Hey, I have about 100 peices of 300RUM brass that has been reloaded maybe 3 or 4 times. Unfortunately I don't keep track. The primer pockets are a little deep due to using a primer pocket brush a little aggresively. Would you take these on a hunting trip? Or if it was your hunt would you buy new brass. Also when buying this bulk brass, would you recommend FL resizing, trimming, and all before loading? This is remington Brass by the way. I am in the process of a new barrel, so not really sure how accurate this old brass is. Also, do you guys see accuracy of these magunums going down the more you reload the brass? I read alot about the necks losing alot of there strength and I would need to reanneal, (think thats how you spell it) them after about 4 reloads.

If the brass doesn't meet specifications, and if you have any doubt whatsoever about reliability, I would suggest not using it.

It would be a shame to blow a great hunting trip for the price of a couple of pieces of brass.

I always full-length size new brass before the first firing, and then on subsequent firings on bottle-necked cases I only neck size.

Only thing that bothers me is the deep primer pockets. The primer is much deeper than should be. Think I will pick some new anyway. Can't have too much brass. Do you think that one should brush out the soot out of the primer pocket every firing? I am starting to think no if the primer is level with the base.

The primer is supposed to be noticeably below flush.

Cleaning pockets is not necessary, other than for piece of mind. I use a uniformer to clean. I can't imagine a brush taking off enough brass to matter. JMO, Dutch.

Well unfortately, I took this advise about trying to use a drill and putting my primer brush on the chuck and going to town. Bad move.

We really have to know what your dimensions are? As Dutch said you don't want the primer sticking out and almost all of us clean the pockets.

I don't. I use a "Whitetail" primer pocket tool. It cuts them out! It's like a end mill made from carbide and it cuts the bottom of the primer pocket to the correct depth. I leave this tool set up in the lathe and I even clean all of previously cut pockets with it. I got it from Sinclair and I recommend it.

I measured a new unfired 7mm WSM case at the pocket is .135" deep. I cut the bottom of the pocket with the Whitetail tool and it still measures .135" but it cleaned up the bottom of the pocket and the inside corners are sharper now. A primer would go in a tiny bit deeper.

I don't have the SAMMI dimensions of a primer pocket and would be interested in what it is.

Measure your pockets. If they are close to mine they are OK.

But as to your present brass I can't be sure without a close examination. At http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/1221/index.htm there are sites like "Varmint Al's" that give case prep advice and so does every loading manual.

The bottom line is if the rifle shoots consistanly. If your dies are the usual RCBS type design the ammo will be OK in my experiance if you use the dies right. Tracking down a problem is not always easy however but rather than get into a anal type benchrest discussion I suggest that you buy some new cases anyway and compare their results.

All hunting loads should be full length sized in the correct manner. Even then they should all be run thru the rifle to test for free functioning.

Neck sizing only will work with perfect chambers or if a smooth and easy action closing is not necessary as for plinking.

To add I just found this http://www.mikesshooters.com/m1_rel.htm and it suggests .128-.130" !!

[ 08-29-2002, 21:39: Message edited by: Don Martin29 ]

Brass, and especially brass that is used in mx pressure cartridges, should be annealed after the 4th or 5th time you load it. The necks get work-hardened and the ability of the neck to grip the bullet will change and that change will affect pressure...velocity....accuracy. Annealing isn't difficult but needs to be done right.

If you would rather not do it yourself let me suggest a company called Arizona Ammunition. Their web-site is www.azammo.com and they will do it for you at a very reasonable price. They will resize it to your specs, trim it (if needed), chamfer and deburr it, anneal it and send it back to you in really nice MTM boxes. Or they will just anneal it...they do really good work. I have used them myself and can recommend them without reservation.

So what is the best procedure for annealment? Just heating up the neck until very hot and put in water quickly?

First, it is generally recommended that you use once fired cases for you hunting trip loads. You should save forty cases you've only fired once for loading you hunting loads after you've used the others for load development and practice.

I would suggest that you order forty to fifty new cases, prepare the cases, and fire them once. Afterward, trim them and use 10 to confirm you load with this lot of brass. Reload the remaining cases. If you need extra loads for reconfirming zero on your trip, use your 3 to 4 reload cases.

Concerning re-annealing; I personnally have never worried about this. It is a pretty involved process, and time consuming. However, if you want to do this, put your brass in a pan with water up to just below the shoulder. Then take a torch and heat up each case. It must be very hot. When it has been hot for a minute, tip it over in the water for quenching. This should anneal the metal. (I think this is the process as I read it, but I have never done this.) Generally, my primer pockets go before my necks except of those loads that I shoot so many times the necks split. I feel I have got all the "goody" by the time they split. Ku-dude