New Brass Prep

Understood. Ultimately dead animals is why I shoot, but reloading seems like a fun obsession
You have no idea the can of worms you are opening. It adds a whole another level to hunting.
There is a lot of satisfaction in killing an animal with a bullet you loaded.
 
reloading is rad and even better when you kill stuff with your reloads. For calif you are a bit handy caped by the twist of your barrel. Its spun for shooting 140 gr lead bullets. In copper you will have to step down to 125 or so. going to be pushing them very very fast :) the copper projectiles are just to long in the same gr weight compared to lead.
 
I’ve shot around 40-50 different “long range” set ups. Most comfortable rifles to shoot are in the 9+ lbs range.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
  • Like
Reactions: TRICER
Taft can also hit the 1mile gong with a 22lr pistol over his shoulder...
 
  • Like
Reactions: TRICER
You have no idea the can of worms you are opening. It adds a whole another level to hunting.
There is a lot of satisfaction in killing an animal with a bullet you loaded.

Exactly...my wife doesn't know either. But if I start now it is going to set my kids up with knowledge by the time they can start really shooting.

reloading is rad and even better when you kill stuff with your reloads. For calif you are a bit handy caped by the twist of your barrel. Its spun for shooting 140 gr lead bullets. In copper you will have to step down to 130 or so. going to be pushing them very very fast :)

Yes sir! Planning on sending those 124 gr HH ~3200 FPS. Now I just hope my gun likes the combo of the HH and RL26. At the end of the day this will be my go to deer rig. I'll probably end up picking up some H1000 and IMR7977 as well to test out...and it is probably smart to go with the more temp stability...but hey its part of the game
 
here is @TaftHunter with a very light 338lapua scoring at a mile.... OH Taft i saw your photo on facebook of you, we need to talk about this sock sandal thing you got going.
 
here is @TaftHunter with a very light 338lapua scoring at a mile.... OH Taft i saw your photo on facebook of you, we need to talk about this sock sandal thing you got going.


Love that gun. But couldn’t you edit that miss out lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Oh and the sock/sandal thing, well you see those are actually “slides”


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Exactly...my wife doesn't know either. But if I start now it is going to set my kids up with knowledge by the time they can start really shooting.



Yes sir! Planning on sending those 124 gr HH ~3200 FPS. Now I just hope my gun likes the combo of the HH and RL26. At the end of the day this will be my go to deer rig. I'll probably end up picking up some H1000 and IMR7977 as well to test out...and it is probably smart to go with the more temp stability...but hey its part of the game
I am getting 2913 at my accuracy node with RL26 and the 124HH in my 260. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if you get 3,200 in your PRC. It’s a wicked cartridge.

If you are going to be shooting the gun out of state start looking at the Berger’s and Hornady’s
as well. In my new 280AI I am shooting lead out of state for the high BC and heavier bullets.

I might even let the kids shoot a buck with the 135Atips this year over in AZ with the 260. Mostly because I think they will smash coues deer.
 
I am getting 2913 at my accuracy node with RL26 and the 124HH in my 260. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if you get 3,200 in your PRC. It’s a wicked cartridge.

If you are going to be shooting the gun out of state start looking at the Berger’s and Hornady’s
as well. In my new 280AI I am shooting lead out of state for the high BC and heavier bullets.

I might even let the kids shoot a buck with the 135Atips this year over in AZ with the 260. Mostly because I think they will smash coues deer.

Yeah I am really intrigued by the High BC's of the lead bullets...but had a bad experience accidentally feeding my kids lead fragments that leaves me iffy (it wasn't that bad, i prayed over them and they turned out fine). Both bullets with a BC of 0.6 or greater is incredible.
 
Two brass prep questions:

1) what kind of tolerance will you "live with" on your brass when you are using your comparator. I just prepped 50 cases with a max range of 1.6540 to 1.6555...I am just wondering if that is acceptable or if I should be aiming to tighten that up even smaller?

2) How do you guys clean off all the little shavings off the brass? Air compressor? Does it matter?

Thanks!
 
what comparitor are you running to check brass? The headspace one hornady makes? aka shoulder bump gauge?

if its new brass you are fine go shoot and fire form them to your chamber. Then measure your shoulder location. This will now be your base line you use for how much you size your brass.

to have .0015var in distance is no big deal on new brass but i would bet after you get the fired brass and resize them you can get it much better. The brass needs to learn where your chamber is then they all kinda match up :)

for bolt guns .001 bump is good,

for ar15's .003-.004 would be better.

Compressed air and blow them clean
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: JakeSCH
.0015 tolerance is actually very good. just from machine shop and sheet metal tolerancing goes,
if you want to get anal they make a white deburring stone called Arkansas stone very hard , just to touch up
edges of components, it doesn't remove metal, just knocks off the fine burrs. and it's cheap
first thing I learned as an apprentice.
use to touch up flat surface, to remove fine hard to see burrs.
preferred method to remove debris, is compressed air, cleans out the loose burrs and debri.
wear safety glasses that's how people get crap in their eyes.

in my business , we would measure before OAL, then segregate them into same length.
then machine them off with the exact trim , stock removal. to make them all the same length.
just because I am anal, I would buy a small lathe and machine them exact.
but that's me, over kill they call me. o_O
but I could make my own custom stuff.
I use to do it for a living..
 
  • Like
Reactions: dirtriddr
* Neck turning is important regarding accuracy. Stabilizing neck tension has big benefits. Before you make any tooling investment though, shoot your loads to see if you achieve your goal. 1/2" MOA is achievable without a tremendous effort if your rifle is up for the task.

* No basic steps missed

Hopefully you did not pay for the Hornady brass (if you did - no worries, just don't do it again). It is soft and has its own set of issues.

First - is the rifle capable of your goal with premium loads? What is it?

I have found #8 to be a big payoff regarding accuracy. A consistent ignition is where it starts.

Don't worry about "standard" brass length. Find the shortest piece of brass in the lot, square it off with your trimmer and measure it. Now trim the rest of your brass to that length. Having your brass a few thousandth’s shorter than SAMI is fine. It is going to grow the first time you shoot it anyway. A square face and uniform length is more important.

What type of dies are you using?

Don't use a powder measure for your loads. Make sure each load weight is exact. One granule of powder is equivalent to approximately 10 FPS when using slow burning powder. This has a measurable effect at distance.

Powder, primers, bullets and brass play a role as well. Quality components have great value when striving for consistent accuracy.

Tell us about your rifle and your bullet/powder/primer combo. What was your decision to buy Hornady brass?

I never weigh my brass. I did so in the past and found that after competently blueprinting my brass, there was no significant gain in accuracy. The key is to start the project with good brass out of the gate.
What tool (brand) do you recommend for neck turning? I want to turn all my .308 and 300wm ADG brass i got from you before I start load development
 
What tool (brand) do you recommend for neck turning? I want to turn all my .308 and 300wm ADG brass i got from you before I start load development
I wouldn't neck turn ADG brass, even if somebody paid me to. ADG brass is just fine the way it is. I doubt you will see any difference if you did. With quality brass you can concentrate your efforts on other aspects that WILL matter.
 
I wouldn't neck turn ADG brass, even if somebody paid me to. ADG brass is just fine the way it is. I doubt you will see any difference if you did. With quality brass you can concentrate your efforts on other aspects that WILL matter.
What other efforts would you suggest? I recently added the following equipment to improve ammo consistency over the standard reloading I was doing before.
-Redding match seating dies
-Redding S bushing dies
-Benchsource anealer
-Autotrickler V3 (still in the mail)
-Magnetospeed V3

I just figured I was covering everything else I read about, i might as well neck turn too.
 
Neck turning tool
Concentricity gauge
Flash hole uniformity tool
Hand primer
VLD inside neck chamfering tool
Wilson case trimmer
Forster co-ax press
 
  • Like
Reactions: JakeSCH
Neck turning tool-
Concentricity gauge
Flash hole uniformity tool
Hand primer
VLD inside neck chamfering tool
Wilson case trimmer
Forster co-ax press
Neck turning tool- What brand do you recommend, I was looking at the Hornady
Concentricity gauge- What brand do you recommend
Flash hole uniformity tool- Already part of the reloading process
Hand primer- Already part of the reloading process
VLD inside neck chamfering tool- I will pick one up, using standard one now without any jacket issues but the VLD wont hurt
Wilson case trimmer- Currently using the Trim-it case trimmer with great results
Forster co-ax press- I have a Rock chucker right now but definitely plan to upgrade to the Co-Ax

I was also going to pick up a redding neck thickness gauge
 

About us

  • SCHoutdoors was created in January of 2011 by a few people who love the outdoors. The main goal is still the same – bring people together who enjoy the outdoors and share their knowledge and experience.
    Outdoors in the West, Hunting gear reviews, Big Game, Small Game, Upland Game, Waterfowl, Varmint, Bow Hunting, long Range Rifles, Reloading, Taxidermy, Salt WaterFishing, Freshwater Fishing, Buy-Sell-Trade on Classifieds and Cooking/Recipes
    All things outdoors…come join us, learn, contribute and become part of the SCHoutdoors community.

Quick Navigation

User Menu