brand new brass ?
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firewrench044
New member
Check length of case, trim as necessary, chamfer case mouth
what to do
I make sure that the case mouth is round and can accept a bullet.
Other than that, I prime them, charge them with powder, seat the bullet and go shoot.
I base this on my last purchase of .223 brass which was a factory case of primed Winchester brass. Pretty obviously if they prime the brass, they do not expect that you will be doing anything more than loading it.
Pete
I make sure that the case mouth is round and can accept a bullet.
Other than that, I prime them, charge them with powder, seat the bullet and go shoot.
I base this on my last purchase of .223 brass which was a factory case of primed Winchester brass. Pretty obviously if they prime the brass, they do not expect that you will be doing anything more than loading it.
Pete
m&p45acp10+1
New member
I would skip trimming for the first time. As long as the necks are not crushed I doubt it needs sizing. The good thing is there are not any crimps to remove from the primer pockets. I was gifted some new brass a while back. It was LCC new unfired so that meant no crimps. All I did was prime it, charge it, seat bullets, and shoot it. After that I did the trimming. I do not crimp .223 Rem. So exact same length is not needed.
Stats Shooter
New member
When I get a lot of once fired brass that has been capped and sized, or new brass, I do the same routine.
I uniform the primer pockets, and then I caliper the cases...pick a maximum length threshold (that is no longer than the max) and trim the ones that need it to the average length of the rest. That trimming trick saves time.
That description above is for bulk reloading. If I'm making a bench rest tack driver load, or development of a new load, I trim the cases to a specific length.....also if you are crimping you need to trim.
But like I said, if precision isn't that important, trim anything too long, prime em, charge em, seat a bullet ant let her rip.
As far as de-formed necks, don't worry about it. If they look off, re size, if they take a bullet easily, don't worry about it.
I uniform the primer pockets, and then I caliper the cases...pick a maximum length threshold (that is no longer than the max) and trim the ones that need it to the average length of the rest. That trimming trick saves time.
That description above is for bulk reloading. If I'm making a bench rest tack driver load, or development of a new load, I trim the cases to a specific length.....also if you are crimping you need to trim.
But like I said, if precision isn't that important, trim anything too long, prime em, charge em, seat a bullet ant let her rip.
As far as de-formed necks, don't worry about it. If they look off, re size, if they take a bullet easily, don't worry about it.
"...doubt it needs sizing..." Nope. All new brass requires checking the lengths, trimming, as required only, chamfering and deburring(necessary with new brass. After trimming otherwise. Chamfering is what allows the case to take a bullet without damaging it.) and FL sizing. New brass is not ready to load out of the factory.
New brass
New brass not ready to shoot? That has not been my experience. I take the cases from their carton, put them in a loading block, load them (Sierra bthp), take them to the range and shoot. No trimming, no sizing, no chamfering.
This is how they do....prone, 100 yards, Colt HBar, Trijicon TA01:
New brass not ready to shoot? That has not been my experience. I take the cases from their carton, put them in a loading block, load them (Sierra bthp), take them to the range and shoot. No trimming, no sizing, no chamfering.
This is how they do....prone, 100 yards, Colt HBar, Trijicon TA01:
Sure Shot Mc Gee
New member
Depending on the type or action? Largely determines what reloading steps new brass will require.
Nearly all the new brass I've bought in decades has come in BAGS.
Smaller cases, like the .223 are pretty stiff, and seldom get bent in shipping. Other cases are different. .45-70 absolutely needs a careful check for bent/out of round case mouths.
I size ALL brass as the first step in loading them.
I would not worry about trimming new brass, but checking them for length is prudent. It's rare to find an overlength case in new brass, but its not impossible, so checking hurts nothing.
Smaller cases, like the .223 are pretty stiff, and seldom get bent in shipping. Other cases are different. .45-70 absolutely needs a careful check for bent/out of round case mouths.
I size ALL brass as the first step in loading them.
I would not worry about trimming new brass, but checking them for length is prudent. It's rare to find an overlength case in new brass, but its not impossible, so checking hurts nothing.
Group
The ten ring on the target that I posted is 1.75" in diameter. More importantly, all the shots are tens.
About sizing new brass....I drank the kool-aid at one time. Tried sizing new cases. What I discovered was that the cases were already sized and running them in and out of the sizing die did nothing effective to the case. So I don't do that anymore. Thousands of rounds later, I have yet to have a cartridge fail to feed.
Pete
PS - for reference: a one inch group is not half the size of a two inch group; it is one quarter the size. A 1.75" group is less than a fifth the size of a four inch group.
What 3-4" group are you referencing?
The ten ring on the target that I posted is 1.75" in diameter. More importantly, all the shots are tens.
About sizing new brass....I drank the kool-aid at one time. Tried sizing new cases. What I discovered was that the cases were already sized and running them in and out of the sizing die did nothing effective to the case. So I don't do that anymore. Thousands of rounds later, I have yet to have a cartridge fail to feed.
Pete
PS - for reference: a one inch group is not half the size of a two inch group; it is one quarter the size. A 1.75" group is less than a fifth the size of a four inch group.
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Stats Shooter
New member
In reference to long shot and darkangel. Trimming will help improve accuracy, but sizing won't. If they have been sized already, and they obviously are not dented or bent, sizing will make no difference. Trimming can help uniform the amount of neck tension on each round and slightly improve accuracy and Swagging the primer pocket will ensure the primers all seat uniformly. But sizing is only necessary on new brass if you can see deformation.
If sizing gives you piece of mind then go for it, but there is no appreciable benefit beyond ensuring the neck is uniformly round .
If sizing gives you piece of mind then go for it, but there is no appreciable benefit beyond ensuring the neck is uniformly round .
Accuracy tests with new brass versus once fired brass show that new brass is more accurate given the same primer, powder charge, and bullet. At least out of factory rifles. In my rifles that I've tested it's about .25 moa worth of difference, with loads going from .5 MOA to .75 moa between virgin and once fired. Subsequent firings on the same brass still put it in the .75 moa territory.
For something like 223 or 308, just make sure the case mouth is good and then load it up, you can get sub-MOA groups with a decent bullet and good charge weight (do the OCW workup). I haven't tested much else for accuracy so long, straight walled cartridges may need more work.
Premium factory fodder like Federal Gold Medal Match is just virgin brass same as you'd buy in a bag but then loaded up on commercial machines. When you weigh FGMM brass after firing, you'll see that it "isn't that great" from a consistency point of view, but they still manage to keep it sub-MOA out of most rifles.
If you have a rifle a custom chamber and blueprinted action, you may see a benefit from further fussing with virgin brass, but only testing will tell.
Jimro
For something like 223 or 308, just make sure the case mouth is good and then load it up, you can get sub-MOA groups with a decent bullet and good charge weight (do the OCW workup). I haven't tested much else for accuracy so long, straight walled cartridges may need more work.
Premium factory fodder like Federal Gold Medal Match is just virgin brass same as you'd buy in a bag but then loaded up on commercial machines. When you weigh FGMM brass after firing, you'll see that it "isn't that great" from a consistency point of view, but they still manage to keep it sub-MOA out of most rifles.
If you have a rifle a custom chamber and blueprinted action, you may see a benefit from further fussing with virgin brass, but only testing will tell.
Jimro
Diameters
This thread interests me a great deal (as you can tell).
Just now I pulled a new .45-70 case at random from a factory carton of 500 and measured the case head diameter and the diameter at the mouth. Then I measured a resized case.
New: case head 0.4598, mouth 0.4580
Resized: case head 0.4598, mouth 0.4570
Remington brass.
I was surprised that the case head diameters were exactly the same
This thread interests me a great deal (as you can tell).
Just now I pulled a new .45-70 case at random from a factory carton of 500 and measured the case head diameter and the diameter at the mouth. Then I measured a resized case.
New: case head 0.4598, mouth 0.4580
Resized: case head 0.4598, mouth 0.4570
Remington brass.
I was surprised that the case head diameters were exactly the same
I'm not at all surprised that unfired and fired case head dimensions were the same. They SHOULD BE! Case head expansion is one of the classic "over pressure" signs.
However, I am surprised at the difference between your measurements and the book specs of the case (drawing).
According to the book, case head is .505" and case mouth is .480"
A quick check of a Remington factory loaded round (405gr SP) shows .497" for the case head and .475" for the case mouth. I don't have any virgin .45-70 brass "out in the open" right now, so cannot do a comparison.
Your numbers seem a little "small" to me.
Are you sure you got them right??