Once fired brass accuracy

[Rlovato]

Did some load developement with some federal brass got to a load i really like now the primer pockets are getting loose a buddy of mine had a box of once fired he gave me. loaded the up the same and accuracy is not nearly like my last set this close to hunting season i am lost on what to do.
Do i load up the slightly loose primer brass to get through the season
Will annealing and reloading the now twice fired brass increase accuracy
Or do i break down and buy factory ammo
I leave for my hunt this friday and dont have time to restart load development

 

[918v]

The 1x brass you received, was it fired from the same bolt action rifle or is it range pickup fired from who knows what?

 

[spife7980]

How loose are they? Loose as in not super tight but you can still feel the primer pressing in or the primer goes in with no resistance what so ever?

 

[rweaver00geo]

you could try a different primer not sure what your shooting but small rifle rem 7 1/2 primers always feel more loose than cci 5.56 same with large rifle winchesters always go in easier than the cci's. sometimes I dont even load up the cci's until the second reload in some HXP mil brass

 

[Rlovato]

The primers seat easy but with bery slight resistance the brass i got was all once fired from his howa 1500

 

[BigTex]

Federal brass is generally garbage. Try some Winchester or Lapua.

 

[Rlovato]

If i had the time to work up another load i would switch brass this is just to get through the hunting season

 

[spife7980]

If it’s very slight as in you think you could press it out with just one finger pushing a decapping rod then toss them.

I had a batch that, when I was new, I thought was too loose but on someone else’s advice I took a decapping rod and tried to push it out by hand, that sucker was still plenty tight. The little hand primers have a lot of leverage so unless it feels like I’m just pushing the primer into empty air I wil keep using the brass.

If you don’t have a lee hand held decapping rod or a decapping die itself you can take out your sizing dies decapper and remove the expander ball to stick down in the brass and feel with.

I wouldn’t bother annealing, with everything I’ve heard about federal it will give up the ghost after this next firing but hey, if you only need a handful of rounds to get through the season it should suffice.

Quality brass really makes itself affordable in these situations, it’s more than just the monetary layout that the brass can cost.

 

[Rlovato]

Great advice i will try that out!

 

[918v]

What’s the load? What is your rifle? Maybe your load isn’t good.

 

[Rlovato]

With previous brass the load was for my 300 winmag running 74.8gn of h1000 under a 200gr eldx 2970 fps and 5 sd easliy grouped .5moa at 100

 

[918v]

And what makes you think that wasn’t a fluke? Cuz lemme tell you, if a load can’t survive that kind of change, it’s not a stable load.

 

[Rlovato]

No you make a good point i agree. i guess it just shocked me that i could go 50 rounds with my last brass and no issues then switching brass throws it wayout

 

[03psd]

I would give the brass one last ride and leave it lay once fired. If the primers arent literally falling out you will be OK. I made the same mistake as you, ie spending time developing a great load using FC brass only to discover for myself how crappy it really is. Now if I buy or reload FC its for a my SBR or other non precision use and it gets at most 3 firings total before its left for the range scroungers, who probably then turn around and try to resell it as 1x fired

 

[918v]

FC 308 brass is fine, their 300WM is too soft.

 

[davidb187]

Ballistitool primer pocket gage will help you defining how loose is too loose.

 

[Rlovato]

Thanks for the suggestion ill look into it

 

[Rlovato]

All went well tested my old brass and was able to get through my hunt took my cow at 550 yard dropped in her tracks with nothing left of the heart!

 

[Blaster7Romeo]

FC 308 brass is fine, their 300WM is too soft.

I am sitting on a good bit of FGMM for my 300WM I was planing on reloading the brass when I got it all shot... how many reloads do you think it could take? I am most likely gonna not be easy on it lol

 

[918v]

2?

 

[viva la figa]

FC brass is bad? Too soft? News to me

I have a ton of 300win mag FC brass. The first 100 cases I have been using since day one. I stopped keeping track of the number of reloads after 12....i have shot at least half that again on them. I anneal and neck size after each firing so maybe that has something to do with it? Been pretty good brass till now. .5moa all day ragged hole at 100yrds

I have a batch of Norma brass I think I'll work up a load with next.

 

[918v]

No, it’s not the neck hardness. If you think about it, if a neck is too soft then annealing won’t help. Annealing softens the brass.

The problem with FC300WM is that primer pockets loosen up very quickly. At least in my gun they do. I have a fat chamber. Hornady pp stay tight throughout the life of the case which is 15 loadings in my use. No, not the same powder charge.

 

[RTH1800]

Not sure what you are hunting but doubt a change in brass with your present load will cause a miss.