Case prep steps

[yorketransport]

Wow, I feel like I'm cutting corners!

1) Wipe the dirt off of it after picking it up off the ground
2) Lube with either One Shot or a lanolin/alcohol mix
3) FL size


I'll tumble the cases when I feel like they're too dirty to run into a die (except for the AR, they get tumbled every time because that gun is filthy!) and I'll anneal them when the necks start to feel a little too hard when sizing them (3-4 firings most of the time). I honestly don't remember the last time I trimmed any of my brass. I never clean or uniform primer pockets. I'll outside neck turn the brass for 3 of the guns, but that's a one time thing.

I did a lot of tinkering with case prep when I shot BR and came to the conclusion that most of it was wasted time and effort. I'm much more particular about weighing powder charges and measuring base to ogive length. That's where I see the biggest impact on group size and consistency.

[Thehowler]

Yorketransport,
Where do you usually find the sweet spot to the rifling?

[yorketransport]

Yorketransport,
Where do you usually find the sweet spot to the rifling?

It's been different for every gun I've had even when chambered with the same reamer. With hunting guns I don't worry too much about it. If I can get .75 MOA or better from a hunting gun I call it quits and start practicing. With target guns I start .025" out from the lands and work my way in until I get groups that I like. Then I take that length and adjust the powder charge until I'm happy. It's been my experience that the gun's preferred bullet jump will stay consistent regardless of powder or charge weight. I just do this for every bullet I test until I find a load that I'm happy with.

I usually end up somewhere around .017" and .008" from the lands though.

[h20hunter]

Just a little tip to throw out there...if you arent already throw a dryer sheet in with your dry media. 

[yorketransport]

Just a little tip to throw out there...if you arent already throw a dryer sheet in with your dry media.

I do love when my brass smells like an ocean breeze.

[BULLBLASTER]

Just a little tip to throw out there...if you arent already throw a dryer sheet in with your dry media.

I do love when my brass smells like an ocean breeze.

But it just gets all soggy.... 

[Thehowler]

Good stuff guys, Thanks!

[HawkCreek]

Tumble (4 hours max, brass has always looked better than new)
Deprime/ clean primer pocket
Trim (when needed), chamfer and debur
then it's primed and the loading process begins

I'm not a high volume guy. 100 rounds is a lot for me to load up at a time but so far I haven't seen any reason to get a more expensive SS or sonic brass cleaner. My next purchase will be a faster way to trim and chamfer/debur the brass.

[jasnt]

Took me a while to find a copy of this article, it's was no longer where I first found it.  This helped me out a lot when I first started reloading for long range shooting.
http://www.scout.com/military/snipers-hide/forums/5532-reloading/13260384-hand-loading-for-long-range-1-brass-case-prep

I do not aneal like this but strongly advise learning to aneal.

[lamrith]

That Giraud power trimmer looks like it is well worth the money.  I might look into it this spring.

If you do any decent amount of reloading where you do trimming it is very very nice.  My friend and I tend to save up till we have a big batch of brass to process then do it all at once.  The more brass you do in a batch the better.  I have put somewhere around 3k thru my friends in the last 2 months (surprised he has not charged me rental fee!)  We put a box of ready to trim brass on each side of the trimmer and an empty box behind it, then start trimming alternating hands.  It really goes fast, maybe 2 seconds per brass once you get in a rythm.  He runs all of his necked brass thru the giraud every time, he has found it is faster to just run thru this giraud than actually sit there and just measure to see if it needs to be trimmed!

They are not cheap though and each caliber will require a caliber adapter as well.  You can reset the blade for caliber diameter, but my buddy spent the extra $ and has a couple blade sets, each set for a different caliber (.223, 6.5 and .30 I think)  He also bought some of the Hornady Sure-Loc locking die collars to replace the stock locking nut.  Once he sets the adapter to the length he wants he installs the locking collar and tightens it in place on the adapter using the setscrew.  next time he needs to trim, he just inserts the adapter till the collar bottoms out and he is ready to go.