Getting serious about precision...dump all my brass?

Tim

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TL/DR: My question....should I dump all this brass and start over with known 1x or fresh case? Or is keeping track of firings not truly necessary so long as the case prep process is good?

I've always been a casual reloader, meaning I don't dive into the minutia of it all. I work up a load that gets me where I want to be and then just crank them out. If I'm +/- 2/10th of a grain, I figure close enough and roll on. If the case fits a Wilson gauge near enough, I roll on. I've never thought about neck tension, annealing, weighing cases...etc. all of that stuff that the pros do to eek out max accuracy.

I want to get serious about precision accuracy. And that seems to start with the brass. I currently have a couple hundred empty cases that I just throw in a bucket at the end of a range session. Sorted by caliber, but not by rifle they came from. When it's time to load, I grab a handful and get to work. I have no idea if the case I'm loading is 1x or 5x fired. I DO inspect for damage, splits, etc., but that's it.

My question....should I dump all this brass and start over with known 1x or fresh cases? Or is keeping track of firings not truly necessary so long as the case prep process is good?
 
You can do load workups with it but I would start sorting by rifle as well as number of times it’s been loaded. If the brass is too mixed for that at this point you may want to start over to simplify it
 
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You can do load workups with it but I would start sorting by rifle as well as number of times it’s been loaded. If the brass is too mixed for that at this point you may want to start over to simplify it
Especially since you're going to want to just be neck sizing
 
It's one variable that's very easy to control, so why would you not?
 
Just bite the bullet and get a couple hundred Lapua brass. Midway puts them on sale regularly. If you don’t load really hot and beat up the brass, they end up costing a tiny fraction of the powder/bullet/primer cost over a bunch of reloads. Separate by rifle. Also by number of loadings if you want to check later cycles for loose primer pockets, or want to trim every third instead of checking every length every time, or other things not identical every cycle.


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Just off the top of my head, and these are my opinions (for what little they may be worth). And I don't consider myself to be anywhere near expert status, just a guy that has started down the precision rabbit hole a little sooner than you. :)

Assuming you have a good basic rifle, the most significant variable in precision shooting is the shooter. The next is the trigger. The next is bullet (and how it is seated). Then it gets down to the brass, not just in the quality but also in the prep. I've experimented with weighing brass (I have not measured volume yet). I've experimented with annealing, neck turning, flash hole uniforming, sorting by headstamps, etc. All of those have had some level of effect, but depending on where I was in my experimentation, sometimes each one may have been hidden "down in the mud" by the other more critical items. And as I keep nibbling away at the small problems, I keep finding out that the shooter needs more improvement. In other words, even with absolutely perfect loads and equipment, I will always be the limiting factor.

Having said all of that, I would say to buy some good brass if you think it will help (it probably will). If you don't, then you will always doubt your decision and wonder if good brass will make a difference.

Good luck.
 
Start with fresh brass for each rifle, neck size with correct bushing for each rifle, and anneal on a routine schedule. Dependent on caliber and how hot you are running the load you should get 10-20 firings on Lapua brass. .308Win and .223Rem is pretty darn cheap right now too

https://www.powdervalleyinc.com/product/lapua-308-win-100/

https://www.powdervalleyinc.com/product/lapua-223-rem-match-100/

Also here is a great starter thread on precision reloading:

http://forum.snipershide.com/threads/hand-loading-for-precision-rifle-pic-heavy.186741/
 
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If it eases your mind buy new. Don't play mind games. I'll take your old beat up brass and pay shipping .
 
I've bought once fired from others and used it fine, after first firing in your rifle, its formed good, I get my headspace off that and size accordingly.

I bought new Lapua for my rpr. Lapua, alpha and Peterson are the way to go for brass quality.

I'm debating selling my 6.5 brass and getting all Peterson. I have 300 or so pieces of Hornady with most being once fired.
 
Precision is all about repeatability. If you're using "random" to describe any part of your precision reloading, it seems to defeat the purpose.


There is a use for all that old brass though. Once you get the best load for your rifle, you can load the old random brass for situations where you can't collect it after. If you're taking a class or at a match where firing conditions aren't ideal but you still want an accurate load, use the random brass. The shooter will probably be the weak link in that situation anyway.
 
Buy same lot of brass, take one variable out of the equation.

Can use the old brass to break in the throat of the barrel, if it's a new rifle.

When I chamber a barrel I buy enough components to burn the barrel out.
 
I've bought once fired from others and used it fine, after first firing in your rifle, its formed good, I get my headspace off that and size accordingly.

I bought new Lapua for my rpr. Lapua, alpha and Peterson are the way to go for brass quality.

I'm debating selling my 6.5 brass and getting all Peterson. I have 300 or so pieces of Hornady with most being once fired.

Hit a broski up if you want to sell the once-fires Hornady 6.5cm brass. That’s the only brass I have right now and while I’d love to replace it all with new Lapua, the Hornady has worked fine for me on other projects.
 
I bought a box of the Lapua years ago on sale from Midway for my bolt .308 and have never regretted it-- their brass is way better than anything else I have used. I now have an AR 10 in .308 that gets all other brass.
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I don't believe for a second that the case makes a bit of difference given everything else equal.

Different element make up of components in the brass.
Different thickness in key locations of the brass
Manufacture dies wear out.
Neck tension is key element, due to different make up can yield different neck tension.
Case head differences.
 
Different element make up of components in the brass.
Different thickness in key locations of the brass
Manufacture dies wear out.
Neck tension is key element, due to different make up can yield different neck tension.
Case head differences.

Simplest net difference is that the internal volume of cases varies quite a bit, within and especially across headstamps. Different volume -> different pressure -> different velocity.


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Dump the brass, get new. Lapua or Hornady match. Then work over the brass, ream primer pockets and flash hole at minimum. Get precision reloading dies. Forster or Redding at minimum. Neck size only after first firing. Get a gauge for seating depth based on bullet ogive not COAL. Sort bullets. Consider a meplat former to make sure all meplats are same.

Welcome to an expensive and very deep rabbit hole
 
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I kinda went thru all that last year and into the new year. I load for a lot of calibers. I have quite a few match, prs , hunting and benchrest rifles. I have 1 match 45 pistol and a bunch of other non match grade. I've now got 1 hundred count ammo box for each gun and I started each box with new brass last year. I keep load data and round count records in each box. Amazing what dedicated brass and weighed (to + or - 0.02 grains) powder charges will do for your groups. I also sort all my bullets by base to ogive length. Redding bushing neck dies for resizing. I'm shooting bug holes now with a 308 with almost no neck tension. I can thumb seat the bullets.
 
Different element make up of components in the brass.
Different thickness in key locations of the brass
Manufacture dies wear out.
Neck tension is key element, due to different make up can yield different neck tension.
Case
Simplest net difference is that the internal volume of cases varies quite a bit, within and especially across headstamps. Different volume -> different pressure -> different velocity.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Negligible
 
TL/DR: My question....should I dump all this brass and start over with known 1x or fresh case? Or is keeping track of firings not truly necessary so long as the case prep process is good?

I've always been a casual reloader, meaning I don't dive into the minutia of it all. I work up a load that gets me where I want to be and then just crank them out. If I'm +/- 2/10th of a grain, I figure close enough and roll on. If the case fits a Wilson gauge near enough, I roll on. I've never thought about neck tension, annealing, weighing cases...etc. all of that stuff that the pros do to eek out max accuracy.

I want to get serious about precision accuracy. And that seems to start with the brass. I currently have a couple hundred empty cases that I just throw in a bucket at the end of a range session. Sorted by caliber, but not by rifle they came from. When it's time to load, I grab a handful and get to work. I have no idea if the case I'm loading is 1x or 5x fired. I DO inspect for damage, splits, etc., but that's it.

My question....should I dump all this brass and start over with known 1x or fresh cases? Or is keeping track of firings not truly necessary so long as the case prep process is good?

If it's 6.5 brass why not just make it a gift to the person who is buying that rifle from you :D
 
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