That's along the lines of what I needed to hear. I am going to try several ways and record velocities to see if there is a trend among ES and SD. Not that 24 and 9 is bad really...but I was getting spoiled with single-digit ES across a variety of loads.
Might find something I stick with for years.
FWIW, my overall velocities with Varget and the 123gr Scenar were within 5 FPS of what they were with virgin brass.
I keep reading that over tumbling is kind of hard peaning the brass? Not sure if that's the terminology or not, but there could be some truth.
I just loaded up some more seating depth test subjects at 40.9 grains of H4350 to test when my bolt is returned, and reminded me of how much I prefer a little carbon in the neck when seating.
I spoiled myself rotten loading this 300 PRC and sub 5 SD's. I didn't load a bad load the entire time. I wish everything went so smooth
I do know that resizing especially, and then firing works the brass a lot more than tumbling with pins. However, if you anneal, you can get the hardness of the neck and shoulder back down to close (if not completely) to the original state.
I have mixed my process up many times over the years. Currently I resize, tumble, anneal, trim/chamfer/debur, then use a mandrel before priming and powder.
I wasn't a big annealing fan, but after splitting ~80% of the necks on some hot .223 loads in LC brass on just the 3rd loading...I became an annealing fan.
20+ years ago...I also used to just arbitrarily crank my sizing die down 1/4 turn past bottoming out on my shell holder too...probably was bumping the shoulders .008 - .010
. The things you do when you're new. Was only getting 2-3 reloads out of Black Hills .308 brass before the case head bulge was too large for me to feel comfortable about. You look back at the things you used to do and think "what a moron".Where I caught on board with your post is that maybe I'm leaving an inconsistent amount of residue inside the neck or case body...and maybe that is causing a slight variation in bullet release or velocity. I think you're on to something here that can help me, and I appreciate your sharing. I know that zero residue works well, because I've had ES and SDs as low as 4 and 1 on virgin brass...but when you partially clean, maybe something is there.
Sorted about 1000 brass this morning
picked up about 5000 pieces yesterday morning.
picked up about 5000 pieces yesterday morning.
I loaded some 9mm and 38’s to see if some 71 year old Winchester primers my buddy picked up at the flea market will go bang. Put a couple on the anvil and smacked them with a hammer, they were pretty loud so I imagine they’ll work
I pulled three storage tubs full of books from my electrician apprenticeship off the book shelf so I can relocate some of my reloading and gunsmithing books, along with my ultrasonic cleaner, to clear off my bench so I can use it again. Damn them books is heavy!
Sorted about 2000 pieces of brass this morning
I decided that with the weather nice I was going to ignore more important projects and prep 223 brass that's been sitting for a year. Basically, every night I've got the following going:
1. Lube up a bunch of brass
2. Load the 650 to size/decap all of them.
3. Trim brass (I hate this part but I've got a new souvenir callus to help me!)
4. Swage brass
5. Chamber/deburr
6. Wet Tumble/ separate and dry.
Sure they come out looking like new, but at what cost. My delicate hands are getting beat up! Only a few thousand more to go. Then I have to decide if I want to store them primed or not I suppose.
1. Lube up a bunch of brass
2. Load the 650 to size/decap all of them.
3. Trim brass (I hate this part but I've got a new souvenir callus to help me!)
4. Swage brass
5. Chamber/deburr
6. Wet Tumble/ separate and dry.
Sure they come out looking like new, but at what cost. My delicate hands are getting beat up! Only a few thousand more to go. Then I have to decide if I want to store them primed or not I suppose.
