brass: different number of firings

[jakesnake66]

Hey Folks,

I've struggled asking this question correctly, so I'm going to describe my situation, then ask a couple questions:

I have several 30-06 rifles, and I shoot often (at least twice a week). I have lots of 06 brass, and most of it's been fired several times. I haven't purchased new brass in a while. Each rifle has its "set" of brass, and I neck size until I have to FL size. But I DO NOT keep track of how often any cases get fired. Therefore, in a bag of fully prepped brass for my Rem 700 '06, for example, there likely are cases that have been fired twice mixed in with cases that have been fired 6 times. My goal is to address this moving forward, but I have way too much brass to throw it all away and start over fresh.

Here's the thing: lately my accuracy overall has suffered. I'm in a slump, and specifically with my 30-06s. At the same time, I've noticed various resistance to both neck sizing (with an RCBS neck sizer; sometimes I use collet sizers and thus don't get this feedback) and seating. I haven't attempted to quantify it, but after a few tens of thousands of bullets loaded, we develop a feel for these kinds of things, and it's clear to me as I work through neck sizing, say, 50 R-P '06 cases that the force required to pull the case over the expander ball varies from case to case (not referring to those times when the inside of the neck is "sticky" from not being cleaned or slightly lubed for the procedure). I have this same experience when seating bullets: from case to case different amounts of force are required to seat the bullet.

Some questions: is this likely a result of my cases having been fired and reloaded different numbers of times? Will annealing address the particular issue? Do others here mix cases that have been fired different times, or is it worth the extra effort to organize according to this criteria?

The longer I reload the more I'm convinced that consistent brass prep and brass consistency in general is the absolute key to what I call "basic" accuracy, or "hunter-class" accuracy. I can't comment on what it takes to achieve the kind of accuracy competitive BR shooters require. But to get that factory hunting rifle to shoot REAL moa (not once when all the stars align, but scores of times, in groups of 5 and 10, over a period of years), each piece of brass must match the others as close to perfect as reasonably possible. And, in my view, neck tension is the heart of it all.

[nhyrum]

I believe annealing will solve the issue. Anneal a few times after each firing should even things out

I am no seasoned reloader, less than 6 months, but I have about 1000 rounds done in that short period of time. And lots of "buy a box of Factory ammo a week" shoot it, along with my reloads and add that brass to the pile. So I have about 300 pieces ranging from 2 firings to maybe 6 or 7. All mixed together.

Yesterday I was at the range and was getting groups of 3 touching. Consistently. And shooting round robin(was doing load development too) so environmental factors etc. are out.

I anneal every firing, Just to keep things even. Also increasing brass life.

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[jwrowland77]

Definitely sounds like you need to anneal. I anneal match brass after every firing, all other brass every 3 firings.

I keep all my brass in lots of 100. I keep them separate even if it's for the same rifle. I assign a Lot number, and after I've fired every round in that Lot, they all get tumbled and then reloaded a certain way depending on what the brass is used for (match, hunting, etc).

I figure I spend a bunch of time on my match brass sorting and prepping and whatnot, that I don't want to get it mixed up with anything else.

I also have a spreadsheet of how many firings that Lot has on it and when it was reloaded.

Call it an overkill but after spending hours on prepping and sorting my match brass, I'd be unhappy should a non-match case make its way into the Lot getting mixed with the others.


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[Mobuck]

I often load mixed .223 brass and when I encounter a case that "feels different" I toss it in the "odds bucket". When I reach the bullet seating stage and encounter a case that requires significantly less effort to seat, that round goes in the "questionable" lot for use in break-in, initial zero, or short range practice.

I don't neck size but I do make an effort to keep cases sorted by number of reloads which is far easier and more effective. Unless you have a stable of benchrest accuracy rifles( I do but will sacrifice a tiny bit of that potential accuracy to have a supply of universally acceptable ammo), neck sizing as a common practice is simply adding aggravation to a supposedly relaxing sport.

[firewrench044]

Sounds like your brass needs to be annealed

I have been through this problem, I also have several 3006 rifles
( I shoot competition and hunting )
I kept track of number of firings with collared markers in the extractor
groove
I found that accuracy started to degrade at about 4 to 5 firings
Some brands are worse than others ( at 3 firings )
When I accumulated 3,000 3006 cases and the same number of 308
and 223 cases I started to anneal the cases
Every problem I had that you stated went away

You have choices--
buy new ammo and reload the cases
buy new brass
send your brass off to be annealed
anneal it yourself

I looked at this problem and chose to get an annealing machine
( cheapest in the long run because I would reach this point again
latter )( I also load 6.5X55, 7.62X54R, 8MM Mauser, 7MM Mauser )

Your choice depending on your situation and budget

I now anneal after every firing
I do not have to keep track of number of firings
I have purchased NO cases for 5 years
All the sizing and seating issues are gone