Few newbie questions

[Lonewolf74]

Ok I've been at this for just a few months but I think I did my research and have a pretty good grasp on things and get pretty good results outa what I've done so far but I have a few questions on things I don't know yet.

How do you determine what is faster or slower burning powders? In a reloading manual are the powders listed in order from fastest to slowest burning (not volocity)?

How often do you trim case length? Do you trim after they've reached max case length down to trim length or do you trim every time to exact length for consistency?

Do you chamfer and debur case mouth at every reloading or just after trimming?

How often do you use a primer pocket uniformer or primer pocket deburing tool? Is it needed every few reloadings or once you have done it, is it good for the life of the case?

After how many firings is it necessary to anneal the brass if you want it to stay consistent? With annealing approx how many more firings do you get from a case?

All info and opinions are appreciated

 

[eshorebwhntr]

Ok I've been at this for just a few months but I think I did my research and have a pretty good grasp on things and get pretty good results outa what I've done so far but I have a few questions on things I don't know yet.

How do you determine what is faster or slower burning powders? In a reloading manual are the powders listed in order from fastest to slowest burning (not volocity)?

How often do you trim case length? Do you trim after they've reached max case length down to trim length or do you trim every time to exact length for consistency?

Do you chamfer and debur case mouth at every reloading or just after trimming?

How often do you use a primer pocket uniformer or primer pocket deburing tool? Is it needed every few reloadings or once you have done it, is it good for the life of the case?

After how many firings is it necessary to anneal the brass if you want it to stay consistent? With annealing approx how many more firings do you get from a case?

All info and opinions are appreciated

Everyone has an opinion on your questions. I don't think there are any hard/fast rules that apply to what you're asking. So here are mine...

In some manuals it will list all powders in order of burn rate. From shotgun, pistol, rifle, etc....in order. Should be somewhere in a good modern manual. If not, I could send you a pic from one of mine. Reloader powders the larger the number the slower the burn. IE RL33 is slower than RL22. Some guys says when you get close in burn rate that powders can flip flop which is slower. I wouldn't stress over that too much. Just have the master list to consult. For Hodgdon and others the naming convention is not as easy to follow. I do know it by memory for Hodgdon but that's it and it's only because thats what I use and mainly what my local gun store has in stock most often.

Get a feel for how much you need to trim. In my opinion you only need to trim initially with a new lot of brass to uniform and then every 4-7 firings depending on how hot your running and how soft the brass is to keep the rounds feeding. I don't think most people could shoot the difference in a couple thousandths case length but I may be wrong. Keep it in spec and the rifle cycling.

Chamfer and debur is tricky. Definitely each time after trimming to length. Basically you don't want to scar the bearing surface of your bullets. So if your brass has burr's...chamfer. If your bullets seat nicely without binding up and scraping the hell out of the copper jackets you're fine. If you decide to go wet tumbling with SS media I've learned recently you'll need to inside neck chamfer every time. Dry tumbling it's case by case like I mentioned above.

I personally only uniform the primer pockets for depth. Never for radius. I only do it on the first reloading when the brass is new. I use to do it every reloading to clean the carbon out when I was dry tumbling. Now that I wet SS tumble I don't do it at all after the first time.

If you're fire forming an ackley improved type cartridge with hard brass (Rem or Win) then I think you need to anneal before the first shot. That brass is inherently harder and will crack easier around the neck and shoulder on standard cartridges and even worse in my experience with the ackley transition. Nosler/Norma is softer and doesn't need it for the above mentioned scenario. As far as maintaining consistency....that is a huge ball of **** to get into for discussion. Some guys are hard set that you HAVE to do it EVERY time. Some every 3 shots...etc etc. I'm not. Winchester or RP I do it initially and then every 4-5 firings just to keep the necks and shoulders from cracking. Does not affect the accuracy/consistency at all for me. Nosler or Norma I just load and go. I only anneal to save/prevent cases from cracking. Never to restore/maintain accuracy. But that's just me. I'm not saying it can't or doesn't. Just telling you what I've seen. For example my Dad's 7mm Rem Mag shoots great with Winchester brass. If it's not annealed the necks and corners of the shoulders will show cracking after the first shot. I've annealed it and it has 7 firings on it now and doing well.

Again, just my experience...take what others say, compare it, and find what works best for you.

Good luck.

 

[Lonewolf74]

Thanks for the response! I was hoping to hear basically what you said, like I am loving reloading but I just don't have time to do all that brass prep every time I reload. So I'm hoping to find a happy medium between super tight consistency and quantity reloading, still I'll lean more towered consistency though.

 

[thatguyshm]

Very good and thorough answer above. I used to ream my primer pockets, now I just deburr the flash hole and go. It's only needed once, just to clean up and burr from when the flash hole was created.

I've been reloading for two thirds of my life now and still don't have a concrete rule on annealing. Depends on the brass, brand, load, purpose, expectations. If I'm using cheap brass and abusing it, loading hot, I don't worry about it, I'll just get rid of the brass before I need to anneal. Only real rule I have, is if I pick up 'once fired' from a gun shop, I always resize, clean, and then take as many measurements as I can, primer pockets especially, and web measurements, then anneal no matter what, use my belted magnum collet die if it's belted, maybe sacrifice one to cross cut and check thickness.

I use the winter time to anneal, trim large lots, clean it all, basically all of my prep work for a good summer season. A lot of research for any new combinations​ I want to try for hunting season.

Just a few things I do, find out what will work for you, and don't get discouraged with brass prep, it's one of the most critical parts to reloading accurate ammo.

SHM

 

[eshorebwhntr]

Thanks for the response! I was hoping to hear basically what you said, like I am loving reloading but I just don't have time to do all that brass prep every time I reload. So I'm hoping to find a happy medium between super tight consistency and quantity reloading, still I'll lean more towered consistency though.

No problem. I always try to help beginners who are honest and open about what they don't know and aren't afraid to ask. I wish I was that way when I started fooling with this stuff 10 years ago.

I was too hard headed and probably thought I knew enough when I started out.

 

[Dosh]

74, IMR/Hodgdon website has a burn rate chart pdf with most brands of powder listed in fastest to slowest burn rate. I reference this chart often. Good luck

 

[jrock]

All good answers above. I started reloading on a .243 and didn't bother with annealing until it got tough to pull the brass through the expander ball. Then I learned a lot on the subject. I probably went 5 to 8 reloads before this became a real issue. Now I do it every 3 reloads on all cases...or at least the .243 and up. I've run into some picked military brass which caused issues so now I anneal all that type of ammo before reloading it.

Based on your question types, I would advise picking up one or two additional reloading books. No one book covers everything in detail.

 

[Lonewolf74]

Thanks again for all your input. Right now I'm working through all the once fired brass I have from the factory ammo I shot. It was mainly Hornady that I shot so I'm sticking with that brass leaving the other brands for later and further testing once I have loads I'm happy with.

What I'm doing at the moment is working through all the factory hornady brass and prepping/reloading it before putting more firings on it with the idea that for the next few firings I won't have to do much if any prep work to the brass.

 

[jrock]

I recommend you get the lyman brass prep station. You can find them on sales for a decent price and they are worth it in the time savings department. Of course buying lapua and norma brass can also save you time on brass prep.