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Posted: 5/22/2013 9:57:26 AM EDT
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I've read through all the stickied and getting started threads. Thanks they are very informative.
I just bought a Hornady LnL AP. One of the first rounds I want to do is 300 AAC. I bought a 300 AAC shell plate (#16) and dies, powder cop die. I also bought a HF mini cut-off saw and a torch to start processing .223 brass. Things I know I still need (other than components  ) are a case cleaner, case trimmer and a powder scale. Probably also need a bullet puller and a chrono at some point.
For now I'm just thinking through my process. They way I've been taught to reload is on single stage. Clean Brass De-prime / re-size Measure / trim, Clean primer pockets Prime Powder charge Seat / crimp bullet. But on a progressive it seems I'd be skipping the primer pocket cleaning and the measuring / re-sizing. Is this ok? Do you measure brass first and make decisions off of that. Is cleaning the primer pocket not unnecessary. |
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You always need to measure and trim if necessary, which means that you'll do this after you size/deprime and tumble the lube off (easier to handle cases this way). At that point you can uniform, or clean, your primer pockets. For target grade stuff, I'll uniform my PP and then clean them every three cycles. After that, one might get a bit of crud built up in the pockets, which 'may' (or may not) affect primer seating depth.
You can also deburr your flash holes, after the tumbling step, if that's your prerogative. Rifle reloading on a progressive press, is really semi-progressive in practice. Now, if you know that you won't have to trim, after say...sizing a few cases that are 'typical' of the batch, you can use an inert spray lube like Hornady's One Shot and do 'everything' in one sitting, but standard spray sizing lubes need to be tumbled clean, so one doesn't contaminate their powder charges. Chris |
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If you don't have a trimmer setup in your press, generally rifle rounds get 2 passes, once for processing brass, then again to reload. So you would deprime resize and crank them all out, measure, trim and clean pockets or remove crimps. And clean off lube. Then you run them all through again but skip the sizing part. Some people put a universal recapping die in to make sure the flash hole is clear. Then charge, seat and crimp if you choose. I'm on my phone, sorry if that's not clear lol
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Great info guys, thanks.
So it looks like I'd be: Cutting and annealing brass Clean (if tumbler) Lube Cases Running it through with just a sizing / de-capping die. Trim Cases Deburr/Chamfer Ream pockets Clean (if sonic) Run through with a uni-decapper die, primer, powder charge, powder cop, and bullet seating die. Do I have that right? |
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Quoted: Never cleaned a PP in 20+ years of reloading. I can say the same exact thing. Waste of time IMO Quoted: Quoted: Never cleaned a PP in 20+ years of reloading. I hear people are split on this. I think if I went the sonic cleaner route it would negate it anyway? Now you're adding another step, drying your brass. As a beginer I would suggest the KISS method, and just go with the basics. Get a decent vibratory tumbler, and enjoy reloading. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Never cleaned a PP in 20+ years of reloading. I hear people are split on this. I think if I went the sonic cleaner route it would negate it anyway? Now you're adding another step, drying your brass. As a beginer I would suggest the KISS method, and just go with the basics. Get a decent vibratory tumbler, and enjoy reloading. [/quote] Well now I'm thinking about this instead. 
http://www.stainlesstumblingmedia.com/ |
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Quoted: Great info guys, thanks. So it looks like I'd be: Cutting and annealing brass Clean (if tumbler) Lube Cases Running it through with just a sizing / de-capping die. Trim Cases Deburr/Chamfer Ream pockets Clean (if sonic) Run through with a uni-decapper die, primer, powder charge, powder cop, and bullet seating die. Do I have that right? For 300blk I would (assuming you are starting with 223 brass): Tumble cases to clean them Cut necks off on mini saw Chamfer & deburr case necks Lube cases Size and deprime Trim to 300blk length Tumble to remove lube Universal decap to clear primer pocket, prime, drop powder, powder cop, seat bullet and crimp if desired. Edit.... If you want to anneal, do it after you size the cases and have formed the 300blk case shoulder. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Great info guys, thanks. So it looks like I'd be: Cutting and annealing brass Clean (if tumbler) Lube Cases Running it through with just a sizing / de-capping die. Trim Cases Deburr/Chamfer Ream pockets Clean (if sonic) Run through with a uni-decapper die, primer, powder charge, powder cop, and bullet seating die. Do I have that right? For 300blk I would (assuming you are starting with 223 brass): Tumble cases to clean them Cut necks off on mini saw Chamfer & deburr case necks Lube cases Size and deprime Trim to 300blk length Tumble to remove lube Universal decap to clear primer pocket, prime, drop powder, powder cop, seat bullet and crimp if desired. Edit.... If you want to anneal, do it after you size the cases and have formed the 300blk case shoulder. Cool thanks, I see some people complaining being able to push in bullets by hand. They seem to be blaming on annealing after sizing. They claim that if they size after annealing they are getting tighter bullet grip. It was only a couple people though so I'm not sure if they were just overheating when annealing or what. |
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I went by my private range (folks house ) and emptied my brass barrel. I figured I'd get half a gallon of brass out of it.
Apparently we've been "donating" to it longer than I thought. 27 pounds of brass. Seems to be heavy on .223, 7.62x39, and 45 caliber. Was hoping for more 9mm. 
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| I never cleaned the pockets till recently when I started using the wet tumbling method with stainless pins for rifle rounds. It's optional. After resize/decapping, I trim then tumble again. It's a cleanliness thing, but I still don't clean the pockets with pistol rounds on the LNL in order to save time and effort. |
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If you are going to use a wet media to clean your brass, make sure you de-cap first. (I use a universal de-capping die.) It helps them to dry quicker.
As a new loader, I agree with the above KISS method to start with. I have a tumbler and still use the vibrator to get the oil off from sizing. I also have a single and progressive press. I use them both all of the time. 
Good Luck! Taz |
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Quoted:
If you are going to use a wet media to clean your brass, make sure you de-cap first. (I use a universal de-capping die.) It helps them to dry quicker. As a new loader, I agree with the above KISS method to start with. I have a tumbler and still use the vibrator to get the oil off from sizing. I also have a single and progressive press. I use them both all of the time.
Good Luck! Taz I have a Lee universal decaping die but only have .223 and 9mm shell plates. Haven't picked up one for .45 yet. |
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Quoted: So with that out of the way. One thing I'm really confused on is scales. Are the electronic scales any good? The little fold-able ones seem to have a lot of bad reviews. The cheap ones (under $90) are junk and deserve the bad reviews. If you want digital, plan on spending $100 to $150. I have tried to like digital scales, but I try them, sell them, and go back to my beam scale. |
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Quoted:
I use a flash hole de-burr reamer. It gets rid of the brass flash on the inside of the cartridge, from when they drilled out the flash hole. I get brass out of every single cartridge I ream. It gives a more even primer ignition.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSo10K_n3o8I used to do this. No noticeable improvement in accuracy. Maybe if you are a bench rester. |
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Just to be clear since you're cutting your own Blackout out of 223 cases you really should have to deburr/chamfer twice.
After you cut the 223 brass down to .300 lengths you then need to deburr/chamfer prior to sizing to prevent damaging the sizing die with the rough edges from cutting off the brass. Then resize and whatever order you come up with. At some point you will then need to finish length size the brass to proper length. Then you will again need to deburr/chamfer. It's possible you may be able to cut the brass down then trim to proper length with a trimmer prior to sizing the first time and be close enough so you only have to do the deburr/chamfer once. The point here being not to put a rough edge due to cutting/sizing into a case sizing die. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
So with that out of the way. One thing I'm really confused on is scales. Are the electronic scales any good? The little fold-able ones seem to have a lot of bad reviews. The cheap ones (under $90) are junk and deserve the bad reviews. If you want digital, plan on spending $100 to $150.
I have tried to like digital scales, but I try them, sell them, and go back to my beam scale.
Well I don't have to have digital. Are the beam scales all the same or are there some I should stay away from? |
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Quoted:
Just to be clear since you're cutting your own Blackout out of 223 cases you really should have to deburr/chamfer twice. After you cut the 223 brass down to .300 lengths you then need to deburr/chamfer prior to sizing to prevent damaging the sizing die with the rough edges from cutting off the brass. Then resize and whatever order you come up with. At some point you will then need to finish length size the brass to proper length. Then you will again need to deburr/chamfer. It's possible you may be able to cut the brass down then trim to proper length with a trimmer prior to sizing the first time and be close enough so you only have to do the deburr/chamfer once. The point here being not to put a rough edge due to cutting/sizing into a case sizing die. Was wondering about that, thanks! |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: So with that out of the way. One thing I'm really confused on is scales. Are the electronic scales any good? The little fold-able ones seem to have a lot of bad reviews. The cheap ones (under $90) are junk and deserve the bad reviews. If you want digital, plan on spending $100 to $150. I have tried to like digital scales, but I try them, sell them, and go back to my beam scale. Well I don't have to have digital. Are the beam scales all the same or are there some I should stay away from? I have a Dillon beam and it is always dead on when I check it with weights. I use it to mainly verify my POS Lyman electronic scale before every loading session. I also use it if I am working near a max charge with precision rifle loads (I load those on a single stage and trickle every charge). |
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Dang: Progressive Press, stainless media tumbling, .300 Blackout.
You jumped right in the deep end, didn't ya? Welcome to a new obsessive hobby! I love reloading. I recommend adding a single stage to your bench. They come in real handy for stuff like you're trying to do. My Single Stage does all my universal decapping, is home for the Dillon 1200 Trimmer, decaps crimped pockets, and does small batches of stuff. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: So with that out of the way. One thing I'm really confused on is scales. Are the electronic scales any good? The little fold-able ones seem to have a lot of bad reviews. The cheap ones (under $90) are junk and deserve the bad reviews. If you want digital, plan on spending $100 to $150. I have tried to like digital scales, but I try them, sell them, and go back to my beam scale. Well I don't have to have digital. Are the beam scales all the same or are there some I should stay away from? Just get a metal one. RCBS, Dillon, Hornady, Redding, Lyman.  I have a RCBS 505 which I like. |
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Quoted:
Dang: Progressive Press, stainless media tumbling, .300 Blackout. You jumped right in the deep end, didn't ya? Welcome to a new obsessive hobby! I love reloading. I recommend adding a single stage to your bench. They come in real handy for stuff like you're trying to do. My Single Stage does all my universal decapping, is home for the Dillon 1200 Trimmer, decaps crimped pockets, and does small batches of stuff. Yeah, I'm screwed...
Buying a single stage Lee from a co-worker. Going to slap a Hornady LnL conversion on it if they are not too pricey. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Well I don't have to have digital. Are the beam scales all the same or are there some I should stay away from? Just get a metal one. RCBS, Dillon, Hornady, Redding, Lyman. I have a RCBS 505 which I like. No differences in them, they are all the same? I've been looking at them. Other than grain capacity I see some adds to claim to have steel parts when others have aluminum, but I'm not sure which ones to steer away from. |
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