I'm trying to wrap up my loading before our prairie dog shoot, and I ran into a problem. I'm loading for a 22-250. I have 200 pieces of 2 or 3 times fired brass and 100 pieces of new brass (both Winchester). I'm loading 41gns of Win 760 behind a 55gn V-max. With the new brass, I'm shooting one ragged hole. I loaded it first and marked it. When I started loading the previously fired brass, I noticed that the powder didn't fill up as much of the case as it did with the new brass. I stopped and decided to shoot them before I went any further. Everything else being equal, the group with the old brass is twice the size of the new brass. I still have time to order new brass. What are your thoughts on why there is a difference in case capacity and what I should do? Thanks for the input.

Do you neck size or full length size when reloading?

I've always FLS, but after this round I'm going to neck size.

The capacity of the case before/after firing is irrelavent. It is the capacity of the pressure containment vessel (the chamber) that controls.

Your experience is not uncommmon, although it has nothing to do with how much a given charge fills the case. It is almost certain that your reloaded cases are not as concentric as the new cases, which is almost surely a result of the resizing process.

Answer these questions for us:
1. How have you been preparing your unfired cases?

2. Have you measured your fired cases to determine if they have stretched beyond maximum case length?

3. How do you lubricate your fired cases for resizing?

4. Are you chamfering the inside of the necks to prevent scarring the bullet as it is seated?

Try resizing your fired cases with the die bottom about .05" off of the shellholder. This should improve case life and concentricity.

Brass doesn`t return to "like new" diemensions when full sized. Spring back, chamber size, the pressure it was worked at when fired, ect all affect the final geometery after resizeing. The only expectation you should have is that they will fit any SAAMI chamber. The brass body is reworked to a reduced size, and shoulders pushed back when FL sized and this alters the volume. The smaller the final outer diamensions of the case, the smaller the internal volume will be.
The best way to insure consistant volume is to use once fired brass and neck size. The pressures will expand the cases to very similar size, and neck sizeing only changes part of the neck diameter if done properly. Brass done this way will likely only fit the chamber it came from, so if you have more then 1 rifle chambered for this round be sure to keep them separate.

Answer these questions for us:
1. How have you been preparing your unfired cases?
Full-length sizing

2. Have you measured your fired cases to determine if they have stretched beyond maximum case length?
They have been trimmed

3. How do you lubricate your fired cases for resizing?
Spray lube

4. Are you chamfering the inside of the necks to prevent scarring the bullet as it is seated?
I am

Try resizing your fired cases with the die bottom about .05" off of the shellholder. This should improve case life and concentricity.

It seems if I don't set the shoulder back, It's hard to chamber after a couple of rounds.

I'm tempted to get new brass and neck-size from now on. I think this will solve a lot of my problems. These loads are for one gun only.