Flash Hole Deburing

16 July 2005, 03:21

HP Shooter

I know several fellow Highpower shooters who are High Masters and have tested identical reloads with the flash hole deburring step being the only difference.

Their experience is that there is no discernible difference unless you want to be competitive in Benchrest.

I used to do it and I have stopped wasting time on it.

16 July 2005, 03:50

tiggertate

Ditto what HP Shooter said. As long as there is a hole there I'm happy. The sole exception is Bertram brass which I found often can have a different size flash hole in almost each case. I quit buying Bertram but before I drew that line all I did was uniform the hole dia with a drill bit. I figure those litle flash bits get moved out of the way when I full-length size new brass and get mostly blown away on the first firing. I have not ever found one in a fired case. If I am ever lucky enough to have a hunting rifle that shoots competitive benchrest groups I will reconsider.

Ditto for neck turning. If a neck is so non-concentric that it affects run-out I presume the case wall is thick too on one side and the round is doing the bannana thing in the chamber so I trash it and move on.

16 July 2005, 04:14

Fish30114

I use the deburring tool that
Sinclair makes, it's as good or better than anything else I've tried.

It does take some time, but I figure it can't hurt. I have actually seen some burrs in flash holes that are obnoxiously large, plus you only got's to do it one time to each case!

16 July 2005, 09:17

bowhuntrrl

quote:
Originally posted by HP Shooter:
I know several fellow Highpower shooters who are High Masters and have tested identical reloads with the flash hole deburring step being the only difference.

Their experience is that there is no discernible difference unless you want to be competitive in Benchrest.

I used to do it and I have stopped wasting time on it.

Apparently they don't use Winchester brass !!! That stuff is some of the nastiest brass I've ever used. Some of the flash holes are almost closed with burrs. It's ok, I'll waste the extra 30 seconds/case .

16 July 2005, 09:47

iamgene

The current batch of Bell/Mast brass I'm working on is pretty "clogged" up as well..

16 July 2005, 15:48

billt

I agree with HP Shooter. I think flash hole deburring, along with "breaking in" barrels, is for someone with too much time on their hands because it's a complete waste of it. I have never personally seen the advantage of either operation. billt.

16 July 2005, 20:14

Toobroke

I use the Sinclair tool and am happy with it

16 July 2005, 20:57

Blob1

Deburring the flash hole is a complete waste of good time. I tried it for awhile and soon realized that it wasn't worth the effort to do it. I do check each new case for visible burrs both inside and out. And I have a deburring tool for the inside of the flash hole. But since I quit and just check each case before the first use, I haven't deburred a single one. Sometimes I think we who are not forunte enough to be able to burn 500 rounds a day and not able to own $10,000 worth of equipment, think something like deburring the flash hole will instantly bring about .010 groups at 300 yards!

16 July 2005, 21:06

Magnum Hunter1

I have a sinclair tool, but to be honest it isn't worth the trouble for hunting loads.
Doug

17 July 2005, 04:33

prof242

For general hunting, I agree that deburring flash holes may be time wasted. From 25-150yds, a difference of a quarter inch in group means nothing. However, removing the burr and leaving that slight bevel does result in more even flame from the primer. This does help powder ignition and reduces velocity variations. In cold weather, I've seen the velocity differences.

For varmint hunting, I think its a mandatory function to ensure everything is right for those longer shots. More than 3,000 bullets are sent downrange after prairie dogs each year by me. I want to know each round is as good as I can make it.

17 July 2005, 11:40

buckshot

quote:
Originally posted by tiggertate:
Ditto what HP Shooter said. As long as there is a hole there I'm happy. The sole exception is Bertram brass which I found often can have a different size flash hole in almost each case. I quit buying Bertram but before I drew that line all I did was uniform the hole dia with a drill bit. I figure those litle flash bits get moved out of the way when I full-length size new brass and get mostly blown away on the first firing. I have not ever found one in a fired case. If I am ever lucky enough to have a hunting rifle that shoots competitive benchrest groups I will reconsider.

Ditto for neck turning. If a neck is so non-concentric that it affects run-out I presume the case wall is thick too on one side and the round is doing the bannana thing in the chamber so I trash it and move on.

Ditto what these guys say, however, I have a 22-250 where it actually did make a difference deburring the flash hole, and oddly, it was with winchester brass.
HP's comments are right on the $$. I've loaded scads of old GI cases where the flash hole not centered, and I can see no discernable difference between them as compared to those that have a correctly centered flash hole.

17 July 2005, 16:42

billt

I think powder placement in the case has a lot more to do with any variation than deburring the flash hole does. billt

17 July 2005, 18:47

prof242

Bilt - I agree that powder placement in the case can have more to do with variations in velocity. However, this was a variable that was noted and adjusted for either by ensuring cases were loaded with the bullet up (barrel up too), or with high-density loadings.

18 July 2005, 08:32

YUMAN

I bought the one from Midway. I put it in the lathe and turned about 1/2 in. of the end down and threaded it to 8-32 and screwed it into the fifth station on my trimmate. When I'm chamfering casemouths I just drop them over on the flashole deburng tool. Don't know if it does any good but I have nothing but time, WTH.
Lyle