What does everybody do to prep cases for varmint loads?

I've cleaned up the primer pockets and the flash hole. I will run them through the FL die and trim to length. After firforming, I will neck size the case.

Anyone outside trim the necks? What trimmer do you like to use? I see Hornady has one as does Forester. What else should I do.

Thanks for the help.

Snapper

Most reloading manuals have good advice. There is a site called "Varmint Al's" and he is overboard like me into things that don't matter but make us happy.

I've got 30+ years of prejudice for the Forster trimmer. Never used another brand.
Trim all your cases to a uniform length then keep track of how many times they were fired, sized, trimmed, etc. Start with a big batch of cases and treat them all the same.

The only neck sizer I would recommend is the Lee Collet Sizing Die. I would only partial FL size if I didn't have the Lee Collet.

I also use the RCBS Case Master to check bullet runout.

If you mean 'outside neck turning' I tried it with no decrease in group size. It might help in a benchrest chamber but not a factory sporter.

For new brass, I'd say run it thru a F/L sizer set a couple thou less than your chamber, complete w/ expander ball, just to make sure you get the odd wrinkle/dent in the case mouth, etc. Trim to a uniform length (I use a Wilson trimmer, and love it for the precision, but for all intents in purposes, my Gracey is a whole lot faster, and close enough), chamfer/debur (Gracey does it all in one whack), and away you go. Honestly, I've not noticed a huge amount of benefit to the primer pocket reaming and flash hole uniforming. I think they kind of fall under the same header as neck-turning, even lightly. For a custom gun w/ a known good chamber, go for it. For a factory rifle w/ the associated problems, I'd say it's more of a feel-good thing. I'd worry a lot more about getting the loaded round concentricity down to minimum.

Oh, and you might consider spinning the sized cases on a neck-runout gage (not sure of the right name, I use a tool from Sinclair's that mounts a dial indicator over the neck which spins on caliber-specific pilot, w/ a pin to locate on the flash hole.) Basic idea is that while it's not as exact as a ball/tubing mic, you can get a pretty good idea of the relative thickness variations in case necks. Some people who do this pitch cases w/ exceptionally thin/thick spots on the wall ( more than 2-3 thou variation over a rotation) in an effort to keep neck tension half-ways consistent round to round, w/o going to the trouble of neck-turning.

I kind of lean towards the minimal prep, myself, as my targets of choice are prairie dogs and coyotes w/ a .223 Rem. F/L sizing to a couple thou under fired dimensions to assure ease of cycling, even w/ a bolt gun, and I do the flash hole and primer pocket uniforming initially, along w/ trim/chamfer/deburring, and then just trim/chamfer/debur and primer pocket uniforming about every 5th firing. I tend to process a buttload of cases at a time, so getting into every little ticky step is a waste of time and effort for the target requirements at normal ranges (300-350yds).

HtH,

Monte

I FL size all new cases and then stick with the neck sizeing from there. I do keep an eye on case length also but I really don't get to carried away with case prep.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Snapper:
I don't do alot of prep work. I use an Sinclair expander mandrel to get the necks uniform. After the first firing I'll check case lenght and trim if needed then toss them into a tumbler for cleaning. I use a Wilson dies or Neil Jones die. I do not use a full lenght die. If it gets hard to close the bolt I'll just bump the shoulders back with a Jones die. After about five firing I'll use an inside neck reamer to make sure the "donut" is taken care of. I use a K&M chamfer tool also. I try not to work my cases too much. Since I use dies with a bushing I can pretty much control the neck tension. Well good luck. Tom

Develop your load in the manner described here
http://home.earthlink.net/~dannewberry/index.html

...and the meticulous little things will become superfluous.

Dan

in regards to the question of outside neck turning. Some people will probably disagree with me but, unless you have a custome chamber( like on a bench rest rifle) wich is made to have an extreamly tight chamber throat, to the point of having to neck turn your brass to jest get it into the chamber, it is not worth the time. because the throat on a factory rifle isn't that tight,( for the reason of posible jamming in the hunting field)the neck diamiter of the brass (untrimed) isn't even large enough to make compleat contact with the chamber throat. But if you had thicker brass and HAD to turn your bass to get it into the chamber, than yes it would make a difference.
skinner

Well, here I am, going against the tide again. I think neck turning is much more conducive to accuracy in any rifle than a lot of this anal bevelling the INSIDE of the flash hole, weighing cases, etc. By neck turning, I mean cleaning up the neck. Maybe removing a skin of brass from say 75-80% of the neck. If you case neck is thick on one side, there is no way the bullet can properly align with the bore. BTW, I am STILL looking for a little trapdoor on the inside of a flash hole from the hole being punched.

Original question...what does everybody do to prep cases for varmint loads? Original answer....LOAD EM!!! Saturday nite after messing with a custom gun all day in 25-06...and not getting the desired results, I'm entitled to a smart... remark aren't I? GHD