Differences in Brass

[madang55]

So, no one wanted to buy my 6.5 CM. I decided to resurrect it. Put a scope back on it, dragged out all my brass, mostly Norma and Sako, cleaned it up, annealed, chamf etc. I also had some range brass, once fired so I did the same to it. I loaded up some of the Norma (129 I'Lock) and decided to load up the range brass to use for getting on paper. 95gr V-Max. 15 Cases, 6 Hornady and 9 S&B. Poured the powder into a couple, then to my horror, almost overfilled one of the cases. Poured out the powder, measured it...good...poured it back in...same thing. Turns out the Hornady was fine, the S&B were the problem. So I weighed the primed cases. Same primers. the Hornady weighed in at 159gr and the S&B at 178gr. Much thicker walls...less volume...??? After very carefully trickling the powder into the S&B, I had some space in the neck. I've separated the 2 brands and it will be interesting the difference in downrange results.
So, another good reason not to mix yr brass too much..

[in2anity]

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Same load, same match, one piece of sako mixed in with ppu. Don’t mix brass.

[Billo]

I did some reloading for old bloke who'd lost confidence but wanted to keep shooting his custom 25-303 with his grandson, mixed Riverland, some Canadian stuff and Super branded. A mate who gave me his safe loads told me to weigh the cases as the old 25-303 was prone to being a poor shooter and most of the time it was down to mixed brass being used.

Well I was quite shocked to find up to 35gr weight difference, after sorting and sizing brass I managed to cobble together 40 reloads for the old fella, he was happy as, still waiting on a range report

[madang55]

Seating projectiles.
I can always (usually) set my dies to seat with differences of +/- .003.
Question..is it possible the case necks are flexing during the seating process. Caused by inconsistent case neck "cleanliness"?
Next round of loading I'm going to pay more attention to case neck inner on a batch and see what happens.

[Oldbloke]

Seating projectiles.
I can always (usually) set my dies to seat with differences of +/- .003.
Question..is it possible the case necks are flexing during the seating process. Caused by inconsistent case neck "cleanliness"?
Next round of loading I'm going to pay more attention to case neck inner on a batch and see what happens.

Could be. Obviously if some are clean, some dirty there will be some variation of tension. Does it matter, NFI.

Personally i,
1.Anneal every second firing.
2. FLS
3.Trim every load.
4..Always ensure cases are fairly clean, not polished.(cheap ultrasonic cleaner)

[in2anity]

Seating projectiles.
Question..is it possible the case necks are flexing during the seating process. Caused by inconsistent case neck "cleanliness"?

What's the problem? Not happy with accuracy? Chasing that illusive 60/60 off the double bags? Certainly it's important for your case batches to be consistent headstamp. If you are chasing good scores, pretty simple; just use quality brass Lapua neck tension feels great, even if the neck is fouled. Cheap brass in contrast; feels all over the shop. Groups reflect

Inside my necks get a little spin of a cotton bud dipped in isopropyl to take the lube away stopping powder cling, in front of the footy. Then they will group into sub moa at 900m; if the wind is perfectly accounted for. By far the biggest source of error on the mound, is one's ineptitude to react to a changing wind; takes years of practice to get a good eye for that.

TLDR: i doubt you'd be able to measure any change in group by less or more neck cleanliness, out there in the real world

[madang55]

Seating projectiles.
Question..is it possible the case necks are flexing during the seating process. Caused by inconsistent case neck "cleanliness"?

What's the problem? Not happy with accuracy? Chasing that illusive 60/60 off the double bags? Certainly it's important for your case batches to be consistent headstamp. If you are chasing good scores, pretty simple; just use quality brass Lapua neck tension feels great, even if the neck is fouled. Cheap brass in contrast; feels all over the shop. Groups reflect

Inside my necks get a little spin of a cotton bud dipped in isopropyl to take the lube away stopping powder cling, in front of the footy. Then they will group into sub moa at 900m; if the wind is perfectly accounted for. By far the biggest source of error on the mound, is one's ineptitude to react to a changing wind; takes years of practice to get a good eye for that.

TLDR: i doubt you'd be able to measure any change in group by less or more neck cleanliness, out there in the real world

There ya go, ruined my time off work. loaded up a set of 375H&H today. Old, cared for brass. Difference in seating about .003. So,
no I'm not chasing one hole accuracy, just interested in the reasons for the differences. I'm betting on the neck tension thing.. And reading the wind..tel me about it, Full bore, Williamstown, Kyneton, Warnambool, Dimboola, Wang, with Central sights, not new fangled $KKKK telescopes, and reading the mirage more than the wind. Closer to the real world there.

[in2anity]

I'm betting on the neck tension thing.. And reading the wind..tel me about it, Full bore, Williamstown, Kyneton, Warnambool, Dimboola, Wang, with Central sights, not new fangled $KKKK telescopes, and reading the mirage more than the wind. Closer to the real world there.

I must confess, I too come from the TR class perspective (not F class), so I feel perhaps from the sling you may get away with a bit "less work" on your handloads, compared with say F open. Nonetheless, my handloads are as good as any AFAIK, and yes neck tension is in my opinion one of the more critical nuances. You get it from a) using good quality match brass b) annealing the necks. "Cleanliness" in the neck? Just not sure how much it matters...do the washing/cleaning if you feel you must

[madang55]

Discovered that my Lock n Load attachments have a rubber ring....rubber compresses...remove the rubber and you get a far better, consistent, everything

[Oldbloke]

Yeh, got rid of the nut on some lee dies and replaced with the ones that lock with an alun key.

[in2anity]

100% that hornady quick change thingymebob system yields flex; it's frankly not good enough. The best thing I ever did, was order a part from brownells that went into the Hornady press, replacing the female part of that stoopid "lock n load" interface. The fitting was called

Code: Select all

100040903 Lee Hex Bushing For Classic Cast Press 7/8-14

i.e. this:

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I 263loctited that bad boy permantly in place in my hornady press, so now it just acts like a basic 7/8”-14 and I've never looked back. Seating is as precise as the projectile provides, i.e. how much you wanna spend on pills??