Why resize NEW brass?

JJ45

New member
I have and have not...just bought 50 new Hornady 300 Savage cases for a 99. I have loaded this same new brass for this rifle in the past without resizing with no problems.

Sometimes I don't size NEW brass for other calibers and I have never had a problem, but I'm talking bottlenecked rifle cases. I do inspect the case, especially necks before loading.

My reasoning is that if Hornady, etc. is going to load new ammo, are they going to run their new brass through a sizer again before loading? I doubt it, although they might have some other quality control method.

Why waste time and work the brass if it's not really necessary ?
 
if it's not really necessary ?

By all means, if it's not really necessary, then why?

But in the field for that once in a lifetime trophy hunt, it would be a bad time to find that the new case is too long to chamber. Or out of spec.

On the other hand, why not? (Resize, that is?) It doesn't take that much time.
 
In rifle brass I’ve only ever bought new brass once in my life and I checked them out and they seemed fine, but I did neck size them with my Lee Collet neck sizing die to make sure they were true, and then trimmed to length after checking them if they were too long. I also chamfered the flash hole too.
 
I b ought some new Winchester .223 brass a few years ago. I ran them over the expander button to get rid of the dents. The cases did not hold the bullet tight enough. Went back and sized all of them. I also trimmed all to the same length. Your mileage may vary.
 
I only full size new cases for my 223, 6.5GR, 300HAM'R, and 450BM ARs. With the other bottlenecks listed below, I only pass over neck sizer for 1st shooting. I do grab 10 cases to cycle as a test. Never a problem in 50 years.
 
the necks can get banged up and out of round depending on how well it is packaged

And they go back into perfect shape when the bullet is seated.

I used to size new brass before loading but I've seen enough to convince me that at best I'm wasting my time. At worst I may be making the loaded rounds less accurate and shortening the life of the brass.

If you find that you need to size new brass, you have defective brass.
 
And they go back into perfect shape when the bullet is seated.

I guess it just depends on your accuracy expectations. For most off the shelf rifles shot at less than 300 yards I suppose it would not matter
 
Every piece of brass of mine, new, once fired, or reloaded a dozen times is resized.
I cannot think of one good reason, not to do so.
 
I'll buy once fired bulk for 5.56 ,9mm,etc.

But for most of my loading,I buy a 500 lot of virgin brass. I get consistency and I have lot control. I avoid problems that way.

I don't buy factory ammo , except for maybe white box 45 or 9mm .

Bottlenecks,I at least run the expander plug through. I usually size I get round necks that way. Then I chamfer. Can't chamfer dinged necks
Straight walls get belled,that runs a plug in them.

If you want tighter control on neck tension,you can get a few gage pins. They can Go/No-go your decision.
 
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I size new, unfired "virgin" brass. For uniformity. IT just removes any potential issues. If there's something wrong I want to know it before I use a primer powder and bullet.

If the maker doesn't specifically state "sized, ready to load" why assume they are??
 
the necks can get banged up and out of round depending on how well it is packaged

Only saw that with Lapua.

I don't, I shoot it virgin though I will trim it to get the neck better setup to accept bullets and as I over trim, I know I won't have to trim again until I anneal.

Nothing says the new brass is not closer to your chamber size than your resize.

And you are fire forming the brass and if doing a minimum shoulder setback, you are tuning it to your chamber.

I do have the data for the chamber shoulder so i can take a quick check to see.

If I really get excited I can adjust the chamber to new brass size (Savage).

But not being Germain Salazar I don't think my shooting can tell the difference between any of it.

Some of my brass has been once fired (preferred) and some to try and or can't find once fired (7.5 Swiss) is new.
 
yep Lapua is where I remember seeing the dented case mouths also RC.

I think most brass comes toward the smaller end of the SAAMI specs. I tend to size my chambers about .003 larger than the GO gage and resize the brass .002 - .003 smaller. I recall the off the shelf brass being a couple of thousandths smaller out of the package. Next time I buy brass will have to check it against my fired/resized stuff. All that I have is older than dirt
 
LOL, what it like to load new brass? I have loaded a small.amount of brand new brass and always have re-sized and trimmed to make them all uniform. I like to know for a fact that every round will cycle and feed like it should. New brass was never more than 100 cases at most and i wasnt in a rush for the loaded rounds, so time lost wasn't a problem for me.
 
And they go back into perfect shape when the bullet is seated.

I used to size new brass before loading but I've seen enough to convince me that at best I'm wasting my time. At worst I may be making the loaded rounds less accurate and shortening the life of the brass.

If you find that you need to size new brass, you have defective brass.
I have gotten new brass that had necks "squashed" to the point where a flat base bullet (boat tailed bullets maybe) cannot be seated. I do not wish to ruin any cases, so I always size the new cases as a matter of routine when loading some new brass. Although it seems to be more common in strait-wall pistol cases, I have also seen some pretty serous flattening in bottle-necked rifle cases.
If I remember correctly, some bags of "bulk" brass came with a warning from the manufacture to size them before loading inasmuch as some necks were likely to be out-of-round.
 
This is the virgin Winchester Brass I bought from Cabelas. at least 5 of the 50ps were over max length, had to trim them all. I always resize, I have trust issues.

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Starline brass is about the only brass I trust enough to not perform an initial sizing. BUT I’ve only ever done that twice with .44mag and .458Socom brass. I rather go ahead and resize just for my piece of mind versus finding a handful while processing a batch that needs it anyways.
 
Personally, although I know its not premium brass, after buying 100pcs of virgin Winchester in 30-06, I have trust issues...

aw just cram a bullet down in there, they will be round when you finish ;):rolleyes:

on the serious side Peterson and Alpha brass comes packaged in nice MTM style containers, no neck issue with these but then they cost a bit more. Never really seen any issues with Starline packaged in the plastic bags and they cost half what the premium stuff does
 
resize or not

When loading for any semi auto rifle I resize all brass using a small base die for ease of feeding.

I do appreciate a certain degree of consistency in hunting guns---less than 1" MOA at 100 yds and under .25" MOA for target rifles.

Full length resizing new brass or "old" brass brings my Remington 600
(.222 Remington) a literal tack driver at 100 yards.

The time it takes to full length resizing as well as trimming is minimal and helps to assure brass is consistent.
 
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