More noob questions...

[elementfreak431]

Ok so I finally got my press all set up. Got dies, primers, brass, powder, a tumbler, medial, powder measure, scale, and so on. I still don't have a set of calipers and I need to pick up a dillon super swage 600 since I will be loading a lot of military brass. My questions are as follows

How often do you measure your brass, and how many pieces do you measure? If I'm reloading say 200 pieces of once or twice fired brass, should I measure all dimensions?

When I was sizing a few pieces of 223 brass today, 2 of them came out with a flat spot where the shoulder meets the body of the case. It was very tiny but I don't know if this renders the cartridge useless. Is it normal?

How does everyone lube their cases before putting them into the press? I have a bottle of case lubricant from Lee. It says to apply by hand but it seems pretty tedious. What are faster/more efficient methods?

How should I inspect my 223 brass after it has been through the full length sizing die and the neck sizing die?

Thanks for everyones input

[RobW]

Inspect all of your brass before you load it. Look for cracked necks, flattened primers, bright lines at the web, etc.

Where did you get the brass? If all of the same batch that you shot, then did you measure the brass before you shot it? Do you know your chamber/headspace dimensions?

If not, or if this sounds like greek to you ;->, you need to do some research before loading up 200 rounds without a baseline.

I would suggest this site: http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com...les-index.html

Check all of the articles in the "Basics" section. This is MASSIVE overkill if you are plinking or competing at reduced distances < 300 yards, but it will give you an idea of what the variables are and how to figure them out for you rifle.

After that, check http://armslocker.com/reloading/3004...mpetition.html

Highpower focused article which assumes that you need to reload in volume lots, good tips there.

There are lots more references out there, but those should solve the case prep mysteries.

--RW

Ok so I finally got my press all set up. Got dies, primers, brass, powder, a tumbler, medial, powder measure, scale, and so on. I still don't have a set of calipers and I need to pick up a dillon super swage 600 since I will be loading a lot of military brass. My questions are as follows

How often do you measure your brass, and how many pieces do you measure? If I'm reloading say 200 pieces of once or twice fired brass, should I measure all dimensions?

When I was sizing a few pieces of 223 brass today, 2 of them came out with a flat spot where the shoulder meets the body of the case. It was very tiny but I don't know if this renders the cartridge useless. Is it normal?

How does everyone lube their cases before putting them into the press? I have a bottle of case lubricant from Lee. It says to apply by hand but it seems pretty tedious. What are faster/more efficient methods?

How should I inspect my 223 brass after it has been through the full length sizing die and the neck sizing die?

Thanks for everyones input

[elementfreak431]

Thanks for replying. Most of the brass is lake city that I bought. The other stuff I have is some pmc bronze and a few other manufacturers but the bulk of my brass is lc. I did not measure it before I shot it because I assume all military surplus ammo is good to go. Should I measure some of my unfired lc ammo and strive to meet those standards? I'm not reloading to produce tack driving ammo just yet. I'm working on plinking loads and then once I really get the process down I will fine tune my ammo to each gun. I have heard about measuring the chamber of the barrel but I don't have the money for the tools and have read its not necesarry

[RobW]

The important thing to know is the before and after differences in the brass. That will give you an idea what your chamber and headspace dimensions are. Then you can set your dies properly (proper neck clearance, shoulder setback without over working the brass. You OAL will be mag-lenth so no real variable there). You can ballpark this from standard dimensions if you know what chamber type you have, but you will be fudging on the safety side which will overwork the brass e.g. knock the shoulder back .004 and go from there.

[dk99358]

I use a Lyman case lube pad (ink stamp pad is basically the same thing), put some lube on it, let it soak in and roll a half dozen cases across it. It takes some practice to gauge the correct amount (your shoulder dents are from too much lube) but you will get it right eventually. The dents will blow out on the next firing.

From there I toss the cases in my tumbler because I hate wiping the lube off, I let the tumbler do it.

After they are clean, I visually inspect and check the length of EVERY case. I make no other measurements. Length is the critical one because brass flows and the necks get longer. Your reloading manual will have maximum length data, when they get that long, they need trimmed. Then you'll have to deburr the case mouth because it will be rough.

You don't need to full length AND neck size, one or the other is fine.

There are some spray lubes, Hornady and Midway come to mind. Spray them on, wait a minute or two, and size. No need to wipe afterwards. Some folks swear by them, some swear at them. Some folks also swear by Imperial sizing wax, but I have no experience with it.

Dale

[elementfreak431]

I use a Lyman case lube pad (ink stamp pad is basically the same thing), put some lube on it, let it soak in and roll a half dozen cases across it. It takes some practice to gauge the correct amount (your shoulder dents are from too much lube) but you will get it right eventually. The dents will blow out on the next firing.

From there I toss the cases in my tumbler because I hate wiping the lube off, I let the tumbler do it.

After they are clean, I visually inspect and check the length of EVERY case. I make no other measurements. Length is the critical one because brass flows and the necks get longer. Your reloading manual will have maximum length data, when they get that long, they need trimmed. Then you'll have to deburr the case mouth because it will be rough.

You don't need to full length AND neck size, one or the other is fine.

There are some spray lubes, Hornady and Midway come to mind. Spray them on, wait a minute or two, and size. No need to wipe afterwards. Some folks swear by them, some swear at them. Some folks also swear by Imperial sizing wax, but I have no experience with it.

Dale

Thanks that was very very helpful! I was full length sizing today a few pieces of brass came out with tiny tiny dents on the shoulder. Should I even clean my dies? When the brass came out from being resized, they had a little bit of black goup on the mouth and neck of the case. Is this normal?

[Jaybird777]

The dents on the shoulder and goop you speak of are signs of too much lube... the extra lube left in the die dents the shoulder cuz it has no where else to go... if I run into this problem I actually run a single dry one through to clear out the extra lube..

And please don't tumble after prime... you can cause defects to happen in the primer itself causing delayed firing and fail to fires.... if I feel the need to tumble after sizing to get rid of the lube I do it before pricing... I usually use a hand primer for large batches so doing it this way doesn't really case any more work... just a ten minute run through the tumbler

[elementfreak431]

The dents on the shoulder and goop you speak of are signs of too much lube... the extra lube left in the die dents the shoulder cuz it has no where else to go... if I run into this problem I actually run a single dry one through to clear out the extra lube..

And please don't tumble after prime... you can cause defects to happen in the primer itself causing delayed firing and fail to fires.... if I feel the need to tumble after sizing to get rid of the lube I do it before pricing... I usually use a hand primer for large batches so doing it this way doesn't really case any more work... just a ten minute run through the tumbler

Thanks for the advice. I read in few places that it was ok to tumble live primers briefly to remove case lube. That will have been the last time I ever do it. Im surprised its caused by EXCESS lube on the cases. I have been using its extremely sparingly just like the label on the tube said. Guess I'll have to cut it back some

[Flash]

The little imperfections seen after resizing are from not only too much lube, but other crud in the die, as well. Clean the die, and it will improve your finished product.

The spray lubes will not collect and make the little dents, another plus, as well as you don't need to clean the cases after loading like you would with waxes and other oily preparations.

Flash

[Mootness]

The little imperfections seen after resizing are from not only too much lube, but other crud in the die, as well. Clean the die, and it will improve your finished product.

The spray lubes will not collect and make the little dents, another plus, as well as you don't need to clean the cases after loading like you would with waxes and other oily preparations.

Flash

Some lubes adversely affect the powder. If you don't mind gumming everything up and cleaning more often (chamber and dies) then don't even clean the lube off.

You'll find yourself trimming more often with new brass, it stretches when firing. You trim the excess off, and full length size squishing it down again, just to once again have it stretch, ad nauseum, until you become uncomfortable loading it just one more time, or the brass fails and blows out in your gun upon firing.

Dillon is not the only swager out there, but surely a fine product to go with. Additionally there are fancy case prep centers that do everything at once. It's a balance between cost and time invested.

Reloading is time consuming, the alternative is work a few extra hours and buy some factory ammo.