First go at once fired brass. Trim question.

bsnedeker

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Here again like I posted above your post just bump the shoulder back with your FL die .002". Like Low Sky posted I am on 6+ firings of all different head stamp 7mm and 300 WM brass with no case head separation, primer pockets get loose before anything else.

Thanks! I guess I've just had my terminology messed up. I assumed FL sizing meant putting it back to factory specs. I've always understood that FL sizing means going back to SAAMI, Bump sizing is pushing the shoulders back 2 thou, and Neck sizing is just resizing the neck and not touching anything else.

Thanks for the clarification. What you and jmcmath are suggesting is exactly what I planned on doing with this new brass.
 
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MuleyFever
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What is your tolerance when trimming? If I am .001 off on case length should I worry about it? .002?
 

muddydogs

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What is your tolerance when trimming? If I am .001 off on case length should I worry about it? .002?

.001" to .002" one way or the other is ok, your trimmer should be able to get the trim length right on but you will have a little variance with mixed brass. My old RCBS trimmer doesn't trim square so a trimmed case in my case will be off .001" across the mouth.

I've tried a few trimmers looking for something faster but I always go back to the old RCBS trimmer that I converted to a trim pro with the flat shell holders years ago. I tried the universal shell holder but had problems with the shell holder holding the brass tight. I do use a drill attachment and turn the trimmer with my Dewalt.

I don't measure and sort case length but instead just trim everything after every firing. By watching the cutting blades and looking at the end of the brass after trimming it's easy to see if a piece of brass was trimmed or not, the ones that didn't get trimmed I set aside to be measured where I determine if the piece is to short to be loaded or not. I found that it's easier and takes less time to just trim the brass then mess around with sorting them by length.
 

tdot

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Not really sure honestly, I didn't have a comparator before this issue so I probably was going all the way back to factory. Going forward I plan on sizing just enough to get the bolt to close and I do have a comparator now so I'll measure it to find how much it is bumping it.

I had many firings on my 300wm brass, with only bumping the shoulder .002. I dont remember the exact measurement, but the setting the die to Reddings specs bumped my case back something like 0.012, which would work the brass alot more then the .002.
 
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MuleyFever
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I'm thinking of getting the Lyman case prep center and it has the VLD Chamfer/Deburr Tool on it. Is there any reason to not use that for regular bullets?
 
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Trim after resizing. I full-length size all hunting rounds and set my die to bunp the shoulder about .002 to make sure they will chamber easily. Lots of folks also just neck size until they are tight to chamber and then bump the shoulder at that point.
 

j43097

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On a similar note... the case on the L is it about to separate? not familiar with belted magnums yet.
 

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Billinsd

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Sorry for the potential hijack, but for those saying FL size every time, are you doing this with belted magnums? I just got my first 300 WM and I've always FL sized my brass in my 270 so I did the same with my 300, but on the 3rd firing I had complete case separation. I talked to a local gunsmith and he told me this was a common issue with belted magnums because FL sizing works the brass WAY too much. I can certainly close the bolt, but there is some resistance after 1 firing. Maybe I'm an anomoly but this happens on both my 270 and my 300.

Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated!
I've been reloading for my 7mm Rem mag for a few years now. I read alot online and there's tons of miss information, so it's very hard to learn. I called Berger bullets and talked to an extremely helpful, and knowledgeable guy there that is on the tech line. He's a few years older than me and started reloading for his dad's 7 mm Rem mag in the late 50's. He's a champion shooter with the owner. He told me how he reloads at target shoots and I was able to get him to educate me enough to know what I needed to know. He told me to bump the shoulder back on fired brass 0.002" He said that's plenty accurate for a hunting rifle. And specifically if you drop a round on the ground or get a bit if dirt you can still cycle the bolt with 0.002" shoulder bump. If you resize to bump the should 0.002" it's not doing much work on the brass. The further back you resize the more you rework the brass and the sooner it will fail. Case hardening is the term. My experience with near full recommended powder charges with 165 accubonds, pretty hot, I started seeing signs of failure at about 5 or so resizings. I annealed the brass and got a few more shots. Annealing is another black hole. The guy at Berger Bullets told me how he does that. I read that guys use a torch with the flame on the shoulder and when the case end is too hot to hold, it's been annealed. I'm an engineer and had to test myself, yes I know. I got temperature paint and painted the shoulders and when the paint melted the case was too hot to hold. LOL..I don't anneal anymore, too much of a hassle and another potential viable in the reloading process.

I'm repeated what a lot of others have said.
 
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Billinsd

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I'm repeated what a lot of others have said.
I fell down the back hole abyss of reloaded and grabbed onto reality before it was too late!! I think!! The guy from Berger Bullets and Nosler both said case length is critical and cases should be within 0.002 of other. If you trim one case and chamfer the case, chamfer them all. Bullet seating depth is critical too, stay within 0.002" Ogive. Those two things are absolutely critical. Same case length within 0.002 and same Ogive within 0.002. Next, if you ultrasonic clean, swab the necks inside with a bit of graphite lube with a lube brush. That's basically it for me. If all things are equal, 3 times loaded shells group as well as first or second fired, so long as case length and ogive are within 0.002" Your mileage my differ. I'm not very anal by nature and resisted reloading as long as I could until I got better and shooting and wanted better results. BRUH!!
 
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Sorry for the potential hijack, but for those saying FL size every time, are you doing this with belted magnums? I just got my first 300 WM and I've always FL sized my brass in my 270 so I did the same with my 300, but on the 3rd firing I had complete case separation. I talked to a local gunsmith and he told me this was a common issue with belted magnums because FL sizing works the brass WAY too much. I've been dinking around with some new cases and have a bunch of 1x fired stuff that I'm about ready to start reloading so I plan to just make sure the bolt closes on them without resistance and firing them. FYI, I do get resistance from my bolt on 1x fired brass. I can certainly close the bolt, but there is some resistance after 1 firing. Maybe I'm an anomoly but this happens on both my 270 and my 300.

Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated!
I’ve been thinking about trying one of these dies though I haven’t had any issues with my .300wm cases yet. https://www.larrywillis.com/300winmag.html
 

bsnedeker

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I've been reloading for my 7mm Rem mag for a few years now. I read alot online and there's tons of miss information, so it's very hard to learn. I called Berger bullets and talked to an extremely helpful, and knowledgeable guy there that is on the tech line. He's a few years older than me and started reloading for his dad's 7 mm Rem mag in the late 50's. He's a champion shooter with the owner. He told me how he reloads at target shoots and I was able to get him to educate me enough to know what I needed to know. He told me to bump the shoulder back on fired brass 0.002" He said that's plenty accurate for a hunting rifle. And specifically if you drop a round on the ground or get a bit if dirt you can still cycle the bolt with 0.002" shoulder bump. If you resize to bump the should 0.002" it's not doing much work on the brass. The further back you resize the more you rework the brass and the sooner it will fail. Case hardening is the term. My experience with near full recommended powder charges with 165 accubonds, pretty hot, I started seeing signs of failure at about 5 or so resizings. I annealed the brass and got a few more shots. Annealing is another black hole. The guy at Berger Bullets told me how he does that. I read that guys use a torch with the flame on the shoulder and when the case end is too hot to hold, it's been annealed. I'm an engineer and had to test myself, yes I know. I got temperature paint and painted the shoulders and when the paint melted the case was too hot to hold. LOL..I don't anneal anymore, too much of a hassle and another potential viable in the reloading process.

I'm repeated what a lot of others have said.
So yeah, that's where I landed a well. I wish you'd told me this 2 years ago! lol!

Sent from my SM-G998U1 using Tapatalk
 
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I watched the video from Broz. I used his example of chambering the brass and feeling for resistance. My brass will chamber with no resistance just like his did after he sized it. I don’t see the point in bumping the shoulder if it already chambers easily. I think I have at least one more firing in them before I have to bump the shoulder.

On a side note he used different shell plates to change the amount of bump. Don’t most people just adjust the depth of the die in the press? Or do I need a bunch of shell plates?
If you size it and notice you are about 1 or 2 thous shy of shoulder bump, you can switch shell holders with know distance to simplify the next resizing. I just move my die. It takes 1 or 2 times to get to the exact size. Sometimes I go over a tad, which is where the shell holder variations would be better, as you don't have to guess. It's all personal preference.
 
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