Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Using new brass

Is there anything to look out for when using new brass other than cleaning up primer holes? Oal of brass is ok and shoulders are .004 back from used brass.

Look for splits in the neck.

+1

I've cleaned out a primer hole.
What I do is make sure the case mouth is burr free and run them through a Lee Collet Neck Sizer. E

If needed, I ream primer pockets on new brass too.
Also, if needed, I neck size the brass as some necks are dented and out of round. I don't F/L size new brass.

I used to boil new cases then rinse them with alcohol to remove any lube from the insides of the cases. Now I just don't load them until I'm ready to shoot them. Once fired any lube inside is burned off. I also full length size them & if there is any half punched flash holes the depriming pin will punch them out.
A couple clickpop...booms in my younger years led me to the way I load my ammo.

I bump the resizing ball thru the neck to make sure they're round and then I chamfer and deburr the neck and then I load 'em up and shoot 'em. I have never had new brass that wouldn't fit in the rifle but I've read a couple of post about it. So's you might want to make sure the brass fits your rifle.

+1.

While placing the case into the shellholder I inspect for issues others point out... out of round flash holes, etc.

With new brass, I do the following:

1) Run the full-length sizing die down to the shell holder and back off one turn.
2) Run all of the cases into the sizing die. This irons out any dings in the neck and gives a consistent grip on all of the bullets.
3) Do a light inside and outside chamfer of the case mouth.
4) De-burr the flash holes.
5) Mill the primer pockets to a consistent depth.
6) Check for any neck splits or any other defect that would be a safety issue.

I once bought a batch of new .264 Winchester Magnum cases that had necks so tight that it was impossible to seat the bullets without shaving jacket material off of the bullet. That's when I adopted the process listed above.

I got tired of doing all the brass prep work required with Rem and Win brass, so the last three batches of brass I bought was Norma brass.
It's ready to load and shoot; not prep required.

I run them through the Lee Collet Die.

i'm lazy too thats why i buy norma and lapua brass

Amen. Life's too short to mess with Rem or Win brass. It may give a person something to do on long winter nights, but what about the people living in the south?

The only brass I prep these days is for experiments or one fired military brass. Lapua is number one for me.