Until recently I've never bothered, but it occured to me that running new brass through the sizer die is an easy way to "uniform" it a bit... also easily takes the dents out of the case mouth's.
I always do, in order to have clean uniform brass. I size, trim, de-burr etc. with every new batch. It's a good idea I think to examine each case. We've all probably found bad brass. Though it pains us to have to discard any. Jim......
And find the shortest case in that batch, then trim them all to 0.002" less than that, so they're all the same length.
And deburr the flash holes.
And sort by weight.
And segregate the sorted cases in various increments (.5 grain variation for match type stuff; 1 - 2 grain variation for hunting stuff), with different colored Sharpie lines in the extractor groove to keep the segregated cases together, but separate from the OTHER segregated cases, each in their own little Baggie, to be marked with the number of times each baggie's contents have been fired.
Now, if I could just figure out a way to mark each individual bullet for weight, dimensional variations, etc... AAAAARRRRRGGGHHHHH It's a sickness I need help.
R-WEST
Posts: 1483 | Location: Windber, PA | Registered: 24 January 2001
It all depends...........if loading for an autoloader or lever action I wouldn't bother.
With norma or federal gold medal all you have to do is run a sizing ball or lyman m die into the mouth and then procede to build ammo that will not have more than .003" runnout.
Win and rem brass are a different story--depending on the lot I might resize if really trying for a super accurate load in a bolt action. On this brass it would be likely that a resize would cut runnout in half.
PS--if a guy is deer hunting in the woods it would certainly not be necessary-----but trying to get runnout down for long range shooting might be a good idea.
Posts: 2002 | Location: central wi | Registered: 13 September 2002
I didn't used to but after I noticed the case mouths were not uniform I started. I simply run my die up and only neck size. I have full lenght resized new cases but I haven't noticed a difference.
I didn't in the past, but generally do now for the above stated reasons.
R-WEST, the way that I permanently mark cases to keep them segregated when all else looks the same, is to use an automatic centerpunch somewhere on the letter/number on the casehead. For example, I have some LAPUA brass sorted in to three groups - "light" has a punch on the "L", "practice" brass has a punch on the "P", and "heavy" brass has a punch on the "A". Makes it easy to separate when I tumble a bunch of it together. It kind of flattens out after several firings, but still has enough of a mark to be able to see it. Don't do it in the plastic ammo box, though, has a tendancy to cause cracks. I usually place the mouth of the case on the anvil on my bench vise, and hold it tight.
Regards, Bill
Posts: 1169 | Location: USA | Registered: 23 January 2002
BRAD, Whenever I get a new rifle, I also buy one box of factory ammo. I use these to adjust whichever scope I put on the rifle, but what I consider more important, I use those cases to adjust my body or full length sizing die so a sized case ends up with with the same headspace measurement as the fired case. I also replace the expander button with a tapered button to make it easier to remove neck dents on virgin cases. I hope that this is of some help. Good luck.
I size them and have been deburing the flash holes too. The last batch I also trimmed. This gives me a chance to check the brass over also. I did have some goof ones in the past. One was a neck that the brass was folded over weird. An extra step but worth it
Hcliff
Posts: 305 | Location: Green Bay, WI | Registered: 09 September 2002
quote:Originally posted by Ohaygen: I full length size and trim to the shortest case
So do I. I also chamfer the case mouths and debur flashholes where needed. Some lots do not require trimming but many have uneven case mouths and require trimming to square them up. Square case mouths are a requirement for an even release and accurate loads.
Posts: 2324 | Location: Staunton, VA | Registered: 05 September 2002
Running new brass into a sizing die isn't really sizing, since it should be properly sized out of the box. I run it through the die to take the kinks out of the neck.
Posts: 631 | Location: North Dakota | Registered: 14 March 2002
R-West...Segregating and marking bullets is easy...... Post Kill of course. Those that dispatch our quarry easily and cleanly are marked as keepers.Those that require a follow up are segregated and drilled for slip sinkers... 10/4? Jim....
Somebody has got to stand up and be counted. I don't size new brass unless it gives me a reason too. Most of my shooting anymore is just trying to bust rocks at obscene ranges and usually the rocks aren't very particular.
I just load new brass and head for the hills. All the little dents and dings in the cases are gone before the bullet leaves the barrel.
What, me lazy? Naaa, just practical to a fault.
Posts: 19677 | Location: New Mexico | Registered: 23 May 2002
Only thing I do with new brass is uniform the primer pockets and neck size. I wait till after fire forming to trim and deburr the flash holes. THEN I sort and segregate by weight after all the trimming and deburring. There's significant differences in many lots of brass in the OAL after fire forming which, if you do it to new brass, creates disparity in the OAL.
Posts: 1261 | Location: Placerville, CA, US of A | Registered: 07 January 2001