What to do with brass?

[scorpion168]

Ok. I'm getting info overload. I now have Lapua once fired brass thru my savage .308. When I de-prime, do I use my sizing die? I don't wanna mess up the "fitness" of the brass after it fired and fit my chamber. I have a FL comp die set. Will I mess up my brass by running it thru? I thought I wanted my brass formed to my chamber.

 

[Sniper Uncle]

You need to resize the brass, but only as little as possible. To do this, you measure a freshly shot case with a comparator, and set your die to size the case .002" smaller than just shot measurement. This way, the reloads will chamber easily, but the working of the brass is as little as possible.

As far as depriming, some of us use different methods. I use a decapping die, so that I can clean my brass before sizing, but after the primer is removed. You want to have clean brass before sizing, to prevent wear to the dies from dirt and carbon.

 

[smschulz]

Lee decapping die and a neck size die.

 

[Hardmix]

For me, I deprime before measuring headspace to get a more accurate reading.

Hardmix

 

[oldfatguy]

Lee decapping die and a neck size die.

^^^^^^ and a body die to bump the shoulder. I use mine only when the brass starts to take more then normal force to close the bolt on.

OFG

 

[scorpion168]

Thanks all. Uncle, I clean first, then de-prime. Many thanks

 

[scudzuki]

Lee collet die then into the polisher.

Joe

 

[mkollman74]

Lee de-capping die, then a run through my tumbler with SS media then I FL size EVERYTIME. This gives me absolute confidence in the reliability of my reloads and I don't feel I give up any practical amount of accuracy in either my bolt or gas guns. This isn't benchrest, and the guy whose rifle will shoot 0.1MOA smaller groups than the next guy doesn't really have an appreciable advantage over the guy whose rifle will still shoot ~0.5MOA with dead nuts reliable ammo. YMMV.

 

[Cozmo]

De-prime, then tumble, then neck size. I'm not a BR shooter, but I'd like all the bullets to go through the same hole, if possible. Maybe I'm a bit anal?