my liking I would be (in my opinion) placing trust in someone elses loading practices and habits , which I've stopped doing years ago for safety reasons.

Now if I know the history of the brass , then yes if it is beyond my chamber specs (via careful measurement and a couple sacrificial cases cut apart at the web) I may consider that useful... For my time and well being I chose to opt for new brass only.

 

[fguffey]

Last when picking cases it helps to know what chamber the cases were fired from.

it helps to know what chamber the cases were fired from

By design receivers are different, cases fired in old receivers are my favorite. Then there are my favorite old receivers.

F. Guffey

 

[CharlieNC]

Using brass fired in your rifle and sized, partially seat a primer and insert into your rifle to allow the bolt to finish seating. Measure this with your comparator, this is your chamber dimension from which you can establish how much to bump the shoulder when sizing. Alternately this dimension can be used to decide if neck sizing alone will be adequate, ie if adequate headspace exists. For range brass set the FL die to give .002 to .003 inch clearance vs the measured chamber dimension. On the other hand if the shoulders happen to be very short, you will need to fireform to push them out. You never know about range brass, and knowing your chamber dimension allows better judgements. Simple technique I read somewhere and works well.

 

[fguffey]

You never know about range brass,

When sorting through their brass I sort by measuring. They have always thrown in an extra 10 for every hundred purchased. Then there is brass stretch, not all brass stretches the same because not all receivers are the same.

F. Guffey

 

[ericbc7]

If you have problems, get a small base die, then use the Lee collet die . Subsequent reloads will work well.

The Lee die is the best if it is matched to your neck tension.

 

[ericbc7]

I think even Guffy will acknowledge that the Lee mandrel system is hard to beat
I apologize for speaking for fguffy

 

[Danattherock]

Your die selection is top notch

Buy some decent brass from same manufacturer. I bought 1,500 PMC once fired cases (good brass with no crimps) from Leo Brass dot com. Very affordable. Very. Lots of good brass out there, in for sale forum here or Snipers Hide. At this point I don't take on the hassle of messing with assorted range pick up brass. Introduces lots of issues that ruin my reloading fun.

Dan

http://www.scout.com/military/snipers-hide/forums/5556-reloading-px/14389006-fully-processed-5-56-223-once-fired-brass-annealed-100-k-ship