Brass prep: What steps do you feel are a waste of time?

I don't clean brass.Good wipe and off I go.
I don't clean primer pockets.
I trim cases "as needed" if they get too long. Usually every 5-10 reloads entire lot of brass gets checked.
I anneal every 5-10 reloads.I neck size with Lee die and if die cant squeeze neck down to desired size cases get annealing.

Like someone above said-annealing is cheap.Cases aren't.
 
One shot spray lube on a whole cookie sheet of brass. Deprime and tumble. Sometimes, but not always run through the ultrasonic cleaner. Never clean primer pockets unless the ultrasonic gets it. I use Lapua brass so I also do not do any prep work except to weigh it. Only trim after sizing when the cases start to get too long. Haven't annealed anything yet but I am in the process of building an annealing machine.
 
Full length resize on semi auto's.....bolts i case check in case guage then go from there .... every 4/5 firing clean primer pockets, uniform them....trim if needed.....de-burr....chamfer.....anneal on my annealeez.... works great cheap and simple..... and go from there
Love it or hate it
It's a hobby and a pass time so enjoy it!!!
 
1. Wet tumble
2. Decap/prime
3. Wet tumble
4. Lube & FL resize
5. Wet tumble
6. Trim/deburr/chamfer + flash hole unitizing
7. Wet tumble
8. Prime, powder, seat bullet
9. Wet tumble
10. Profit!
 
I mostly reload .223 and these are the steps I use. Nothing high precision but I try to produce the best reloads I can for hitting targets.

1. Deprime
2. Wet tumble
3. Swage primer pockets if necessary
4. Sort into like headstamps
5. Lube with lanolin/alcohol mix
6. Full length resize (wax lube inside case mouth) and check with case gauge
7. Trim to length and debur
8. Prime, powder charge, bullet seat and crimp

I don't bother annealing since I toss the cases after 2-3 reloads. I pick up a large amount of cases and select the best ones.
 
This is my normal (and anal) routine

1) visual check followed by depriming (and remove pocket crimp if present)
2) 30 to 90 mins wet tumbling (hot water, a dribble of Dawn, 30-50 ml Citric Acid & S/S pins)
3) drain and rinse 3 times with cold water. Spin separate pins from brass.
4) towel dry followed by 30 to 45 mins on cookie tray in a warm oven
5) sparsely spray lube with Liquid Lanolin / Alcohol mix (1:10)
6) F/L resize preferably with SB Die (if I have one for that caliber)
7) trim to length, chamfer case mouth (usually with Lee Quick Trim Dies)
8) 20-30 mins dry tumbler (walnut media) to remove case lube (and shine them up a bit more)
9) check each flash hole for media and then prime cases
10) store in sealed containers with an included checklist until needed

steps 5 through 9 are obviously omitted with pistol brass. My Progressive presses prime the cases after the resizing stage...
 
inthehizzy said:
1. Wet tumble
2. Decap/prime
3. Wet tumble
4. Lube & FL resize
5. Wet tumble
6. Trim/deburr/chamfer + flash hole unitizing
7. Wet tumble
8. Prime, powder, seat bullet
9. Wet tumble
10. Profit!
Click to expand...

Whoa that's a lot of wet tumbling. Have you considered depriming using a dedicated depriming die (on a cheap secondary press of you're worried about debris) or a Harvey deprimer, then saving yourself one of the wet tumbling steps?

Also, you wet tumble finished ammo?
 
Roddy said:
Just curious what people do for brass prep and what people feel is unnecessary, either because you don't have the time or equipment or it doesn't make a difference.

There seems to be a lot of different opinions. For example cleaning primer pockets. I have heard casual shooters say this is important to ensure consistent powder ignition while some bench rest medal holders say it a waste of time.

Myself my steps for rifle brass for precision shooting are:

-tumble in corn cob
-put in a tupperware with lube and shake them up
-full length size and decap
-clean primer pockets
-trim with Lee Quick Trim
-chamfer and deburr as the Lee trimmer leaves an edge
-tumble again to clean off lube
-quick check for cleaning media in flash hole


I do not

-neck turn
-weigh or sort brass
-anneal (yet)
Click to expand...

For me sorting brass is near on top of the list due to safety and performance concerns.
 
Eagleye said:
Primer pocket cleaning is a waste of time.
Annealing after each use of the brass....ditto.
Usually every 4-6 firings is enough.
D.
Click to expand...

Most times it can be but if a primer pocket is extremely fouled it can prevent a primer from seating correctly which can lead to issues. This problem compounds itself with more firings on dirty pockets.
 
I never anneal cases..........primer pockets are usually too loose long before necks start splitting............;);)

How much prep I do depends entirely on the rifle, cartridge and intended use........some get all the usual work plus weight sorting, flash hole deburring and neck turning..........others get the bare minimum.
 
"Brass prep: What steps do you feel are a waste of time?"
That's a loaded question (intentional pun). The only way I can pretend my reloading hobby is cost effective is by totally ignoring the time I spend doing it! It's a hobby, and I do it for fun. Until the zombies show up, I don't really "have" to reload at all, I choose to spend the time doing it. I know it seems pedantic to make the point, but by replying at all to such a question is pretty disrespectful to the crowd that choose to take additional steps for their own pursuit of th'hobby.

Steps I choose to not spend time, money or much thought on (but respect those that do) after decades planning, and a full year of "doing" with my own equipment?

-Tumbling brass. I inspect the cases I use/re-use, and wipe off anything that may affect a die. I do brush inside. I have washed a bucket-full of "gifted" brass that was covered in some miracle mud that didn't wipe off, but I really don't care about aesthetics of the brass in general. Function over form.
...green patches excepted, I'll abrade/rub that off to be certain it's smooth.
-Primer pockets...same as general brass stuff. I inspect after de-cap/ resize, but unless the flashhole looks odd, or the grime very serious, they get passed. I have handtools to do cleaning, etc right in front of me, but only touch 'em as required.
-Neck-turning/checking runout, etc...so far my purposes are well served without any consideration of this. I do reaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllly look forward to the day when my own results might be affected by miniscule detail.
 
I don't clean primer pockets or aneal (use to clean primer pockets but it didn't seem to help accuracy so I skip it to save time) usually trim to the trim to length after the first resizing and usually don't have to trim again until the brass is junk, I either neck size or partially FL size to minimize working the brass and stretching, use mostly range, or gravel pit pickup brass so I'm happy to get 6-8 firings out of free brass before getting too many neck splits. If I buy brass it's the same routine, but ive only ever bought rem, and win brass, if I bought the high end brass I'd definitely look at anealing to get more firings.
 
The more accurate my ammo needs to be, the fewer steps I skip.... in fact, I am adding more steps... oh joy, but the target doesn't lie so what else do you do when there is snow on the ground????

I don't weigh brass... If I am concerned about case volume, I will measure case volume

Jerry
 
Corncob and walnut tumbling stuff seems like a real waste of time, ultrasonic and SS pins are way, way faster and both clean the primer pockets pretty good. (I'm sticking to ultrasonic over pins now)

I only trim to even them up once, I never had brass stretching issues yet.
I weight sort brass and bullets, neck turn and such and gonna set up to anneal every time soon.

As to weight vs volume for brass, to me its simple. The chamber sets the volume and never changes, and brass has a known density and stays consistent within a batch/brand, so more weight means less volume within the chamber and slightly higher pressure.
 
Thanks for all the responses. I almost should have asked the question differently. Maybe what do you feel is he least important brass prep step? Or if you had to manufacture precision ammunition to sell with your equipment and do it economically what steps would you take?

Here is an interesting article about it. Well I found it interesting.

From precisionrifleblog.com:

Brass-Prep-Steps.png


http://precisionrifleblog.com/2015/12/31/reloading-tips-from-top-precision-rifle-shooters/
 
If you have the time and enjoy it, no step is a waste. Seems I'm short of time, all the time. Overall length and ..... nope that's about it.
 
I probably shouldnt be posting here as im just starting to get into it. But on the caseprep end of things. Like i said im just starting out and feel its an important step and clean would be first on my list. After reading a bit i went to go pick up a cheap corn cob to start my process. When i was in the store i started talking to a local long range shooter and he was asking what i was after and if he could give some advice. He said that vib cleaning with corn cob is better than ss pins being that pins put little dents inside the case mouth. After hearing that i thought id just try his advice ... After a long vibe it still wasnt real clean so back to the reading. I read about just hot water lemon juice and dawn so i did that. And let me tell you ... Super shiny. You can litterally watch it change in about 5 seconds. So now im sticking with. Tumble ... Decap/prime ... Bath in the water lemon and dawn ... Dry in oven and tumble again with does a respectfull job on the pockets. And a quick tool before the bath would help.

Some SS pins guys might know if tiny dents are showing up inside your case mouth ??
 
I would not care about primer pockets if I were tumbling with dry media, but I do get them as a result of my current SS tumbling process. I initially just wash the brass in hot, soapy water to get it clean enough to resize. After sizing/depriming, it is tumbled to polish and remove sizing lube.

I sort cases by brand only; I do not sort by weight or number of firings. Instead, I cull defective cases.

I do not anneal or turn necks.

Cases are trimmed on once-fired brass and thereafter if they are over length. My objective is to have cases "in spec" rather than the exact same length every time.
 
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