Not expanding pistol brass?

[Jmoser]

Was setting up for 100 rds of .357 with virgin Starline brass and gas checked LBT bullets.

While adjusting the seating die I forgot I hadn’t expanded the cases yet, the first setup round seated just fine.

went slow and ran thru the first 50 same way; less working of the brass and more consistent neck tension. (These get a firm crimp anyway but eliminates one step and variable. ). Had one or two that maybe had a ID burr etc a bit tighter than the rest but all seated fine.

just curious if anyone else ever tried this, may not work with resized cases have to experiment.

 

[Frack N Cylons]

I don’t often have new brass, but when I do I run it through the sizing die like all the others. I guess you did not?

 

[Catfish]

same here. "virgin" brass doesn't mean ready to load. standard case prep applies, minus the cleaning steps.

 

[Jmoser]

Have never sized virgin brass including bullseye loads that punch out the X ring and magnum hunting loads that cloverleaf at 50 yards.
I've bought boxes of 500-1000 from Starline over the years in .32, .45ACP, .357, .41, .44, .454, and .45 Colt. All shoots perfect right out of the box no prep.

 

[Frack N Cylons]

Have never sized virgin brass including bullseye loads that punch out the X ring and magnum hunting loads that cloverleaf at 50 yards.

Yea, I don’t know what’s correct, I’ve just always done it so all my loads are the same. Same as in have been run through the same processes. If it works for your then rock on.

 

[Jmoser]

I'll just add that factory ammo is certainly not resized after the brass is formed !!! 😉

 

[Toprudder]

It may not be necessary, but I always run new brass through all the steps. To do otherwise would be making assumptions that may not be true. Even new brass may be out of round from getting banged around in shipping.

As far as expanding new brass from Starline, I had a heck of a time expanding some new 44 mag brass, the expander was sticking badly. I even tried dry tumbling the brass and it still stuck on the expander. I ended up using some Hornady One-Shot lube, just a little sprayed down into the case. I have not had that problem before, even with once-fired brass that I have wet-tumbled.

 

[Charlie]

I have used quite a bit of new Starline brass with great success. I do run them through my standard prep even if it is not needed. I want to make sure. New brass often sticks on the expander tube on my Dillon 550. I cure that by rubbing the expander tube between my fingers every few rounds to put a little (very very little) lube on it. I frequently just rub my index finger up beside my nose (certainly not inside my nose) to pick up a little lube. That works fine.

Expanding cases, whether new or old, may not be necessary if the cases are all the same. Different headstamps may have different case thicknesses, and that could lead to quite different neck tensions without expanding.

 

[Desolo]

Ive found chamfering the inside of the case mouth of just about anything makes it easier to use less flare.

 

[Jmoser]

Virgin brass always galls on the Dillon powder funnel - needs the one shot spray first.
Using a single stage for my current loads.