TL;DR: I’m wondering whether I should do anything to brand-new Norma brass before loading it.
Basically, I was all set to start reloading .308 using my own once-fired brass, and I was going to decap it, clean it, anneal it, swag the primer pockets, trim it, lube it, size it, tumble the lube off, and finally load powder and seat bullets.
I decided that I didn’t have enough once-fired of any one headstamp, so I bit the figurative bullet and bought brand-new Norma cases.
(Thank you, Recoil Gunworks.)
Now I’m thinking I might only need to swag primer pockets (Norma’s are famously tight) and then go straight to dropping powder and seating bullets.
Or, should I do something about sizing/expanding the case necks?
If it matters, I’m hoping to make “precision” ammo for my Savage 110 FCP-SR…
Maybe. I’ve had new brass, even Lapua, that sucks on it’s first load. Heavy neck tension is usually the pisser. If you can try seating a bullet or two and it goes smooth, just load it.
The weird friggin thing with the last batch of Lapua 6.5cm small primer that Pappabear bought is that the LEE Collet neck die required a huge amount of force to cycle.
I ran 50 pieces and primed them. But when I went to seat a bullet, the neck tension was so tight that I was damaging the bullets on the ogive. I still haven’t figured this batch out.
Wierd. I have three 100ct boxes of the stuff. I’m barely sizing, and more just using the mandrel to ensure roundness on the first loading. I have noticed that ADG brass comes with a VERY tight neck.
It’s strange. I’ve bought new Lapua before and the first loads had creamy, excellent neck tension. I’ll have to see if my dial calipers can shed any light.
The only brass that I have trusted to not size was brand spanking new is for the bags of LC 5.56 brass that Federal used to sell. Even in a bag these cases were surprisingly all ready to go and undamaged. Everything else gets sized brand new not withstanding, measured, and anything over OAL to trim to gets trimmed, deburred, and chamfered.
Though I might send some through my M14-type, these are mostly for a bolt gun, so I’m not sooo worried about sizing these, as long as they’ll chamber as-is (and that’s easy to check).
I figure I’ll measure the length on a bunch of them, and if they are (1) consistent and (2) not too long, then I won’t bother sending 'em through the trimmer.
If they’re inconsistent or too long, then it’ll be easy enough to run 'em through the RT1500.
I do have the Sinclair titanium expanding mandrel ready to go, so making the necks consistent should be easy, right?
RE: Swagging. I’m reading that Norma primer pockets are crazy tight. So, I’ll see how it goes, but if there’s a lot of resistance, then I’ll run 'em through my Dillon super swagger…
Yeah, that might have been just a BS errornet rumor… I had been searching for info on how to prep new Norma brass, and somebody somewhere was having a helluva time priming.
New Norma brass plonks right into the chamber of my Savage, so I won’t bother sizing it. (It plonks right into my Sheridan case gauge, too.)
I just measured 5 new cases, and they’re between 2.02" and 2.05".
Trim to length is 2.05", so I can’t see trimming these: I don’t want to go shorter than the standard “trim to” length, and I’m not sure whether my RT1500 will be consistent ±0.015".
The necks seem tight, and some are dinged up or out of round (packaging), so I think I’ll put the mandrel in the first station of my RL550 and run it through them all.
Edit: I measured inside neck dimensions at 0.305" to 0.309," but I just tried pushing the mandrel (0.3065") through with my bare hands, and it’s impossible.
So, assuming that I want the necks round and at 0.3065", they’re all going under the mandrel.
It might be worth sizing just the necks if there’s that much variation. I’ve always been told .003"-.004" below bullet size is the goal. If you have some necks at .309", I don’t see how you end up with any neck tension.
Judging by how the same cases (do not) fit over the mandrel, that 0.309" is simply across the wider part of a neck that’s out of round…
If nothing else, I don’t want cases hanging up on my powder funnel in station #2, and if I’m not really sizing or decapping, then I won’t have anything else to put in station #1, anyway.
If there is ever a question of whether or not, I try to error on the side that insures the best results. I’ve been bitten quite a few times in reloading by leaving a step out.
A quick size won’t hurt anything. You use an annealer anyways, so why not. I wouldn’t touch the primer pockets. Leave them tight if you have a good way to seat consistently. I have some 6.5x47 Lapua brass, turned into 6x47, that had tight pockets. Going on 16 firings and the pockets are finally feeling “normal”, so I’m hoping for another 5-10 firings.
Well, it would mean running them through the press another time, and sizing wouldn’t hurt, but it really won’t do anything, either…
This is brand-new brass, and it’s quite undersized, so that it really plonks right into a chamber gauge or chamber.
(I tried the same with my own once-fired, and it’s not even close. Once-fired GGG cases hang up with a 1/4" or more to go.)
And I do have an “ugly” annealer, but because this is brand-new brass, I wasn’t going to bother with that, either.
Once I’m working with the once-fired cases, then I’ll run them through the annealer and a two toolheads (with the first to decap, size, and trim).
Annealing is up to you, and I don’t see it as necessary on new brass. I was speaking more to working the brass more than necessary. Annealing eliminates that as an issue.
If undersized, I would be certain that the cases are completely free of any lube before shooting. This will help them stick to the chamber walls and fireform better.
Probably “undersized” is the wrong term, but they’re just perfect already… I have the Sheridan cutaway case gauge, and these new Norma cases just slide right in like they were made to fit (which they were!).
FWIW, these cases don’t feel like they’re lubed at all. I assume that Norma cleaned them (the annealing marks are gone).
I might even dab a bit of lanolin in the necks before running them through the mandrel die, if they’re sticky…