Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles New brass and sizing questions?

I am wondering what you guys do to new brass before the first firing? Do you just load it and shoot it? Do you neck size it?
My next question is for guys using lee collet dies. How many firings before you FL size and what FL size die do you use? I read the post on using Lee collet dies to reduce runout, now just wondering about FL sizing.
I have been reloading for awhile and am trying to shift over to "handloading" to gain some better accuracy. I don't want to be too anal, just trying to improve. The more I learn the more I realize I need to learn!

New brass: load it & shoot it.

But, don't expect the same accuracy on subsequent firings. The first firing forms the case to the chamber. Then you do your accuracy load development.

New brass - If it's Nosler, Norma or Lapua - load and shoot. If it's WW or Remington then there will be some dented necks so I run it through a Lee Collet.

Usually get 3 to 4 firings while neck sizing with the Lee Collet and then the brass starts to get tight in the chamber. Then I use a Redding Body Die. The body die will size the case body and push the shoulder back but not size the neck, do that with the Lee Collet.

"I am wondering what you guys do to new brass before the first firing?" I run the cases just far enough into a sizer die to make sure the case mouth is round and then chamfer the case mouth.

"My next question is for guys using lee collet dies. How many firings before you FL size and what FL size die do you use? I read the post on using Lee collet dies to reduce runout, now just wondering about FL sizing." I use full length dies to size it when it becomes hard to close the bolt. Redding sells bump dies for this purpose. Frequency depends on chamber dimentions, intensity of loads, and other factors.

Once the brass is fireformed to your rifle do you use a headspace guage to determine how far back to push the shoulder?

What about for a seating die? Hornady or redding or forster?

For new cases I back a full length sizer one turn off the shell holder and size them. This gets the necks done only. I also champfer the inside and outside of the mouths.

After five or so firings the collet sized cases will be harder to extract. This is when I full length size them.

I have RCBS FL sizing dies, can i just remove the expander ball and body size them that way or should I purchase a redding body die?

The neck on the inside of the FL die will size the neck down to an unacceptable dimension. It automatically does this and the expander then comes back through to open the neck back up to a dimension that is only .002" to .004" below bullet size and sets the neck for accepting the bullet without a lot of stress. Without an expander you would usually get .008" or so depending upon the thickness of the brass in the neck.

Now if you sent it off to a die maker and had the neck opened up so that it did not squeeze the neck down so much or not at all, then it might be OK.

Better to just buy a Redding Body Die which will not size your neck at all but will size the case body and can be set to push the shoulder back.

Mule Deer recently wrote an article in Handloader 271 (The Reality of Brass Life and Pressure Assumptions - Apri - May 2011).

In the article, like Woods stated above, you'll want to round out the the case necks that could have been damaged in the packaging.

John added

As Reloader mentioned above, after the first firing that piece of brass will form to your chamber.

If the brass came from factory rounds fired in my rifle, I only neck size the next 4 reloads. If the brass is brand new, I'll take the headspace measurement for that chamber and set it .002 smaller. This may not set the shoulders at all but will smooth out any misshaped necks. That brass is only neck sized for the next 4 reloads. I only keep a piece of brass for 5 firings; sometimes less; very rarely do I hit 6. This is purely a personal preference. I've taken brand new Nosler brass that's loaded and fired 5 times and sent it to Nosler for review. The techs their felt I've could have gotten a few more firings from them. I look at it as I've spread the cost of the brass over 5 loads. I've had Wolf brass go 2 reloads and start to show signs of case separation.

John's article is informative, you should try to find a copy.

-HaYen

You want to avoid sizing the body, and only round out the necks on new cases.

Just use your dies as they are and only go in to make the necks round again.The body should work out of the box.

This is what I do too, just pop the expander ball in and out of the neck so its good and round then chamfer.

Depending on the condition of the brass that may not be enough.

I got a bunch of new WW 308 brass that needs some work before it's ready, but after the first bag I decided it would be worth the hassle because the necks turned out to be quite uniform.

It's a PITA to start with but it was cheap and makes excellent ammo.

I'm probably too anal but I do a number of things to new brass that most guys don't. I always FL resize new brass to make sure all dents, etc. are gone and the necks are round. I also trim to length, chamfer & de-bur (of course). I then uniform the primer pocket depth using my electric drill and the primer pocket uniformer I got from Sinclairs. Finally, I de-bur/chamfer the flash hole from the inside with another tool I got from Sinclairs. As I understand it, American made brass has the flash hole punched thru, leaving burs on the inside of the flash hole. This tool gets rid of that. Hopefully, improving the powder burn but I don't really know about that. It's just what I do. All of this takes a bit more time but at least I know I've done the best I can to get uniform brass.
Bear in Fairbanks

Are you making sure the shoulders aren't being pushed back too much?

I just had to prepare 20 .270 WSM cases. W/W. A number of those had out of round mouths. No way could a bullet have been seated, let alone chamferring/deburring. I have 2 Forester sizing dies for this rifle - 1 is set up to FL resize the other to PFLR. The FL die is set to put the datum line at the same location as a factory cartridge. The PFLR die is set to move the shoulder back about 0.002 - 0.003" from a fired case datum line. To set this all up, I use the Stoney Point shoulder "thingy". What's the worry?
Bear in Fairbanks

From what I just read, none.

I run the necks over an expander mandrel (K&M)and de-burr the necks. I inspect them for off-center flash holes and any other defects. If I am using a caliber for which I have no mandrel, I will just "bump" the expander ball and call it good.

There is no need to full-length resize them until they have been fired.

For some cartridges, I neck turn after running them over the expander mandrel. I only neck turn IF I have a tighter than standard neck or I am making brass from a larger caliber and need to thin it out afterwards.

Yep me too.

As for using the Collet Die, I've got RP '06 cases that have been loaded >15x and have yet to require a run through the FLS. I've heard a lot of talk about this being necessary when you run neck sizing dies, but it hasn't been my experience in my '06 which, BTW, is not a standard turn bolt but a straight-pull which doesn't have the camming power turn bolts to. That is to say, I'm not forcing my bolt shut with brute force; it closes fine. I've also got 257 AI brass that has been loaded 6x and those have never needed a run through an FLS die, either.

I absolutely love my Lee Collet Neck Sizing dies for their ease on brass as well as for the concentricity they produce. Fantastic... and not hard on the wallet, either!