reloading with virgin brass

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laker415

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Just picked up some nosler brass in .223. It says it full length sized, chamfered and deburred, and the flash hole is deburred as well.

My question is what would you seasoned loaders do with this brass? Maybe uniform primer pockets, ensure OAL and visually inspect each piece.

This will be my first batch so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
 
The way I have been told is that all manufactures draw their brass out to a generic size which is supposed to be spec. But I have seen, over the years that quality is not always job 1. I always full size any new brass from any company, just to be 100 % sure I have it at its best. To date I also deburr the primer flash hole but I tend to forget to size the primer pockets, my bad ! I would go through all the processes to start the brass off before using it. But I do realize that some don't do any checking they just reload, each to their own.
 
I don't mind doing the proper preparation steps. Just wasn't sure if you can fully rely on a manufacturer to do all the steps they claim.

This nosler stuff wasn't my first choice to be honest. I had the pick of this or hornady. If it were up to me I would have got lapua for what I paid for this nosler.
 
Are you planning to bench shoot competitions? If so you might do better to load for accuracy with once fired brass since the pressures in relatively small case are more affected by small changes in case capacity.

New cases are undersized so the only thing accomplished by full length sizing them is running the expander ball through the necks to ensure they are not dented. In fact you do not need any lube with a new case in a full length die.
 
No competitions planned. Just loading for accuracy and learning this new hobby of reloading.

I was going to use this brass to work up a load and once it's been fire formed I was going to neck size.
 
With new virgin brass I chamber check all the rounds in the intended rifle. Any that don't fit or are stiff to chamber I FL size. The rest I keep as is.
If I'm looking for accuracy I weight sort the brass as well. Some say this doesn't do anything but for the few minutes it takes I figure whatever. My accuracy box will all be +/- 1 grain so the heaviest to lightest wont vary by more than 2 grains total. The cases that don't fall into this range go for plinking ammo or use in rifles with iron sights. I have terrible eyes and can't shoot iron sights well so it doesn't really matter if the brass is a little off in weight (I sort all brass by headstamp/brand no matter what though).
Norma are supposed to be weight sorted from the factory but with a digital scale it takes all of a few minutes for a box of brass so might as well double check.

After that it's just load and shoot.
 
Thanks for the advice. I am going to load then up and fire form them. Neck size from there and hopefully build up a nice load.

Anyone using nosler, if so what are your thoughts compared to lapua or norma?
 
I have done a fair amount of reloading with Nosler brass, do a quick inspection to make sure none of the case mouths were dented while being shipped. If all good you are ready to reload right out of the box.
 
laker415 said:
Anyone using nosler, if so what are your thoughts compared to lapua or norma?
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When I got my 6BR, I bought 300pcs of new Lapua. Developed a load using only virgin brass until every one was fireformed. Then repeated the process with once fired brass. Both loads were identical. This was with a match chamber and tight neck. A factory chamber might have enough slop to result in a meaningful change in volume after fireforming. YMMV.

What I normally do is shoot a ladder test or two with the new brass, and then do the grouping and long range testing with once-fired. I figure any change in case capacity will be caught by my grouping/ES tests, since I test from below to above the nodes that the ladder shows.

As for new brass prep, I'll do a visual check, run an expander through any dented necks (very rare with Lapua), and do a random check of neck thickness and OAL, about 15% of each batch of brass. FL sizing every case and messing with the primer pockets is unnecessary IMHO.
 
noblet said:
Started with nosler and found cracks in the necks a little as 2 fires. Now I load with Lapua no questions, Nosler is overpriced IMO.
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I have never had any such issues with Nosler brass, I have some 7mm Rem Mag brass on its 5th loading! I agree Lapua brass is also excellent, I have used it in .223 and .243 necked up to .260 Rem before it was available in .260 Rem!
 
I have found many lots of Nosler Brass to be "soft" compared to other Commercial brass [FC excluded, very soft]

This simply means you have to be cautious with maximum working loads in Nosler brass.

Personally, I prefer Lapua over most others, but it is not available is some chamberings.

Regards, Dave.
 
I buy Lapua.
Load and shoot.
I keep my brass in lots of 50, record number of times fired, and number of times trimmed. (Usually every 4 times) Have some that had to be sent for scrap after 12 firings. (.308 F/Tr). I do not anneal, or neck turn.
In my experience brass would last longer if I didn't shoot matches in the rain, which causes pressure signs in my rifle.
 
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