Tell us more on this, please.

Maybe Judd will show up.

The metal of the bullet somewhat adhering to the metal of the brass case. Takes some time to occur, but Judd told me he noticed cartridges shooting slightly different if they were seated several days ago, versus cartridges that were seated just prior to shooting them. Of course, is a bench rest guy, so he sweats thousandths within a group.

One step that will speed things up a bit is the Omega trickler with the beam.

It is the poor man's Prometheus.

Kinda what I expected to hear. I'm betting temp and humidity have a hand in it too. Maybe even humidity during the initial seat, humid or dry air inside the case. I wonder if it has any affect on a shooter that doesn't measure groups in thousandths. I'm all ears to any edge I can get but this may be splitting split hairs.

In my game, I can't say I've noticed one way or another.

When I do punch paper, it's just to check 100 yard zero, and most of the time, it's perfect. Even with ammo that's been loaded for a couple of months.

My greatest concern right now is powder charge being exactly the same case to case. I shot the lowest ES I ever have today, and I loaded that ammo two days ago, trickling powder to within 2 kernels. Will it do it again, with ammo that's been loaded for two months? I don't know, and highly doubt I'll shoot a group while chronographing at the same time, as I rarely do that. But if the ammo makes center hits on steel out to 800 yards, the same way, in the same environmental conditions I'm very happy with it.

Cold bonding takes place due to the actual physical migration of one type of metal into another type of metal on the molecular level. Heat can accelerate it. The phenomenon is also influenced by pressure of contact between the two items in question. It is actually used in some manufacturing processes to bond dissimilar metals.

Chad says he does not like to clean case necks excessively because that could promote cold bonding, and I think he's right about that. I use stainless media myself, so my case necks are squeaky clean when I seat a bullet, but I've developed the habit of dipping case necks in Imperial Dry Neck Lube before charging with powder. I don't really know if I am avoiding cold weld or not, and if my ammo is developing the cold weld I haven't seen any effects of it. Yet!

Judd got me out of the habit of stainless tumbling as often as I had been. As is, the carbon in the neck acts as a dry lube between bullet and case mouth. I can see the logic behind that.

I've gone back to walnut vibratory most of the time. But I'll never get rid of the stainless tumbler. With my range pick up brass, it sure can make cases that look like dirt, look new again.

I leave the carbon in the necks. I just always thought it better to do it that way,,but had no scientific reason other than thinking it would 'grease' the neck a bit.

Seems like I read that David Tubb, in the interest of having consistent neck tension (and no chance of cold bonding) used to seat the bullets a touch long as they were loaded and would later, just before competition, use his in-line seater to take the catridge to final desire OAL. In theory it would break any bond that might have developed between bullet and case. I thought that was very interesting conceptually. Maybe it's the little things like that that make the tiny difference that helps a fellow win.

Same thing Judd does, as I mentioned in a previous post. Seat long, then finish seating just before shooting. In my case it would have to be two days before, at best.

I'd sure like to know just how much it affects pressure, velocity, and accuracy, and whether or not it has detectable effect in a hunting rifle. If I was shooting competition, I'd do the same thing (finish seating just before the match)---but I might choose to load right there at and during the competition, and for more reasons than just that. But that idea just isn't going to fly for hunting ammo, is it?. Errr, maybe I could bolt up a press in my blind?

Nah.

I contacted one of the ammo manufacturers some time back and asked what they do to avoid cold weld. The answer was somewhere between "huuuuh?" and "nothing, not an issue." I don't recall precisely what they told me because I didn't find it helpful at all.

You know well as I do, their priorities are different from ours. Somewhere at the top, for them, is speed of manufacturing. For some of us, we will sacrifice speed in manufacturing for precision ammo.

All true...but there IS factory ammo that shoots pretty damn good.

Or so I hear.

No argument.

They did the OCW or the Ladder Test, and found the area where MOST shoot DECENT.

I heard my name

I'll start...the auto trickler guy it's coming out with integrating a powder drop it will be as close as you can get too a Prometheus without having to spend almost 4k and be able to swap powders without changing wheels. I have the auto trickler, I'll get the dropper add on. I'm real pleased with it and the quality.

JG is right...I NEVER tumble brass. I'm of the opinion that nothing good can happen from your brass, you've worked so hard on, beating around in a tumbler against each other or against stainless steel. I wipe the carbon off the outside and run a nylon brush in the necks to pull off any loose carbon.

I'm not sure about the whole cold welding thing but I can tell you that something goes on. I can load shells long today and finish seating tomorrow or next week and there are completely different feels to that final seat. Enough so that I never shoot a case that has sat over 24 hours at shooting seating depth for money...I do however load long and final seat then shoot almost every match I shoot now a days.

Reloading to me is a necessary evil. I really don't enjoy it all that much

I use the CM, about every 5 charges I'll have to dump a bit out and re-trickle. It all pretty much balances out time wise.

The Chargemaster's price seems to have gone up quite a bit.

Gander Mountain has about 6 of them on the shelf (Frisco location) I would buy a back up if they really dropped the price. They will go fast when they do take their next price drop.

Which Auto trickler is everyone using?

That FX120I is a pretty penny...

Was that fast? I thought that was fast.

And it's worth every one of them