reloading progression??

gregc

gregc

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hey, just picked up a frankford arsenal case prep trimmer and want to try annealing a bunch of brass, not sure about the process to follow. i understand that i need to have the brass resized before i trim it as the case length trim is based on the shoulder. so, before the brass is resized and trimmed, should i anneal it or do i leave the annealing until after the brass is resized and trimmed? or another other combination. thanks for all your help
 
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I clean my brass, anneal then resize. You want to wash/clean the brass so your not burning carbon, dirt or whatever into the case neck. The annealing will help keep neck tension consistent and reduce the effects of the work hardening from firing. Resizing the brass will also add to the work hardening. Im sure someone will come along with a better explanation and understanding then me.
 
gregc said:
so, it's clean, anneal, resize, and then trim?? thanks
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Yes. My process is a little more involved than that (depending on caliber and accuracy level required) but that is pretty much it.

You want to anneal before resizing as the point of annealing is to "reset" the brass and make it consistent time after time (work hardened fired brass may "spring back").
 
I like shiny things so I anneal with spent primer in, sonic clean, resize still with primer in, trim, walnut vibe till shiny, remove spent primer then run expander mandrel to set proper neck tension. I found that primer pockets get loose quicker if run the pockets through cleaners exposed. I get longer life from the brass. BTW you can anneal as many times as you want. It makes no difference if you anneal a case multiple times.
There are those who choose to do it after resizing too.
 
Dmay said:
Really? Well there's something I've never heard or considered.
Do you really think it's a thing? Or just an OCD-mental thing? (No disrespect, I think half of my procedures fall into that category......)
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Definitely a real thing. I have measured pockets before and after with test gauge as I was suspicious it was happening. But I do like my cases shiny, so they run in the vibe tumbler until I'm happy with the look. I use RCBS dies usually so it's easy to remove the decapping pin. Then later when I'm ready use a universal decapping die followed with a pocket and flash hole check. My annealling machine came with sets of go, no go gauges that make it very simple to check before priming. Cheers
 
gregc said:
...want to try annealing a bunch of brass, not sure about the process to follow.
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Why are you annealing? To me, annealing is not a standard step, it's an extra process one incorporates to deal with a specific problem. What problem are you encountering that is pushing into annealing? That will dictate when in the process you do it.
 
BattleRife said:
Why are you annealing? To me, annealing is not a standard step, it's an extra process one incorporates to deal with a specific problem. What problem are you encountering that is pushing into annealing? That will dictate when in the process you do it.
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have shot the same group of 100 30-06 cases about 7 or 8 times and figure they're due for a trimming and annealing.
 
I’m no expert, but I do anneal every few fireing. Every time you fire a round, the brass is work hardened, then every time you resize the brass is it work hardened, if you don’t anneal your brass it’s life expectancy will be shortened usually ending with split neck. Accuracy will be affected too, cause your neck tension won’t be consistent.
I heard of some people annealing every fireing. I’m not that anal, and I don’t have a fancy set up, but it seams to work adequately for me!
 
gregc said:
have shot the same group of 100 30-06 cases about 7 or 8 times and figure they're due for a trimming and annealing.
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7-8 times and you didn’t trim yet? You have been measuring your brass before every reloading right?
How was the consistency between each reloads in terms of of accuracy and velocity? I’m genuinely curious.
 
DGY said:
7-8 times and you didn’t trim yet? You have been measuring your brass before every reloading right?
How was the consistency between each reloads in terms of of accuracy and velocity? I’m genuinely curious.
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Depends on the pressures he's loading to.

I have a couple of 100 lots of old Dominion Ctg Co. brass that's now close to 60 years old and they've got 100+ reloads on them. I full case anneal every 5-6 reloads. The pressures never exceed 48k psi.
 
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DGY said:
7-8 times and you didn’t trim yet? You have been measuring your brass before every reloading right?
How was the consistency between each reloads in terms of of accuracy and velocity? I’m genuinely curious.
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am dusting off my tang ruger as it's been in storage for the last 25 years and can't recall accuracy as i got rid of my reloading data for this rifle some time ago. ended up giving said ruger to my boy and we ended up trading it a few months ago as i picked up an m70 '06 that he liked more. with easier to use and more affordable reloading equipment relative to 25 years ago, want to dust off the ruger and see what accuracy it's capable of. from some targets i did save, i was getting the odd cloverleaf at 200 metres, with most 3 shot groups being around 1 to 1.5 inch at 100 metres. never did put any hot loads through ruger and couldn't afford a chronograph so unsure of specific velocity.
 
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Do you have to trim them?
bearhunter said:
Depends on the pressures he's loading to.

I have a couple of 100 lots of old Dominion Ctg Co. brass that's now close to 60 years old and they've got 100+ reloads on them. I full case anneal every 5-6 reloads. The pressures never exceed 48k psi.
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Do you to trim them?
 
gregc said:
am dusting off my tang ruger as it's been in storage for the last 25 years and can't recall accuracy as i got rid of my reloading data for this rifle some time ago. ended up giving said ruger to my boy and we ended up trading it a few months ago as i picked up an m70 '06 that he liked more. with easier to use and more affordable reloading equipment relative to 25 years ago, want to dust off the ruger and see what accuracy it's capable of. from some targets i did save, i was getting the odd cloverleaf at 200 metres, with most 3 shot groups being around 1 to 1.5 inch at 100 metres. never did put any hot loads through ruger and couldn't afford a chronograph so unsure of specific velocity.
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Interesting thank you. Do you measure your brass before reloading them?
 
DGY said:
Interesting thank you. Do you measure your brass before reloading them?
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yes, and i remember that trimming them as being really cumbersome fumbling around with the lee case trimer die. later picked up a manual hornady trimmer which was just as much a pita......looking forward to trying out the ruger to see if my reloading skills have improved over the last 25 years. lots of new equipment to help with the accuracy... no more lee dippers, etc
 
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DGY said:
Do you have to trim them?

Do you to trim them?
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Maybe after a dozen loads. Stretching happens mostly from neck resizing and excessive pressure.

I shoot both of my 30-06 rifles at paper, seldom over 300yds, so light bullets and low pressures.

I use the 30-06 rifles for off hand, prone, and shooting off my walking stick. Keeping the loads around 45k or less, with 130-150 grain bullets provides enough recoil to make it feel real, but easy on my shoulder.

My go to powder has been "4831" that's close to 80 years old. It's just about all gone now, and it's also just started to develop a few rust specs, so it's got to go, one way or another.

The 150 grain bullets are also surplus, bought by the cunit. (100 lb lot)

The 130 grain bullets are from a defunct manufacturer, flat base, spire point, Western. I bought several thousand at scrap metal price.
 
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