How much to chamfer trimmed brass?

[dustin]

Gotta love garage sales... Walked past a house putting one on in my area and picked up a few reloading bits and pieces including a case trimmer, shell holders and other assorted bits for $20

I've been reloading for a little while now and have a mix of brass shot somewhere between 2 - 4 times each. I trimmed half a dozen cases, just mucking around to get a feel for things, and see you get more or less jagged edges depending on how much the case is trimmed. Cases that were longer burred outwards more than the ones with shorter necks etc.

Questions is, how much to chamfer the brass?

Anything need to be done for more or less burred cases, or just give them all a spin?

Cheers.

[Norton]

It doesn't really change anything if you're chamfering more or less extensively trimmed cases. You should be aiming to take all the burring off, whether it was from a lightly trimmed case with few burrs, or a heavily trimmed one with a whole ring of burrs on the neck.

You can go overboard and ruin the top of the brass though, which can give you seating problems/damage bullets while seating them.

[redrum]

The outside of the brass should be trimmed just so it's smooth, but without starting to 'sharpen' the top of the brass by going too far.

Same for the inside, though some people like to give the inside an extra turn or two on the chamfer tool to create a slight slope to ease seating bullets.

[Aster]

You can go overboard and ruin the top of the brass though, which can give you seating problems/damage bullets while seating them.

The outside of the brass should be trimmed just so it's smooth, but without starting to 'sharpen' the top of the brass by going too far.

This is what you want to avoid.

If you over chamfer the necks you'll create a sharp edge,a little like serrated knife blade, and when you seat the bullets the edges of the brass will strip the outside of the bullet.

Picture here taken from accurate shooter -



= bad.

[Lorgar]

...some people like to give the inside an extra turn or two on the chamfer tool to create a slight slope to ease seating bullets.

Not worth it IMO.

Boat tails will obviously sit in the neck without assistance as they're narrower than the neck.

My regular .308 load uses Sierra 150 Pro-Hunters which are flat base... I don't find it any easier to seat them with the inside of the neck chamfered down further than when it's just straight.

You're just shaving off more brass and wearing your brass out quicker by doing this IMO.

[redrum]

You're just shaving off more brass and wearing your brass out quicker by doing this IMO.

Fair point.

I'm not really advocating either way, just sharing feedback I've read from other reloaders.

[Vati]

If it's sharp, you've gone much too far.

[dustin]

If it's sharp, you've gone much too far.

Got the hang of it out and done a tonne with no problems.

Cheers all.