Reloading Steps Help

[Rath]

Gents,oh and ladies?),

I'm relatively new to reloading, I thought I would post my step by step process for fired brass and ask if I'm on the right track or whether I should be be adding or removing anything.

I'm shooting a factory rifle whilst my custom stick is being built, I have a Tikka t3 varmint and a Rem 700.

This is how I'm currently processing fired brace:

1. Tumble Brass,to clean necks)
2. Wash Brass To Clean + Inspect,for defects or stuck media)
3. Clean Shell Holder + Dies,use swab + brush)
4. Lube Brass
5. Neck Size + De-Prime Brass,use bushing for 0.02 neck tension)
6. Body Size Brass,chamber brass to set-up die/size to suit chamber)
7. Tumbler Brass,to remove residual lube + clean primer pockets)
8. Wash Brass To Clean + Inspect,for defects or stuck media)
9. Measure And Trim Brass To Uniform Length If Required
10. If Trimmed Chamfer and De-bur Necks
11. Measure Neck Thickness,Sort Accordingly)
12. Clean Primer Pockets
13. Brush Inside Of The Necks With Bronze Brush
14. Prime Brass
15. Charge Brass,look over brass to check)
16. Clean Shell Holder
17. Seat Bullets
18. Check COAL,Measure From Ogive) & Adjust Seating Accordingly

Any input is much appreciated.

Rath

 

[Rath]

I should have added I'm using Lapua Brass,.308).
Thanks
Rath

 

[Ackman]

You're making it far too complicated.

Gents,oh and ladies?),

I'm relatively new to reloading, I thought I would post my step by step process for fired brass and ask if I'm on the right track or whether I should be be adding or removing anything.

I'm shooting a factory rifle whilst my custom stick is being built, I have a Tikka t3 varmint and a Rem 700.

This is how I'm currently processing fired brace:

1. Tumble Brass,to clean necks) *****Yes, but to clean the whole case. When all you want to do is clean the necks, a quick wipe with solvent-soaked patch will do it much faster than tumbling.

2. Wash Brass To Clean + Inspect,for defects or stuck media) ****No, you don't need to wash them. Use walnut media, it's small and won't get stuck anywhere. A Dillon media separator works beautifully to empty the cases.

3. Clean Shell Holder + Dies,use swab + brush) **** You want clean dies and for nothing to be stuck in the shellholder, but this isn't really a problem.

4. Lube Brass ***** Yes. Use Lee Lube. Put a smear in several places around the wall of a container, then tumble.

5. Neck Size + De-Prime Brass,use bushing for 0.02 neck tension) **** Yes, neck size. Don't worry about FL sizing unless the brass chambers hard.

6. Body Size Brass,chamber brass to set-up die/size to suit chamber) **** No, not if you've alread necksized. Again, not necessary unless the brass chambers hard. With a bolt gun I almost never have to do it.

7. Tumbler Brass,to remove residual lube + clean primer pockets) **** No. Use Lee Lube which is water soluble. You only use a little bit and it's not even necessary to remove. By the time you're done loading it'll be gone anyway. Cleaning primer pockets is a waste of time, completely unnecessary.

8. Wash Brass To Clean + Inspect,for defects or stuck media) **** Not this again....

9. Measure And Trim Brass To Uniform Length If Required **** Measure if you like but it'll probably never need trimming. First off, your factory chambers are much longer than the brass spec's. Second, you're using Lapua which is very uniform in length and began short anyway.

10. If Trimmed Chamfer and De-bur Necks ****Always put a good inside chamfer on the case neck of any new brass.

11. Measure Neck Thickness,Sort Accordingly) **** Unnecessary, don't bother. 1) Factory chambers have a generous,sloppy) neck dia. anyway. 2) Your Lapua brass is very uniform.

12. Clean Primer Pockets **** Completely unnecessary, don't bother.

13. Brush Inside Of The Necks With Bronze Brush**** Some people like to do it, I don't/never have. To me it's unnecessary.

14. Prime Brass **** Of course.

15. Charge Brass,look over brass to check) **** Sure.

16. Clean Shell Holder**** You don't want crap in the shellholder, but it's not something you have to clean very often.

17. Seat Bullets**** Sure.

18. Check COAL,Measure From Ogive) & Adjust Seating Accordingly **** Yes. But COAL is to the end of the bullet, not the ogive. Measure casehead to ogive using a Davidson gauge. Sinclair has them. Do it maybe every 20 rds or so. It's not uncommon for bullets to have some variation. While large variations aren't common, even that can occur within the same box. There's also not much you can do about it. Not a problem if they're seated deep to SAAMI spec, but if you're seating .005' off the lands then uniformity is more critical. As an example, I've had certain 50gr bullets vary more than .020' ogive length within the same box.....happened with several boxes. Also 70gr 6mm bullets from the same maker were way off. So it can occur. It doesn't mean the gun will blow up or anything like that. But if you stick one into the lands unknowingly then try to extract it, that bullet can stay in the barrel and you'll wind up with a chamber full of powder....and a mess to clean.


Any input is much appreciated.

Rath

Get a chamber measuring plug from Sinclair. It'll show you exactly how long the chamber is. Lots of people do a lot of unnecessary case trimming.

 

[Innovative]

Try this:

1. Tumble brass
2. - - - -
3. de-prime brass
4. Verify headspace of your handloads
5. Lube brass with Imperial Sizing Die Wax
6. FL resize,use bushing - 0.003' neck tension)
7. Wipe cases with alcohol to remove lube + clean primer pockets.
8. - - - -
9. Measure and trim brass to uniform length
10. Trim, chamfer & de-bur necks
11. - - - -
12. - - - -
13. Brush inside of the necks with steel brush
14. Prime brass
15. Charge brass,look over brass to check)
16. - - - -
17. Seat bullets
18. Check COAL,measure from ogive) & adjust seating accordingly


- Innovative

 

[TheSilverFox]

Way toooooo long of a process. If you were shooting a benchrest match you would never get enough time to reload in between stages.

1- Wipe necks with 'never dull' get the black stuff off.
2- Lube case and full length resize.
3- Check headspace look for .0015' adjust by adding or removing a shim. I don't do this everytime I reload.
4- Resize rest of cases.
5- wipe lube off.
6- brush inside of necks.
7- clean primer pocket.
8- prime
9- powder
10-seat bullet
done

Don't get reloading confused with tuning or fire forming.

 

[Rath]

Thanks for all the replies.

I'm no fan of adding steps for the sake of it so I will streamline the process in accordance with what has been recommended.

Cheers
Rath

 

[Shootndig]

Rath-
How much brass have you got? Once you click over about 1000 or so pieces, you'll have most of the totally unnecessary steps eliminated. By 3-4000, you'll have the extraneous ones gone too. If you need to get there in a hurry, I've got a bunch of brass I can send you

 

[Rath]

LOL,

I've been waiting on a custom build for almost 12 bloody months. During this time I've accumulated a huge amount of brass, projectiles etc. Thanks anyway!

Rath

 

[fullersson]

Instead of measuring and sorting cases according to neck thickness, I turn my necks down so they are all the same. I weight sort my brass to with in 1 gr. and I've just ordered a bullet comparator from Tubbs,to sort my bullets by bearing surface lengths) I also order a meplat uniformer. I was thinking of ordering a bullet pointing die from Whidden or someone, but I haven't made a decided on that yet.

 

[fullersson]

Sorry about that 'made a decided' part. I meant to say decision.