Great series! I’m rewatching your reloading series and about to switch to wet tumbling from my ultrasonic cleaner. I appreciate your thoroughness and added detail. Since I use an SAC bushing/mandrel die I may use graphite for seating if wet tumbling removes more carbon than my current technique. P.S. I’m still loving the rifles you built me.
Regarding using the mandrel. I also try to achieve 2k neck tension. I use 21st century mandrels however when I run the case on to the mandrel when the case is brought back down I spin the case in the shell holder 180 degrees and run the case back up into the mandrel. Regarding lubricant on the mandrel I used to use the graphite like you do but I have recently switched to a liquid lube called NeoLube 2. I have found when seating my bullets in the arbor press I see more consistent seating pressure. I don’t think your going to show seating using an arbor press but the press you are using in the video. That is cool I’m probably more annal in my reloading process. What you are providing is some great information and detailed instructions for Reloaders. Keep it up 😊
Thank you Steve - I'm seriously interested in the NeoLube - If you have a minute, check this link and see if this is the right stuff - www.amazon.com/Prestige-Industries-Neolube-fl-oz/dp/B07G2SK8VN My dad is doing a whole bunch of pretty scientific neck tension testing using an Amp Press with a load cell all hooked up to a computer to graph the bullet seating pressure. So far he's discovered some pretty interesting stuff and definitively confirmed consistent neck tension and even bullet seating pressure is a massive contributor to consistent velocity. I'll give that NeoLube a try. Looks like a great way to go. Thanks -Shawn
@@triggeredprecisionmachinellc if your Dad is using the AMP press he should definitely be able to see the difference once plotted. There is a Benchrest shooter I follow and he was using AMP press and saw statistically significant results using the NeoLube. I only have a analog gauge on my arbor press but I have seen very positive results.
Only have an ultrasonic cleaner, the first time is after primer removal second time is after all case prep (sizing, annealing, etc) is done before new, primer, powder, and bullet assembly. I was as looking at a tumbler if I really want to get annal about it. Thank you for taking the time to do these videos as it is always good to get professional processes.
I experimented with an ultrasonic cleaner for a little bit but never got the results I wanted, granted I didn't give it too much of an effort. I'll give it another go someday, the stainless steel tumbling is just so easy and it does such a good job.
That's close to what I do, except for annealing and I use an ultrasonic for brass cleaning. Great series, very well done. I know you've ran into this issue because I've only been reloading for 6 years and have ran into it twice. Some dies do not size properly and even though you get the correct bump, .002-.003", thee brass doesn't chamber properly due to expansion of the web/head area. I've solved the issue with different dies, but it's now happening again with Norma brass (300 Norma). I'll figure it out eventually by either finding the correct die that sizes that area or using a body die. I suspect this is a brass issue due to poor brass, but the first time it happened was with Alpha brass and switching form Redding to Forster fixed it. Now the Forster FL die is not doing it. Different caliber and gun. It's happening with my AI AXSR, but have been reading that Norma brass expands too much due to how soft it is. I have Alpha brass coming so we'll see how it goes. I've read a lot of stuff over various forums with people having this issue, but have yet to find the cause. Is it the fault of the die or the brass? Once I figure it out for the 300 Norma, I'll have an answer, but wanted to ask in case you (or anyone else) had a solution. Again, great series and keep the killer videos coming.
Thanks for all the Awesome content Shawn. And especially thanks for addressing the unreasonable lead times within the rifle building component industry. It's pretty ridiculous and it seems like it's just a matter of having the market "cornered" and as customers being at the mercy of a few companies that all operate at the same speed. Thanks for cramping their style and putting the pressure on them to step up.
You are very welcome. Its tough navigating the manufacturers in this industry. There are only a few who seem to understand how to manage production. Other than that, it's a matter of trying to forecast what is popular and purchasing as much as I can afford to keep in stock.
I learned something today! The imperial dry lube for the neck lube! And leaving it inside for bullet seating! AWESOME! Something I’ve definitely been missing in my process
Great content! I cant wait to get into reloading. I've been scooping up parts and tools and having them shipped back home while I'm on deployment. Got plenty of 308 and 223 to brass back home.
Great Video! Perfect explanation of things. First mention I have heard any where, about the amount of neck tension and bullet set back. Winchester brass works good in my 300 Mag as well. Thumbs Up, I am watching.
What kind of improvements have you seen from uniforming the primer pockets and flash holes? It's not something I've done yet and I'm interested in understanding what it will improve. I'm assuming it will result in lower velocity spread, but I'd like to be sure.
I lay the brasso to cases before sizing..helps make em slick too as I’ve had a time with lube..only thing works is paint lee lube on with toothbrush..so far never stuck a .308 and well over 1k rds….hornady dies…223 stick alot nomatter what I do cause rim won’t take much on the down stroke but lee dies just remove collet and hammer case out…I’ve got good at it..great to see you grow my friend
Are you spinning the cases in a shell holder attached to a drill motor? I've done that once or twice to polish some loaded rounds up for show purposes - makes ammo look like polished jewelry. When the brass comes out of the rotary tumbler, it almost looks polished. It has a nice slick feel to it, that's helped me a lot with cases getting stuck. I'm with you on the .223 stuff. Its a pain. I usually use Hornady One Shot Case Lube applied heavily a couple times and that works pretty well, but I'll still stick a case a couple times every thousand rounds or so using bulk, unsorted range brass. Thanks for watching Matt! -Shawn
@@triggeredprecisionmachinellc I did. I’m the one who botched it. I mailed it out today as I don’t think I’ll get another trip in before it’s due. Damn Army, always spoiling my fun.
😂 Oh yes! Haha, I remember now. My apologies, I've had so many of these things go out I've lost track. That's a good thing. So far we've had some decent groups return, all very close. It's going to be a tight race.
GOOD DAY TO YOU, have you ever heard go "Shooting Technology" in Italy, they have a wet tumbler developed which makes it much easier to separate steel pins from cases than the process you have shown here. Just look at their homepage - I think they call it LEM case cleaner.
Great detailed info and my exact process, except I trim after running it through the expander mandrel. Wouldn’t you be changing the length when running the mandrel afterwards?
It's definitely possible. I do my best to only expand .001" - so I use a neck bushing that will give me .003" neck tension, then expand back up .001 for my target .002" tension number. Its such a small amount I've never seen it to make a difference. Also, I run the Giraud case trimmer which handles the trim / chamfer / debur in one shot. The chamfer adds to a nice smooth entry for the mandrel into the case.
Wow!! Where were you 4 years ago when I started my precision reloading quest .. your presentation would have saved me a lot or research and grief ($$$ in reloading components) your conclusions on brass prep are similar to mine ( I've decided if Lapua doesn't make the cartridge brass -- I don't shoot that cartridge ) annealing, dry lube and ID sizing with mandrel etc... I am still struggling on one area you passed over .... How do you decide on overall brass trim length for trimming??? ... even my Lapua brass (after being reloaded and shot once) is well under the SAMII maximum spec length that is in all the reloading literature .. Do you have a rational method for determing this? Looking forward to you future videos ...... Well done
I did miss that, thanks for pointing it out! As far as brass length I have two a couple things I do. If the brass is consistently just barely short of SAAMI, I'll adjust the case holder on the Giraud trimmer to give me a proper cut. If the brass is significantly smaller than SAAMI ( more than, say .030") then I will manually chamfer and debur each piece minimally with the hopes it will grow after the next firing. Other than that, I trim all brass to SAAMI spec mostly because I use almost all SAAMI spec chambers for my personal rifles.
I may have missed you mentioning it, but Lapua 6mm creedmoor brass has a small flash hole that requires a smaller decapping pin. Also, if you are using a vibratory tumbler, go to a pet store and buy the reptile bedding. It’s just the same walnut media, but half the price!
Awesome, great tip, thank you. I'll check out the pet store. Which polishing additives do you use with it? You are correct. I skipped over that because I run small decapping pins in my dedicated decapping die so I never have an issue. I've only bent one decapping pin for as long as I can remember and that was user error, lol.
Perfect, Flitz is what I use. I used to buy the powdered stuff that I thought worked better than the liquid but I can't remember what brand it was or where I got it from.
Loving the intense in-depth of this video and taking some notes. Curious if you get a case stuck, how do you remove it the easiest without damaging in die?
I probably do it a little different than some. I'll drill and tap the case head for a 12-24 machine screw and use a little weighted slide hammer I made to get em out. Haven't been beat yet.
You're going to laugh but I have a wet tumbler identical to yours and I haven't used it just yet. Something that concerns me a bit is the possibility of having left over pins which remain inside the case. Other than inspecting each case internally with a light, very time consuming, how do you remedy this? Thanks for all the great videos!
Get that bad boy out and start making some shiny brass! 😂 I use a cheap Franklin Armory media separator to get the SS pins out. It does a great job and does it fairly quickly. the pins are too small in diameter to get stuck in flash holes, but I have had a couple stuck sideways in case necks. As I'm going through the brass prep process post wet tumbling, I'm always inspecting the brass. In the rare occasion there's a pin still in the case, just pop it out and get to reloading. That was a concern of mine at first but after cleaning tens of thousands of cases over the years with that tumbler, I can confidently say it's nothing to be concerned with. Enjoy the new machine and thanks for watching!!!
Kinda hard to to see but it looks like you have a power conditioner hooked up to your scale. If so two questions. Has it helped with your scale drifting and if so, what power conditioner are your using? Thanks!
Yessir, good eye. I actually had pretty bad scale drift in my old house, this helped clean it up for the most part. Here in the shop, I have a better power supply but I still use it. I leave the scale on full time and have zero scale drift. I'll get you the make and model of the unit when I get in the shop tomorrow. Thanks for watching!
Its a "Line-R 1200" made by APC. Had it for years, and has always worked perfect. It's also nice insurance to protect your scale from power outages and surges.
I know it is an old video but this is probably the 5th time I have watched it. Every time I end up buying something new to make my accuracy better. This time I have to ask a question. I use Hornaday brass because it is easier to find loaded and unloaded. I also use redding type s dies. Since the brass is not uniformed on the neck I am going to get the mandrel and start sizing that way instead of the bushing. Question is I have been using a .289 bushing for roughly .002 neck tension based on average brass thickness. Would you go to a .288 or .287 because of the inconsistency of the brass? The reason I ask is because KM website says I should go down .007 and expand back up. You say go down .003 and go back up to .002
On Lapua brass I've found going down .003" and expanding back up for .002" neck tension works very well on annealed brass. On other brass like Winchester, Hornady, etc., I generally will start at .004" and neck up to .002" When you are doing it, pay attention to the feel, if you have some that barely feel like the expander is kissing, maybe try a smaller bushing until you feel the expander contact in the neck. Also, super important, be sure to use a good neck lube when expanding. Not using neck lube can gall the brass and really goof up neck tension.
@@triggeredprecisionmachinellc thank you for the information. I guess I will buy a set of neck bushings so I have options. I only have the one because it is what worked with the brass I have.
How important is consistency with shoulder set back? If i set the die at say .002 set back but I get a piece of brass that goes .003 or .004 am I going to see a performance difference because of that?
We always try and be as accurate and consistent as possible, but there are things like shoulder setback that we just won't get exactly perfect every time. Differences in the metallurgy in the brass, how different parts become more work hardened than others, and differences in each piece of brass will effect this. The whole reason behind the arbitrary .002" setback we all shoot for is simply for ease of chambering. Ideally we wouldn't touch our case bodies and fire a perfect fire formed copy of our chamber in subsequent reloadings, but we chance chambering reliability as the brass expands to the chamber walls. To answer your question, I do not think you are going to see any major performance change. Once we squeeze the brass down, we no longer have that "perfect" carbon copy brass to chamber fit, but it is very, very good. If we have more significant swings in our dimension, say .001" bump to .010" bump, then I think you would see an issue, but there are so many other things that I believe play a more significant role in accuracy and consistency, I wouldn't sweat a slightly inconsistent shoulder bump. Great question!
I'm shocked that anyone is still propane annealing. Look into induction annealing! I'll NEVER propane anneal again. My setup is a cheap "Hot Rod" induction heater wired to a digital timer. I know that my Lake City NATO cases get a 1.55 second blast and it does it *perfectly* every time.
Great series! I’m rewatching your reloading series and about to switch to wet tumbling from my ultrasonic cleaner. I appreciate your thoroughness and added detail. Since I use an SAC bushing/mandrel die I may use graphite for seating if wet tumbling removes more carbon than my current technique. P.S. I’m still loving the rifles you built me.
I have been reloading for decades. Very smooth explanations and always ready to learn more. Keep up the great videos . Thank You
Thanks for watching!
This is a great run down of brass prep!
Thanks Todd! A little (lot) longer than I anticipated but the information is there. Hopefully that is enough to get some new folks started.
Regarding using the mandrel. I also try to achieve 2k neck tension. I use 21st century mandrels however when I run the case on to the mandrel when the case is brought back down I spin the case in the shell holder 180 degrees and run the case back up into the mandrel. Regarding lubricant on the mandrel I used to use the graphite like you do but I have recently switched to a liquid lube called NeoLube 2. I have found when seating my bullets in the arbor press I see more consistent seating pressure. I don’t think your going to show seating using an arbor press but the press you are using in the video. That is cool I’m probably more annal in my reloading process. What you are providing is some great information and detailed instructions for Reloaders. Keep it up 😊
Thank you Steve - I'm seriously interested in the NeoLube - If you have a minute, check this link and see if this is the right stuff - www.amazon.com/Prestige-Industries-Neolube-fl-oz/dp/B07G2SK8VN
My dad is doing a whole bunch of pretty scientific neck tension testing using an Amp Press with a load cell all hooked up to a computer to graph the bullet seating pressure. So far he's discovered some pretty interesting stuff and definitively confirmed consistent neck tension and even bullet seating pressure is a massive contributor to consistent velocity.
I'll give that NeoLube a try. Looks like a great way to go. Thanks
-Shawn
@@triggeredprecisionmachinellc that’s it.
Ordered. Thanks!
@@triggeredprecisionmachinellc if your Dad is using the AMP press he should definitely be able to see the difference once plotted. There is a Benchrest shooter I follow and he was using AMP press and saw statistically significant results using the NeoLube. I only have a analog gauge on my arbor press but I have seen very positive results.
I'll get some sent down to him to test. That press is pretty amazing, seeing the charts it produces is wild.
Only have an ultrasonic cleaner, the first time is after primer removal second time is after all case prep (sizing, annealing, etc) is done before new, primer, powder, and bullet assembly. I was as looking at a tumbler if I really want to get annal about it. Thank you for taking the time to do these videos as it is always good to get professional processes.
I experimented with an ultrasonic cleaner for a little bit but never got the results I wanted, granted I didn't give it too much of an effort. I'll give it another go someday, the stainless steel tumbling is just so easy and it does such a good job.
That's close to what I do, except for annealing and I use an ultrasonic for brass cleaning. Great series, very well done.
I know you've ran into this issue because I've only been reloading for 6 years and have ran into it twice. Some dies do not size properly and even though you get the correct bump, .002-.003", thee brass doesn't chamber properly due to expansion of the web/head area. I've solved the issue with different dies, but it's now happening again with Norma brass (300 Norma). I'll figure it out eventually by either finding the correct die that sizes that area or using a body die. I suspect this is a brass issue due to poor brass, but the first time it happened was with Alpha brass and switching form Redding to Forster fixed it. Now the Forster FL die is not doing it. Different caliber and gun. It's happening with my AI AXSR, but have been reading that Norma brass expands too much due to how soft it is. I have Alpha brass coming so we'll see how it goes.
I've read a lot of stuff over various forums with people having this issue, but have yet to find the cause. Is it the fault of the die or the brass? Once I figure it out for the 300 Norma, I'll have an answer, but wanted to ask in case you (or anyone else) had a solution. Again, great series and keep the killer videos coming.
Thanks for watching Leland!
Awesome video. Great in-depth explanation much appreciated Shawn
Any time dude!
Tons of great info, been reloading for decades and Im still learning new stuff. Thanks for sharing your process!!!
My pleasure! Thanks for watching!
Thanks for all the Awesome content Shawn.
And especially thanks for addressing the unreasonable lead times within the rifle building component industry. It's pretty ridiculous and it seems like it's just a matter of having the market "cornered" and as customers being at the mercy of a few companies that all operate at the same speed.
Thanks for cramping their style and putting the pressure on them to step up.
You are very welcome.
Its tough navigating the manufacturers in this industry. There are only a few who seem to understand how to manage production. Other than that, it's a matter of trying to forecast what is popular and purchasing as much as I can afford to keep in stock.
@@triggeredprecisionmachinellc you hit the nail on the head with the lack of competence in production management.
I learned something today! The imperial dry lube for the neck lube! And leaving it inside for bullet seating! AWESOME! Something I’ve definitely been missing in my process
Its a fairly new addition for me and holy cow has there been an improvement in my extreme spread.
I use the Ugly Annealer for annealing Brass - for those on a budget - they are freaking awsome!!
Great tip. I've used an Ugly Annealer and they are not ugly. HAH, I thought it worked great and would definitely recommend that as an option.
Great content! I cant wait to get into reloading. I've been scooping up parts and tools and having them shipped back home while I'm on deployment. Got plenty of 308 and 223 to brass back home.
Thank you, and more importantly, thank you for your service!
Great tip with using the dry lube media.
Thanks! I have an update video to this I need to shoot. A couple clever things to share!
Great Video! Perfect explanation of things. First mention I have heard any where, about the amount of neck tension and bullet set back. Winchester brass works good in my 300 Mag as well. Thumbs Up, I am watching.
Thank you!
Very very good video. For sure, going to be my new go to, to send ppl when they ask about precision reloading. Ur process is identical to mine.
It's a good process 😆
I appreciate that. Thank you!
What kind of improvements have you seen from uniforming the primer pockets and flash holes? It's not something I've done yet and I'm interested in understanding what it will improve. I'm assuming it will result in lower velocity spread, but I'd like to be sure.
I lay the brasso to cases before sizing..helps make em slick too as I’ve had a time with lube..only thing works is paint lee lube on with toothbrush..so far never stuck a .308 and well over 1k rds….hornady dies…223 stick alot nomatter what I do cause rim won’t take much on the down stroke but lee dies just remove collet and hammer case out…I’ve got good at it..great to see you grow my friend
Are you spinning the cases in a shell holder attached to a drill motor? I've done that once or twice to polish some loaded rounds up for show purposes - makes ammo look like polished jewelry. When the brass comes out of the rotary tumbler, it almost looks polished. It has a nice slick feel to it, that's helped me a lot with cases getting stuck.
I'm with you on the .223 stuff. Its a pain. I usually use Hornady One Shot Case Lube applied heavily a couple times and that works pretty well, but I'll still stick a case a couple times every thousand rounds or so using bulk, unsorted range brass. Thanks for watching Matt!
-Shawn
I dig it! I use a very similar process, just a couple different brands or tools. Love the series.
Thanks Jason, and thanks for watching! Did you get some business cards sent your way for the little competition?
@@triggeredprecisionmachinellc I did. I’m the one who botched it. I mailed it out today as I don’t think I’ll get another trip in before it’s due. Damn Army, always spoiling my fun.
😂 Oh yes! Haha, I remember now. My apologies, I've had so many of these things go out I've lost track. That's a good thing. So far we've had some decent groups return, all very close. It's going to be a tight race.
GOOD DAY TO YOU,
have you ever heard go "Shooting Technology" in Italy, they have a wet tumbler developed which makes it much easier to separate steel pins from cases than the process you have shown here.
Just look at their homepage - I think they call it LEM case cleaner.
Hi! Thanks for the information, I will check that out right now!
Great work my friend 👍👍
Thank you buddy. Much appreciated.
Great detailed info and my exact process, except I trim after running it through the expander mandrel. Wouldn’t you be changing the length when running the mandrel afterwards?
It's definitely possible. I do my best to only expand .001" - so I use a neck bushing that will give me .003" neck tension, then expand back up .001 for my target .002" tension number. Its such a small amount I've never seen it to make a difference. Also, I run the Giraud case trimmer which handles the trim / chamfer / debur in one shot. The chamfer adds to a nice smooth entry for the mandrel into the case.
Wow!! Where were you 4 years ago when I started my precision reloading quest .. your presentation would have saved me a lot or research and grief ($$$ in reloading components) your conclusions on brass prep are similar to mine ( I've decided if Lapua doesn't make the cartridge brass -- I don't shoot that cartridge ) annealing, dry lube and ID sizing with mandrel etc... I am still struggling on one area you passed over .... How do you decide on overall brass trim length for trimming??? ... even my Lapua brass (after being reloaded and shot once) is well under the SAMII maximum spec length that is in all the reloading literature .. Do you have a rational method for determing this?
Looking forward to you future videos ...... Well done
I did miss that, thanks for pointing it out! As far as brass length I have two a couple things I do. If the brass is consistently just barely short of SAAMI, I'll adjust the case holder on the Giraud trimmer to give me a proper cut. If the brass is significantly smaller than SAAMI ( more than, say .030") then I will manually chamfer and debur each piece minimally with the hopes it will grow after the next firing. Other than that, I trim all brass to SAAMI spec mostly because I use almost all SAAMI spec chambers for my personal rifles.
I may have missed you mentioning it, but Lapua 6mm creedmoor brass has a small flash hole that requires a smaller decapping pin. Also, if you are using a vibratory tumbler, go to a pet store and buy the reptile bedding. It’s just the same walnut media, but half the price!
Awesome, great tip, thank you. I'll check out the pet store. Which polishing additives do you use with it?
You are correct. I skipped over that because I run small decapping pins in my dedicated decapping die so I never have an issue. I've only bent one decapping pin for as long as I can remember and that was user error, lol.
@@triggeredprecisionmachinellc Flitz makes one that has worked pretty well for me. I’ve used one made by Frankford Arsenal as well.
Perfect, Flitz is what I use. I used to buy the powdered stuff that I thought worked better than the liquid but I can't remember what brand it was or where I got it from.
Loving the intense in-depth of this video and taking some notes. Curious if you get a case stuck, how do you remove it the easiest without damaging in die?
I probably do it a little different than some. I'll drill and tap the case head for a 12-24 machine screw and use a little weighted slide hammer I made to get em out. Haven't been beat yet.
Great video, what’s the Brand of the flash hole tool you use? I have a KM but goes in through the cartridge mouth.
Its made by Sinclair - great little tool - reloadingunlimited.com/product/sinclair-flash-hole-reamer-0625/
You're going to laugh but I have a wet tumbler identical to yours and I haven't used it just yet. Something that concerns me a bit is the possibility of having left over pins which remain inside the case. Other than inspecting each case internally with a light, very time consuming, how do you remedy this?
Thanks for all the great videos!
Get that bad boy out and start making some shiny brass! 😂
I use a cheap Franklin Armory media separator to get the SS pins out. It does a great job and does it fairly quickly. the pins are too small in diameter to get stuck in flash holes, but I have had a couple stuck sideways in case necks. As I'm going through the brass prep process post wet tumbling, I'm always inspecting the brass. In the rare occasion there's a pin still in the case, just pop it out and get to reloading. That was a concern of mine at first but after cleaning tens of thousands of cases over the years with that tumbler, I can confidently say it's nothing to be concerned with.
Enjoy the new machine and thanks for watching!!!
@@triggeredprecisionmachinellc Thank you!
Kinda hard to to see but it looks like you have a power conditioner hooked up to your scale. If so two questions. Has it helped with your scale drifting and if so, what power conditioner are your using? Thanks!
Yessir, good eye.
I actually had pretty bad scale drift in my old house, this helped clean it up for the most part. Here in the shop, I have a better power supply but I still use it. I leave the scale on full time and have zero scale drift.
I'll get you the make and model of the unit when I get in the shop tomorrow.
Thanks for watching!
@@triggeredprecisionmachinellc Same here. I live in an older house and the electricity drives my scale nuts.
Its a "Line-R 1200" made by APC. Had it for years, and has always worked perfect. It's also nice insurance to protect your scale from power outages and surges.
@@triggeredprecisionmachinellc Thanks!
Any time!
can you ship a proof barrel to Canada without any problems ?
I don't believe so, ITAR restrictions an such.
Do you see changes in the performance through each cycle?
It's usually very consistent. I take a lot of notes and try to replicate everything I do, every time.
I know it is an old video but this is probably the 5th time I have watched it. Every time I end up buying something new to make my accuracy better. This time I have to ask a question. I use Hornaday brass because it is easier to find loaded and unloaded. I also use redding type s dies. Since the brass is not uniformed on the neck I am going to get the mandrel and start sizing that way instead of the bushing. Question is I have been using a .289 bushing for roughly .002 neck tension based on average brass thickness. Would you go to a .288 or .287 because of the inconsistency of the brass? The reason I ask is because KM website says I should go down .007 and expand back up. You say go down .003 and go back up to .002
On Lapua brass I've found going down .003" and expanding back up for .002" neck tension works very well on annealed brass. On other brass like Winchester, Hornady, etc., I generally will start at .004" and neck up to .002" When you are doing it, pay attention to the feel, if you have some that barely feel like the expander is kissing, maybe try a smaller bushing until you feel the expander contact in the neck. Also, super important, be sure to use a good neck lube when expanding. Not using neck lube can gall the brass and really goof up neck tension.
@@triggeredprecisionmachinellc thank you for the information. I guess I will buy a set of neck bushings so I have options. I only have the one because it is what worked with the brass I have.
Yeah, sometimes its a little annoying when you start out, trying to find the right bushing range to buy can be tricky.
How important is consistency with shoulder set back? If i set the die at say .002 set back but I get a piece of brass that goes .003 or .004 am I going to see a performance difference because of that?
We always try and be as accurate and consistent as possible, but there are things like shoulder setback that we just won't get exactly perfect every time. Differences in the metallurgy in the brass, how different parts become more work hardened than others, and differences in each piece of brass will effect this. The whole reason behind the arbitrary .002" setback we all shoot for is simply for ease of chambering. Ideally we wouldn't touch our case bodies and fire a perfect fire formed copy of our chamber in subsequent reloadings, but we chance chambering reliability as the brass expands to the chamber walls.
To answer your question, I do not think you are going to see any major performance change. Once we squeeze the brass down, we no longer have that "perfect" carbon copy brass to chamber fit, but it is very, very good. If we have more significant swings in our dimension, say .001" bump to .010" bump, then I think you would see an issue, but there are so many other things that I believe play a more significant role in accuracy and consistency, I wouldn't sweat a slightly inconsistent shoulder bump.
Great question!
Are the actions you mentioned Pristine ?
Why yes!
I'm shocked that anyone is still propane annealing. Look into induction annealing! I'll NEVER propane anneal again. My setup is a cheap "Hot Rod" induction heater wired to a digital timer. I know that my Lake City NATO cases get a 1.55 second blast and it does it *perfectly* every time.
If you don't mind, shoot me the details on your setup. Shawn@triggeredprecision.com