Newbie Brass Questions...

[Afy]

Am a novice at this and have a couple of questions regarding brass.

The Lyman manual I have suggests only re-forming the neck of newly fired ammo for accuracy. Will this actually help?

What about dented brass, two scenario's. The first the neck is a little bent due to stepping on the ejected shell. And the second where the case gets dented for whatever reason. Can you re-use these or throw them away?

Thanks...

 

[Walkalong]

Little dents won't hurt a thing. Size them and they will be fine. If they don't look right after going through the sizer and the expander, you might have to toss em, maybe.

 

[Grumulkin]

In regards to dented cases, if the neck is dented, make it more or less round and seat a bullet in it. Boat tailed bullets work best for this. If you can seat a bullet, it will be fine. As long as the case can be resized so it will chamber, dents in the case body don't hurt anything either.

There are a lot of benefits to neck sizing only. Neck sizing only works well in bolt action firearms, Encores and Contenders. Not only are there rewards in better accuracy but case life is also much prolonged. I use Lee Collet Dies for neck sizing since no lube is required.

For firearms like lever actions, pumps and semiautos, you will probably have to full length size every time for reliable ammo functioning. Some guns also require a small base die set.

 

[Afy]

I only have bolt action guns, so I guess neck sizing it is .. as far as I go.


Also why would HPBT out perform FMJBT bullets for accuracy? My thinking would be that a solid point would be superior to a hollow point aerodynamically... but am no engineer...

 

[P0832177]

Neck sizing works to a point, but you will need to bump the shoulder back once in a while...... like every 4-5 reloads. There are many good books on reloading out there. There is a lot of info in the Sierra Reloading Manual.
Zediker's Book http://www.zediker.com/books/handloading/hlmain.html is really good book to read about reloading.

 

[scrat]

its good your asking questions. you for sure need to practice some more and do a lot more reading. One thing for sure you need to read more books than just one.

 

[Art Eatman]

Re newly fired brass: Great, if it was fired in your rifle. Chamber sizes vary. My '06, for instance, is right at the edge for "big". So, most any brass scrounged at the range will fit. My .243, however, is right at the edge for "small". So, either factory new or full-length resizing for brass from somebody else's rifle.

As far as the occasional "bump back" on the shoulder, you'll find out when a reload is a bit difficult to fully close the bolt. That doesn't hurt anything insofar as shooting; it just means full length resize and measure the case length. Trim as necessary.

And I'm another proponent of the Sierra manual. Beaucoup really good infor there; overall, it's the most complete of all the manuals. Exterior-ballistic tables as well as "how to" stuff.

Art

 

[Vern Humphrey]

As far as the occasional "bump back" on the shoulder, you'll find out when a reload is a bit difficult to fully close the bolt.

Be careful -- that can also mean the bullet is being jammed into the rifling, and that can raise pressures enormously. A properly reloaded cartridge should chamber freely.

 

[Afy]

I am trying to get my hands on the Sierra manual but not easy in France. Especially if you want it in English...

With the amount of ammunition I have ordered from the factory, it is unlikely the barrells will last 4-5 reloadings.

I am going to be reloading 222 Remington Magnum, 300 Winchester Magnum and 8x64S (I know 2 very odd calibers).
But have about 1000 rounds per caliber of fresh Factory Loads... so that should keep me happy for a while.

I do plan on running through the factory ammo in lots of 100 or thereabouts. (Doubt it with the 300 though)

 

[cracked butt]

You'll want to full length resize the cases, even if new. The necks are often out of round (don't use bullets as a neck expander) and sometimes flash holes for primers aren't present (a full length resizing will make this apparant if this has happened.)

I've tried neck sizing extensively but have come back full circle and pretty much full length size everything with the exception of .303 brittish.

 

[SDC]

Also why would HPBT out perform FMJBT bullets for accuracy? My thinking would be that a solid point would be superior to a hollow point aerodynamically... but am no engineer...

Mainly because the base on the HPBT (which is a solid jacket open at the nose, and which is the last part of the bullet to touch the firearm) is more consistent from bullet to bullet.