Prepping New Brass Sucks....

[swerv512]

Sizing Die
Primer Pocket Uniformer
Case Trimmer
Flash Hole Debur
Chamfer
Debur...

One by one...After 13 reloads of my current brass, it's time to replace my favorite brass with a new batch. I remember a thread where i mentioned something along the lines of reloading is a form of meditation.... Now i just want to get this over with...

[phish]

The honeymoon's over man, everyone gets there eventually. I've reached the point that I reload because I have to, not because I like to. Time to pony up for them bling Lapua cases!

[swerv512]

The honeymoon's over man, everyone gets there eventually. I've reached the point that I reload because I have to, not because I like to. Time to pony up for them bling Lapua cases!

Dont get me started, i have some bling Lapuas brass laying around but havent gotten to working with them yet... i was very impressed with the consistency of the remington cases i was using... out of 120 completely prepped cases, 100 were within 1% variance by weight and another 5 were like 1.25%. Not bad for "cheap" brass.

[Bug Splat]

Take it slow. I try to reload only when I feel like it and stop when I've had enough. Its very easy to get burnt out doing it especially prepping brass because you spend a lot of time on one piece. I loath prepping brass. I love everything else but trimming and deburring.

[Gio]

Even though I just do .223 I have mine done by another member here in SF a few $ but if it means I can just spray them down with some lube, shake them around and start reloading it is well worth it.

Sounds like you guys are a little more into it then just popping them into a progressive loader and doing it more on a commercial reloading setup.

Either way I only wish I had the patience to do all of that work myself. Carry on!

-Gio

[bootcamp]

C'mon Gio! You can do it! Just kidding, rifle brass is a yotch to do! Trimmer & deburring is also on my dislike list.

But I have figured out how to streamline the process a little. I have the RCBS manual trimmer and have just bought a beefier drill attachment for it on eBay and just ordered a 3-way cutter so with a little luck I can burn through a big load in a couple hours.

[Triple R Munitions]

i would agree with gio. proccessed brass is the way to fly. they have machines that do it all, and let me tell you it is the way to go. now all i have to do it put the brass in, loaded ammo comes out, polish for 20 min and bag it! or store it in bins till i need to box it up

R

[rksimple]

Man, you go crazy on that new brass. My prep consists of a trip through the expnder ball to round things out, chamfer case mouth, and load. Its good enough. Hell, I've even won a couple matches shooting new brass. I should say that this is with bulk Winchester brass.

I trim after the first firing so I don't have to readjust my Gracey depending on the headspace differences between fired and new brass.

[Beelzy]

Yep, that's why I have hundreds of new cases lying in wait for their prepping.

LOL!

[swerv512]

I trim after the first firing so I don't have to readjust my Gracey depending on the headspace differences between fired and new brass.

Does the gracey trim according to the headspace datum line on the shoulder??

[rksimple]

Does the gracey trim according to the headspace datum line on the shoulder??

Yep. Of the times I've gone over and talked with him, he said if you neck size, he could make a special insert based on your chamber. I've found it doesn't really matter. There's enough range of adjustment in the insert that you can pretty much trim to whatever you want. I even use my 260 insert for 243. Doesn't seem to matter.

[freonr22]

Possum hollow trimmer bad points anyone?

[xrMike]

I loath prepping brass. I love everything else but trimming and deburring.

Truth! It really is the most time-consuming and least enjoyable part for me too. Doing this last batch has seriously got me considering popping for one of those Giraud trimmers...

That brings up a question though... I've read that the Giraud and Possum Hollow trimmers both index off the case shoulder, as opposed to other trimmers (like my current cheapo Lee tools) that index off the true bottom of the case (case head?).

Won't you get more consistent case lengths by indexing off the case head, rather than the shoulder? Or does it even matter?

[rksimple]

Won't you get more consistent case lengths by indexing off the case head, rather than the shoulder? Or does it even matter?

Case OAL will be more consistent, but thats not what really matters...unless you're crimping everything. Think of the chamber. The measurement that really matters is from the shoulder to the case mouth. No matter whats going on below the shoulder, trim length has to do with shoulder to neck dimension. Using a trimmer that indexes off of the shoulder gets rid of any differences in case head thickness and leaves you with a more consistent neck length...and perhaps, neck tension.

I just use it because its much faster and easier.

[phish]

Possum hollow trimmer bad points anyone?

Only bad thing is it doesn't chamfer the inside and outside, so it's a separate step. I used it until I upgraded to the Giraud. Either the Giraud or Gracey will work quite well, just like an automatic pencil sharpener.

I don't think it's necessary to do a lot of fussing with new brass, especially after reading Nancy Gallagher's book. If she (or Mid) doesn't think it's necessary, then it isn't.