Once Fired Brass.....School Me on This;)

[bigedp51]

I don't care what Erik Cortina says, or what level of fame or following he has... I'm still going to neck-size my brass, because I get good results, and have had zero problems with doing so.

The best part about reloading is the person pulling the press handle decides how to do it.

That doesn't alter the fact that the vast majority of competitive shooters are full length resizing.

Therefore there are more reloaders who believe the cartridge should fit the chamber like a rat turd in a violin case. Which was Jim Hall of the Sierra balistic test lab humorous expression for full length resizing.

Below German Salazar explains the befits of full length resizing vs partial full length resizing. And this applies to neck sizing also, which means the case body has no effect on bullet alignment in the throat. This is because if the case body is thinner on one side it will expand more on that side and the case will warp. This in turn if the case is not full length resized can cause the case body to push the bullet out of alignment with the bore.


Reloading: Partial Neck Sizing
by German A. Salazar
http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2010/06/reloading-partial-neck-sizing.html

"Now the last scenario, a full-length sized case in which the neck is also fully sized. There is clearance at the neck and in the body of the case, the closest fit anywhere is the bullet in the throat. If the neck to bullet concentricity is good (although it needn't be perfect), then the bullet will find good alignment in the throat and the case body and neck will have minimal influence. Let's not forget that the base of the case is supported by the bolt face or the extractor to a certain degree as well; this is yet another influence on alignment. As you can see, there are several points from base to bullet that can have an effect. My procedure is to minimize the influence of those that I can control, namely the case body and neck, and let the alignment be dictated by the fit of the bullet in the throat and to some extent by the bolt's support of the base. Barring a seriously out of square case head, I don't think the bolt can have a negative effect on alignment, only a slightly positive effect from minimizing "case droop" in the chamber. Given that a resized case will usually have a maximum of 0.001" diametrical clearance at the web, this isn't much of a factor anyway."

The OP asked about once fired brass and did not say if he full length resizes or neck sizes. And I'm giving the full length resizing side of the story and not letting the neck sizers dominate the posting.

I'm in the process of full length resizing and prepping 300 once fired Lake City 7.62 cases for my Savage .308 Hog Hunter. "BUT" I have three .308 dies and one of them is a Forster neck sizing die. So my mind is not totally closed to one method. And the decision between dies will depend on case neck runout and the most concentric cases.

 

[FEENIX]

The best part about reloading is the person pulling the press handle decides how to do it.

That doesn't alter the fact that the vast majority of competitive shooters are full length resizing.

Therefore there are more reloaders who believe the cartridge should fit the chamber like a rat turd in a violin case. Which was Jim Hall of the Sierra balistic test lab humorous expression for full length resizing.

Below German Salazar explains the befits of full length resizing vs partial full length resizing. And this applies to neck sizing also, which means the case body has no effect on bullet alignment in the throat. This is because if the case body is thinner on one side it will expand more on that side and the case will warp. This in turn if the case is not full length resized can cause the case body to push the bullet out of alignment with the bore.


Reloading: Partial Neck Sizing
by German A. Salazar
http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2010/06/reloading-partial-neck-sizing.html

"Now the last scenario, a full-length sized case in which the neck is also fully sized. There is clearance at the neck and in the body of the case, the closest fit anywhere is the bullet in the throat. If the neck to bullet concentricity is good (although it needn't be perfect), then the bullet will find good alignment in the throat and the case body and neck will have minimal influence. Let's not forget that the base of the case is supported by the bolt face or the extractor to a certain degree as well; this is yet another influence on alignment. As you can see, there are several points from base to bullet that can have an effect. My procedure is to minimize the influence of those that I can control, namely the case body and neck, and let the alignment be dictated by the fit of the bullet in the throat and to some extent by the bolt's support of the base. Barring a seriously out of square case head, I don't think the bolt can have a negative effect on alignment, only a slightly positive effect from minimizing "case droop" in the chamber. Given that a resized case will usually have a maximum of 0.001" diametrical clearance at the web, this isn't much of a factor anyway."

The OP asked about once fired brass and did not say if he full length resizes or neck sizes. And I'm giving the full length resizing side of the story and not letting the neck sizers dominate the posting.

I'm in the process of full length resizing and prepping 300 once fired Lake City 7.62 cases for my Savage .308 Hog Hunter. "BUT" I have three .308 dies and one of them is a Forster neck sizing die. So my mind is not totally closed to one method. And the decision between dies will depend on case neck runout and the most concentric cases.

Erik and German knows their reloading .... PERIOD!!!

 

[bigedp51]

Erik and German knows their reloading .... PERIOD!!!

FEENIX

You must be almost as smart, good looking and modest as I am.

 

[FEENIX]

FEENIX

You must be almost as smart, good looking and modest as I am.

LL! I'm back in school, does that count?

 

[BeaverHunter]

Maybe the wrong place to ask this but I'll go ahead anyways: how do I know when I need to trim the cases? Is there some sort of general rule? After 2 or 3 firings? Is there a universal saami spec like there is for coal? I have a full length sizing die and am using either Norma or Hornady brass(depending on the caliber). I have bought all new brass and am getting ready to start my 2nd loading/firing on some. I'm new to reloading so hopefully I don't aound like an idiot. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[CaptnC]

You normally with trim .010 shorter than listed case length.

Look in any reloading manual and it will alway list the case length...many will even have the "trim to" length.

 

[Axl]

measure with a caliper and trim to length then chamfer. How often will vary with the cartridge and chamber. Sometimes new brass needs a trim
The ones I have with a sharp shoulder angle (ackleys) dont need trimming near as often as those with less angle ( 270 etc.)
Fire away with the questions thats what this place is for Free advice!
Good luck and enjoy the reloading

 

[BeaverHunter]

Gotcha. Thanks guys. Huge help. I just bought the hornady lock-n-load classic kit and it came with the newest reloading manual. I'll have to see what they have listed. I also noticed some bullets (like the 30 cal. eld-x 212 grain) won't fit in a standard length magazine according to the coal specs. But the 220 grain eld-x will. Am I reading that correct? So are guys just loading that 212 grain as a single shot? I don't think I want to go down the road of switching out the bottom metal and magazine on my Sako a7.

 

[bigedp51]

Maybe the wrong place to ask this but I'll go ahead anyways: how do I know when I need to trim the cases?.

Chambers and dies vary in size, if you have a fat chamber and a skinny die you will need to trim more often. Example, you will need to trim more often with a small base die than you would with a standard full length die.

Below full length sizing squeezes the case and the brass can only flow upward in the die and grow longer. So the more you squeeze the fired case in diameter the more often you need to trim.