Sorting and load development question

[Wichasa]

I've been saving brass for years from a 7mm rem mag i inherited anticipating working up a load for it.. It's just occurred to me, years back I had to replace the barrel on it with a new factory rem barrel, but failed to separate my brass from the old barrel to the new one. I'm waiting on a set of headspace comparitors....will I be able to decipher through measuring the headspaces, necks and shoulder diameters, oal etc. Which brass are from the old barrel? I'm assuming there's no way the barrels are the same. I do have some brass that I know for sure are newly fired...I would be using those as my base line...I should be able to pull this off shouldn't I ??

 

[lancetkenyon]

I would bet headspace is within .002" or so. As long as you find a long one and bump it back to fit the new chamber correctly, you should be fine. Even with .005" headspace or so, the old brass should work. Just fire form it to your chamber. Virgin and fired 7RM brass can differ by huge amounts for headspace dimensions. I have found differences of .017" before. From 2.104" virgin to 2.121" (using a .420 headspace comparator if I recall the measurements correctly). I bump mine back to 2.118" for a .003" headspace and have up to 11 loadings on my brass.

 

[TennJed]

I would bet headspace is within .002" or so. As long as you find a long one and bump it back to fit the new chamber correctly, you should be fine. Even with .005" headspace or so, the old brass should work. Just fire form it to your chamber. Virgin and fired 7RM brass can differ by huge amounts for headspace dimensions. I have found differences of .017" before. From 2.104" virgin to 2.121" (using a .420 headspace comparator if I recall the measurements correctly). I bump mine back to 2.118" for a .003" headspace and have up to 11 loadings on my brass.

Hi, I got ripped a new one by another member when I asked a question about "bumping the neck back" . Anyway glad to see this thread. My question is: What type(s) of die(s) do you use for this? I have full length and neck size, have also seen a Forster die for this. What process do you use? Thank you and if this is a stupid newbie question I'm sorry

 

[jimbires]

if the brass is once fired , chances are it's not fully expanded yet . I agree with lance , find a long one and bump it for this first loading .

 

[jimbires]

Hi, I got ripped a new one by another member when I asked a question about "bumping the neck back" . Anyway glad to see this thread. My question is: What type(s) of die(s) do you use for this? I have full length and neck size, have also seen a Forster die for this. What process do you use? Thank you and if this is a stupid newbie question I'm sorry

I use either a full length die , or a body die , for bumping the shoulder . what I do is take a fired piece of brass and neck size only . load and fire it . neck size only , load and fire it . after 3 or 4 loadings you'll feel the rifle getting tight to close on this neck sized/ reloaded brass . when I get the tight to close brass I use this to set up my full length die to bump the shoulder about .002 " . the most consistent way I've found to do this bump is with redding competition shellholders . you start with the +.010 shellholder , and keep going to the next shellholder until you get your desired bump . you will either need a tool to measure your brass case length , or you'll need to strip the bolt and size the brass until the bolt drops freely . Alex Wheeler has a few very good videos . one is on doing sizing this way . while you have the bolt stripped , you should also find your bullet to lands measurement too .

Videos | wheeleraccuracy

www.wheeleraccuracy.com

 

[TennJed]

Hi, I got ripped a new one by another member when I asked a question about "bumping the neck back" . Anyway glad to see this thread. My question is: What type(s) of die(s) do you use for this? I have full length and neck size, have also seen a Forster die for this. What process do you use? Thank you and if this is a stupid newbie question I'm sorry

I use either a full length die , or a body die , for bumping the shoulder . what I do is take a fired piece of brass and neck size only . load and fire it . neck size only , load and fire it . after 3 or 4 loadings you'll feel the rifle getting tight to close on this neck sized/ reloaded brass . when I get the tight to close brass I use this to set up my full length die to bump the shoulder about .002 " . the most consistent way I've found to do this bump is with redding competition shellholders . you start with the +.010 shellholder , and keep going to the next shellholder until you get your desired bump . you will either need a tool to measure your brass case length , or you'll need to strip the bolt and size the brass until the bolt drops freely . Alex Wheeler has a few very good videos . one is on doing sizing this way . while you have the bolt stripped , you should also find your bullet to lands measurement too .

Videos | wheeleraccuracy

www.wheeleraccuracy.com

Thank you, I have the Hornady comparator for measuring the shoulder. I'll try what you suggested. Thanks again!

 

[johnnyk]

I'm kinda doing the same thing with my 7RM. I have a case (500rds) of R P brass that I bought years ago at a gun show. I used them on a 7Mag Sendero and went through each case 2 or 3 times. I took pretty good care of it, annealing it once and I remember doing a outside neck turn on them once. Not a full blown, deep cutting like the bench rest guys do for tight neck chambers but just enough to take out the higher spots. Skim job if you will. I figured that would make them a bit more even and concentric.
According to my journal that Sendero was replaced in Oct 2006 with a 700P in 7RM. One of my sons has had the rifle for a while but now it's back in its original stable and I recently started loading for it again. This "Sendero brass" only needed neck sizing and it fits the 700P great. I figured the chamber dimensions would be close but that was too easy.
My plan of attack was to neck size and see if it fit, if so I would be done for the first go round. If neck sizing didn't do it then I was going to bump the shoulder .002", .003", .004", on and on until it fit or til I was full length resizing. Either way I was determined to "own" that brass.

I'm really liking the ole girl now. I had put a Shilen trigger on it years ago, recently installed a muzzle break and Vortex Strike Eagle 5-25X56. Took her to 1000yds last Sunday with 162gn ELD-M's leaving the factory tube 3089fps. I just thought of something, that was the first time she and I rang steel at 1k. All these years.

 

[Wichasa]

I would bet headspace is within .002" or so. As long as you find a long one and bump it back to fit the new chamber correctly, you should be fine. Even with .005" headspace or so, the old brass should work. Just fire form it to your chamber. Virgin and fired 7RM brass can differ by huge amounts for headspace dimensions. I have found differences of .017" before. From 2.104" virgin to 2.121" (using a .420 headspace comparator if I recall the measurements correctly). I bump mine back to 2.118" for a .003" headspace and have up to 11 loadings on my brass.

 

[Wichasa]

Thanks LTK, will give it a try. Been trying to find a a bushing die set for about 5-6 months now

I would bet headspace is within .002" or so. As long as you find a long one and bump it back to fit the new chamber correctly, you should be fine. Even with .005" headspace or so, the old brass should work. Just fire form it to your chamber. Virgin and fired 7RM brass can differ by huge amounts for headspace dimensions. I have found differences of .017" before. From 2.104" virgin to 2.121" (using a .420 headspace comparator if I recall the measurements correctly). I bump mine back to 2.118" for a .003" headspace and have up to 11 loadings on my brass.

Thanks lancetkenyon, will give this a shot for sure. Also...would this also apply to some once fired brass given to me by a buddy who changed calibes??? Regarding your number of firings, is that for a belted cartridge? Assuming you're annealing??

Waiting and waiting to find a fl bushing die set...going on 5 months now...getting frustrated.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[lancetkenyon]

Thanks LTK, will give it a try. Been trying to find a a bushing die set for about 5-6 months now

Thanks lancetkenyon, will give this a shot for sure. Also...would this also apply to some once fired brass given to me by a buddy who changed calibes??? Regarding your number of firings, is that for a belted cartridge? Assuming you're annealing??

Waiting and waiting to find a fl bushing die set...going on 5 months now...getting frustrated.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Should work with any case after you set your die up to bump shoulders back to your chamber.
You do not need a bushing die. An FL die will work as long as you set it up correctly.

 

[Shane Lindsey]

I just bought a 7RM Forster BR set from Amazon for this purpose.

 

[slowshot18]

I use a Redding FL die on my 300 WM. Once you set it up for that rifle, it's easy to bump the shoulder .002". I also am one of the weird ones and FL size my brass every reload as I hate sticky bolts. My rifle is still accurate with low SD's even with FL every time.

 

[Taylorbok]

I bump all brass back .002" so what I would do is measure the shoulder on 5-10 freshly fired cases. Take the longest one and set an FL die to bump it about .002" now run every piece of brass through that set up. Good to go.

 

[StanleyActual]

I've been saving brass for years from a 7mm rem mag i inherited anticipating working up a load for it.. It's just occurred to me, years back I had to replace the barrel on it with a new factory rem barrel, but failed to separate my brass from the old barrel to the new one. I'm waiting on a set of headspace comparitors....will I be able to decipher through measuring the headspaces, necks and shoulder diameters, oal etc. Which brass are from the old barrel? I'm assuming there's no way the barrels are the same. I do have some brass that I know for sure are newly fired...I would be using those as my base line...I should be able to pull this off shouldn't I ??

Id just FL resize them all, then fireform them to your new chamber and bump shoulders / neck size from there. Typically how I do it if I'm going to be running all that brass through 1 rifle. If I'm reloading that brass for use in multiple rifles I'll FL re-size each time.