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Brass Preparation #7905843 07/19/20 09:59 PM
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mikei Offline OP
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During this period or rather warm weather, I've been spending some quality time at the reloading bench doing case prep. It is one of my least favorite things to do in the whole reloading cycle. I got to wondering how important the various steps are to obtain the best possible accuracy. So I would appreciate it if you experienced reloaders would do a "force ranking" of some of the things I do to get my brass ready. How important are they?

Here's the assumptions:
You have the rifle and scope
You have a proven load that you have developed
You're shooting at 200 yards
No wind to contend with
You've been given a bunch of once-fired brass with which to work, and can only use these cases

In your opinion, how important are the following items/steps:
Case length
Same head stamp
Case weight
Flash hole cleaning/deburring
Primer pocket uniforming
Primer pocket cleaning
Chamfering the inside and outside of the necks
Uniformity/consistency of powder charge (+ or - .1 grain)
Weight of bullets
COL

Last edited by mikei; 07/19/20 10:00 PM.
Re: Brass Preparation [Re: mikei] #7905890 07/19/20 10:26 PM
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ChadTRG42 Online Happy
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If precision and/or consistency is the goal, #1 no question, is same head stamp. If you have different brands of brass, they each will have their own internal case volume, case neck thickness, and neck tension. With different internal case volumes, it won't matter if you throw powder accurate to .02 grains. The same powder charge between each different case will cause different pressures which causes different velocity and changes up the accuracy node. That's the MOST important one, if consistency is the goal. If all the cases are the same, then the other items come into play. same powder charge and COAL would be the next important items.


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Re: Brass Preparation [Re: mikei] #7905958 07/19/20 11:09 PM
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mikei Offline OP
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Thanks, Chad. I figure that if I can keep the extreme spread down to a minimum, my chances of producing rounds that will group well will improve, as long as the idiot pulling the trigger does his job. I try to keep my brass separated by head stamp and times fired/reloaded. Within the batch of same head stamped cases, I have found weight variants of up to a couple of grains. For a 200 yard shoot, that's probably not very important, right? Of the laundry list of items cited, which of them do you think I'm wasting my time on and could comfortably give up without sacrificing that consistency we strive for?

Last edited by mikei; 07/19/20 11:20 PM.
Re: Brass Preparation [Re: mikei] #7905988 07/19/20 11:39 PM
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I’d do what you listed, and I’d also lightly turn the necks.


Not my monkeys, not my circus...
Re: Brass Preparation [Re: mikei] #7906093 07/20/20 12:43 AM
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scalebuster Offline
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I thought it said bass preparation. Glasses in the house.

Re: Brass Preparation [Re: mikei] #7906168 07/20/20 01:31 AM
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Agree with Chad; headstamp, consistent charge weight, and COL are foremost. I think case length is important because a longer or shorter neck should have some effect on neck tension, which would affect pressure a small amount, so I trim if my cases are more than 0.005" over the "trim to" length. I don't chamfer unless I trim. I also have never cleaned flash holes or uniformed primer pockets. Maybe I should.

Re: Brass Preparation [Re: mikei] #7906206 07/20/20 02:17 AM
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DStroud Offline
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4 Case length
1 Same head stamp
6 Case weight
7 Flash hole cleaning/deburring
10Primer pocket uniforming
9 Primer pocket cleaning
8 Chamfering the inside and outside of the necks
2 Uniformity/consistency of powder charge (+ or - .1 grain)
5 Weight of bullets
3 COL

Last edited by DStroud; 07/20/20 02:19 AM.

"Anyone taking up handloading necessarily plays with unknown factors and takes chances. But so does anyone who drives a car,goes to a cocktail party,eats in a restaurant,or gets married."

Jack O'Connor 1963
Re: Brass Preparation [Re: DStroud] #7906567 07/20/20 02:07 PM
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Originally Posted by DStroud
4 Case length
1 Same head stamp
6 Case weight
7 Flash hole cleaning/deburring
10Primer pocket uniforming
9 Primer pocket cleaning
8 Chamfering the inside and outside of the necks
2 Uniformity/consistency of powder charge (+ or - .1 grain)
5 Weight of bullets
3 COL



Now here is a man with some convictions. This is helpful even if it's just one person's opinion.


I'm a dude who likes long barrels!
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