reloading with virgin brass

[bigedp51]

Your Nosler brass is more costly because it comes fully prepped and "weight sorted" so the brass is VERY uniform.
http://www.nosler.com/brass/

BUT as stated by Eagleye the Nosler brass is not as hard as military 5.56 cases or Lapua brass so this makes a difference in how "hot" you can load.

I bought a box of Norma .223 cases and I must say it was the most uniform brass I have used in over 46 years of reloading. Meaning case weight uniformity and neck thickness which adds greatly to your accuracy.

I'm American and any time I can get our military made Lake City 5.56 cases I grab them up because of the higher manufacturing standards for Lake City military brass and the brass hardness. "BUT" these cases will need prep work, weight sorting and neck turning to reach Lapua or Nosler standards.

Below the standards for military 5.56 cases are higher than standard civilian .223 cases.

Bottom line, military 5.56 cases are built Ford Truck tough, with Lapua coming in second place for case harness.

And Federal cases are made like Chevys.

 

[manitou210]

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.

NECK SIZE Before firing !!!

 

[W.R.Buchanan]

Big Ed: are Lake City cases included in that Chevy comment? They are made by Federal aren't they?

Randy

 

[Mystic Precision]

Regardless of the brand, I always neck size BEFORE that first firing.

From there, I like to size, outside neck turn and anything else that case needs.

With my current FTR's, I am processing buckets of brass. I have found a great fireforming load that lets me practise too. So I body size, neck size, outside neck turn..... Load and shoot. given how short barrels last, I prefer to not waste the best of a barrels life forming brass.

Enjoy....

Jerry