How much will I gain from taking my case prep to the next level

[bigedp51]

Some interesting info in there, thanks. that all goes against what I read about lots on this forum. I guess that in a sense is what I'm trying to sort out. FWIW I am using Lapua brass.

Every little bit may help but too much of what bench rest shooters do with their custom made tight chambered rifles is carried over to to us poor folk with stock factory rifles.

You can't take your every day car you drive to work and drive it to Daytona and think your going to win a stock car race. "BUT" you can make modest improvements to the family car and make it perform and drive better.

On impulse when I was at a gun store I bought a box of Nosler Custom brass just to see how much better this costly brass was and I was amazed. The brass is already prepped, weight sorted and uniformed, the case necks were very uniform and "NOTHING" was need to be done to these cases.

It might be a little different in Canada with your long winters and spending your time staying warm and prepping Remchester cases. But for me it gets boring and a little frustrating trying to make average brass better when you can buy quality made cases and then spend my time watching "Ice Road Truckers" and drinking a cold one. Or watching a Mel Gibson movie that only take an hour and forty seven minutes to defeat General Cornwallis and the British empire.

Sorry about that but my mother maiden name is McVitty and I have Scottish blood. (Bazinga)

 

[Mystic Precision]

If you want consistent and reliable LR precision shooting, tool up for constant brass prep.

Outside neck turning and annealing have a significant affect on your LR grouping. There is no way around these 2 steps so I have mechanised it to make it easier, and faster.

Will it help make a factory rifle into a top tier match rifle... not likely BUT it will let you see the same levels of performance and the best that barrel can provide through its life.

YMMV.

Jerry

 

[jethunter]

Every little bit may help but too much of what bench rest shooters do with their custom made tight chambered rifles is carried over to to us poor folk with stock factory rifles.

You can't take your every day car you drive to work and drive it to Daytona and think your going to win a stock car race. "BUT" you can make modest improvements to the family car and make it perform and drive better.

On impulse when I was at a gun store I bought a box of Nosler Custom brass just to see how much better this costly brass was and I was amazed. The brass is already prepped, weight sorted and uniformed, the case necks were very uniform and "NOTHING" was need to be done to these cases.

It might be a little different in Canada with your long winters and spending your time staying warm and prepping Remchester cases. But for me it gets boring and a little frustrating trying to make average brass better when you can buy quality made cases and then spend my time watching "Ice Road Truckers" and drinking a cold one. Or watching a Mel Gibson movie that only take an hour and forty seven minutes to defeat General Cornwallis and the British empire.

Sorry about that but my mother maiden name is McVitty and I have Scottish blood. (Bazinga)

Mel Gibson's accent was the best part of Braveheart. laugh myself sick every time i see it. I always wondered why they had to get an Aussie to play Braveheart. Are there no Scot actors who could have played the part?

 

[slvdout]

If you want consistent and reliable LR precision shooting, tool up for constant brass prep.

Outside neck turning and annealing have a significant affect on your LR grouping. There is no way around these 2 steps so I have mechanised it to make it easier, and faster.

Will it help make a factory rifle into a top tier match rifle... not likely BUT it will let you see the same levels of performance and the best that barrel can provide through its life.

YMMV.

Jerry

Thanks Jerry, I've read about lots of different methods of annealing and would appreciate your comments on what you prefer to do.

 

[264winmag]

How can neck sizing NOT increase case life? I've seen it first hand with every rifle I've ever loaded for, the brass is worked less primarily near the head. Groups sizes have been better neck sizing with both custom rifles I've had, not so much with factory rigs though. Fl die set up to just bump the case enough to allow smooth cycling seemed best for factory chambers, and once through the ns die for good bullet grip. NS has my vote in the end, anyone else?

 

[bigedp51]

How can neck sizing NOT increase case life? I've seen it first hand with every rifle I've ever loaded for, the brass is worked less primarily near the head. Groups sizes have been better neck sizing with both custom rifles I've had, not so much with factory rigs though. Fl die set up to just bump the case enough to allow smooth cycling seemed best for factory chambers, and once through the ns die for good bullet grip. NS has my vote in the end, anyone else?

264winmag

If you have a custom rifle then custom made dies cut to the dimensions of that chamber will help greatly with accuracy and case life. But for those with stock factory rifles and stock name brand resizing dies there is a very good chance that all the prep work to your brass will not make your groups smaller. You have the effects of a factory trigger, bedding and your bullet and load effecting group size and the time spent on the brass could be wasted.

This doesn't mean that making your brass as uniform as possible wont help "BUT" you also need a rifle capable of good accuracy that can take advantage of all the work you do to your brass. For the average stock factory rifle much of this case prep work will gain you nothing, and too many people think if they treat their brass like bench rest shooters it will magically transform their rifles into shooting bug size groups.

I'm retired and in the last six years I have spent more money buying gauges and reloading dies and equipment trying to make perfectly made and uniform cases and only saw very small gains. By chance I bought some Nosler custom brass that I did nothing to and gained far more uniformity in group size. Meaning you cant make bad brass shoot better because the uniformity of your case wall and neck thickness is critical, and cheaper brands of cases have wide variations in case wall thickness. These cases will warp when fired because the thin side of the case expands more and the case ends up banana shaped when resized.

How can neck sizing NOT increase case life? I've seen it first hand with every rifle I've ever loaded for, the brass is worked less primarily near the head.

Below is a expert shooter competing with Team Lapua USA with a custom rifle and he also worked in the Sierra ballistic testing lab and speaks with years of experience.

 

[264winmag]

I agree that excessive brass prep will not make a junk rifle shoot small groups. And junk brass will not shoot regardless of amount of time spent. I'm talking custom rifle with custom dies, there is a definite increase in accuracy and brass life with neck sizing. I see it and it's worth it in group size and $. I also tried it with factory rifles/dies and although accuracy gains were minimal the brass still lasted longer.

 

[bigedp51]

The webpage below is a wealth of information and case preperation, and Mr. Salizar isn't shooting stock rifles.

The Rifleman's Journal
Index of Articles

http://riflemansjournal.########.com/p/articles-index.html

New Brass Preparation
by Germán A. Salazar

http://riflemansjournal.########.com/2010/12/basics-new-brass-preparation.html

Resizing - Case Dimension Changes
by: Germán A. Salazar

http://riflemansjournal.########.com/2010/06/basics-resizing-case-dimension-changes.html

Reloading: Partial Neck Sizing

http://riflemansjournal.########.com/2010/06/reloading-partial-neck-sizing.html

 

[444shooter]

How does Nosler compare to Lapua?

 

[nw mb]

...so here i iz...just a simple bush boy an 1 moa in all mie loads an better a goin' out fer my vittles in nw mb, an i runs cross dis here tread and i can'ts help butt wunder what that ole animal downrange feels when he gets hit wid a 1 moa or a pico-second of a moa load? iz it any different?

View attachment 14284

#1 - ocd is treatable
#2 - ocpd is treatable
#3 - i ain't shot no anamule furder than 275 yards...and that was a mite fer...
#4 - there is no end to the perfection of a rifle load and is undoubtedly the cause of many divorces (my own wife of 35 years told me to stop...and i did!)
#5 - i am undoubtedly not welcome here
#6 - give it a rest guys....

 

[Mystic Precision]

Thanks Jerry, I've read about lots of different methods of annealing and would appreciate your comments on what you prefer to do.

There are many ways to do it wrong and few to do it right.

I made the investment in a Bench Source annealer... well worth it and has made this chore painless and repeatable.

Let me know if interested as I can supply. Pay once, cry once.

But with the cost of components these days, it will pay for itself very quickly. Missing is really expensive.

Jerry

PS rifles that are properly machined, assembled and set up do not create fired brass that is curved (banana).

 

[jethunter]

I read on here about all you guys that turn necks, anneal, weight sort etc, etc. This is way more than what I do and I'm wondering if the results are worth the time and effort?

Some people enjoy the challenge of wringing the best absolute accuracy out of a rifle. If you think you would enjoy that then it might be worth your time and effort. It's your call.

 

[Mush]

If you want consistent and reliable LR precision shooting, tool up for constant brass prep.

Outside neck turning and annealing have a significant affect on your LR grouping. There is no way around these 2 steps so I have mechanised it to make it easier, and faster.

Will it help make a factory rifle into a top tier match rifle... not likely BUT it will let you see the same levels of performance and the best that barrel can provide through its life.

YMMV.

Jerry

Words of wisdom.

Mush

Up there, everything matters.

 

[Mush]

All the prep you're putting will not make your rifle more precise as the barrel and chamber is capable.
But I garanty that your miss's will be more consistents .

Mush

 

[HIT_MAN]

Tagged for this newb LR shooter