Case preparation

[Sagesniffer]

What is your procedure for new, never fired brass? Do you do anything to it? Or do you prime, powder and seat the bullet? I bought some new Hornady brass and I’m getting ready to work up some loads. Should I run the brass through the full size die? Any ideas on what i should do if anything?
Thanks for your time.

 

[pre6422hornet]

Sage all I have ever done in 25 plus years is run them through the full length far enough to uniform the case mouth/neck. You would be amazed how just the slightest drop will deform them. Then I chamfer and load em up.

 

[HighDesertSage]

I always size and trim new brass.

 

[Fire_9]

At a minimum, run them through an expander. I usually chamfer, trim, uniform the flash hole, and uniform the primer pocket. This will vary depending on the brand of brass I'm running though.

 

[Tjay]

I will be the odd man out. All I've done for 55 years is load and shoot new brass.

 

[MKotur325]

With new brass, I typically run it through a sizer and chamfer at the minimum. I will also length check all the new brass and trim if needed. The only exception for me is Lapua brass, typically that stuff good to go out of the box.

 

[elkaholic06]

I full-length size the new brass, then check length and chamfer. With Hornady brass, I have found that all I have to do is full-length size and chamfer.

 

[Laelkhunter]

I chamfer the mouth of the case, then load it.

 

[MThuntr]

As with the others...full length size then chamfer & deburr. It's amazing how out of round case mouths get when they bounce around a little. I always fireform brass then trim before I start load development (not that it's necessary just like things as close to my chamber dimensions as possible).

 

[Millsworks]

Sage all I have ever done in 25 plus years is run them through the full length far enough to uniform the case mouth/neck. You would be amazed how just the slightest drop will deform them. Then I chamfer and load em up.

Same here. Never needed to trim any new I've had.

 

[Don Fischer]

I will be the odd man out. All I've done for 55 years is load and shoot new brass.

Another odd man out The only thing I do is run a dented mouth over the expander plug and back out.

 

[MJE2083]

Full length size and load. I've checked but never came across any that needed trimmed. You probably don't need to FL size them but I do anyway just to make sure.

 

[mtmuley]

Another odd man out The only thing I do is run a dented mouth over the expander plug and back out.

Yep. And any primer pocket attention. mtmuley

 

[Don Fischer]

Yep. And any primer pocket attention. mtmuley

Nope!

 

[mtmuley]

Nope!

Ok. So we do it the same, except I deburr flash holes and uniform primer pockets. Everybody is different. mtmuley

 

[Millsworks]

Good idea to at least look at the pocket and flash hole.
I have had a couple on occasion that had no flash holes in them!
Things do happen.

 

[JM77]

Good idea to at least look at the pocket and flash hole.
I have had a couple on occasion that had no flash holes in them!
Things do happen.

In 40 + years I have never seen a piece of brass with no flash hole!

 

[Millsworks]

So far the pieces I found were all .308 new brass I bought in bulk.
They had a primer pocket but flash hole was not full depth and didn't go all the way through at all.
That could have been interesting.

 

[Sagesniffer]

Thanks for all the replies, It looks pretty straight forward. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't some big important step to take with new brass. I think i will give attention to the flash holes and then run them through the expander plug and then check to see if they need to be trimmed.
Thanks, Happy reloading!

 

[Matt R]

My new case prep has truncated significantly since I first began reloading but I do conduct the following steps...examine brass including the case mouth, shoulder, primer pocket and flash hole (ensure on-center); do neck brushing to help ensure uniform bullet pull; check all case lengths to ensure they're within limits; chamfer and debur is not needed on Norma brass (or I'm guessing lapua) but recommended on brass that's not had it done at factory; check headspace on at least 5 cartridges of the lot to ensure consistency but I usually do all to satisfy my OCDness; install primer with latex gloves to avoid contaminating primer with oils on fingers (read in a reloading book and went with it); verify CBTO on all seated bullets (tip: rotate case half way after seating and then seat again to ensure uniformity).

One other tip I'll give is to buy a chamber length gauge from Sinclair for your caliber as this will reduce throat erosion by showing you what distance you can truly allow your brass to lengthen without getting in danger of an over pressure situation (superfluous trimming is avoided too). I've moved to the high end brass manufacturers (Norma in my case) as I've got into the hobby as significant increases in dimensional uniformity (e.g. case weights, headspace etc.) is something I've noticed along with what I believe are tighter primer pockets (I'm only on my second firing right now). Be safe and have fun with it!