Brass prep for Pistols

AR10ShooterinNC

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I've been working up some "full power" 10mm loads for my Glock 20, using Blue Dot powder and 180gr Blue Bullets. While doing some research and I read on some older posts, that brass prep will help with consistency. Using new starline brass, I worked up my load. Once I had my load, I wanted to do a test. I cut the primer pocks to the same depth, and debured the pocket on the inside, and cut all to same length. I was surprised that the SD drop by a wide margin, from 32 to 12.
 
It's all about your goals. If your goal is precision, then mimic the steps that precision rifle shooters use. (Tracking number of firings, closely monitoring case length and primer pockets.) Using a jacketed bullet would help a lot as I've found a pretty large weight variance in blue bullets. If precision isn't your goal and you are alright with around 3 inches at 25 yards, then you can tumble and load. I just dump mine straight from range bucket into a bowl to be sprayed with case lube and then they feed through my progressive, and I tumble the loaded rounds after.
 
Agreed, that taking the extra steps can improve precision. But that seems like a lot of work for a pistol.

A good test would be to test prepped vs. un-prepped brass in a ransom rest and see if there is any significant difference.
 
Interesting results.

I will probably never go further than sorting by headstamps and I rarely do that.

Cleanshot powder delivered single digit SDs for me in 9 and 40 with coated bullets, may have sorted the chrono run by headstamp. Not the most accurate loads.
 
For my bulk 9mm and 40 S&W, I reload mixed brass, only having tumbled them. I get good enough accuracy to make 10 rounds hit the A zone of USPSA target.

I did this as an experiment, I've had a fascination with the 10mm starting back in the late 80's...I was surprised by how much variation there was in the primer pocks and the length, all the brass was from the same lot. I might even try weight sorting, to get 10 cases, that are the same.
 
I played around with ES/SD on pistol a few years ago. I identified case length and head stamp, in that order as the primary "non- propellent" issues affecting consistency. My theory is that case length has a huge impact on crimp and thus internal case pressure.

Having said that, when I shot groups to see how significantly the data transferred to performance, I found very little difference and shooting without a rest it was undetectable. Now, I do not sort brass and I don't trim. As long as the brass passes visual inspection and the length is below maximum, I rock with it. That is for plinking and competition.

My data was all done with Blue Bullets, so I cannot say that this will be the case with jacketed bullets,

I guess I am fortunate that it does not require much effort for my equipment to outperform me - at least it saves me time.
 
This may cause some people great heartache, but I simply tumble my brass and reload it, this applies for rounds all the way up to 44 magnum handgun rounds, I have fired and reloaded some of my brass probably 25 to 30 times, never ever have I trimmed it or done anything else to it. For my hunting loads and target loads you can tell no difference in accuracy, if you can, it's probably your reloading rather than the cases as far as handguns are concerned.
 
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Hope that doesn't give them heartache, cause I don't even tumble mine. Just spray and load. If it's match rounds, I'll tumble after loading. Practice rounds just get shot. I figure I may ruin a die like this one day, but they have more than 75k on them now, so it won't be the end of the world if I do.
 
Tumble it. Quickly look at ~10 cases at a time to weed out cracked or very discolored cases. Load it on 650. Shoot it. Pick up brass. Pick up other brass at range. Sort by caliber. Repeat.




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