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Old December 4, 2012, 06:55 PM   #1
poline
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Reloading long enough to question things!

The thoughts I'm about to put down concern pistol and revolver "target rds", not self defense rds and not match rds or compeition rds. Did I mention
"Target rds"?
That said, I don't trim every case just the ones that don't fit the Lyman
case gauge, after I full case size them.
Don't clean primer pockets,unless they are reall dirty.
Don't chamfer the brass unless I had to trim it or it is really rough.
I'm now wondering, does it hurt carbide dies if you lube the brass in
and effort to make it easyer to full length size the brass?
Thanks, in advance, for any response from the forum.
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Old December 4, 2012, 07:41 PM   #2
dacaur
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No, lube wont hurt.
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Old December 4, 2012, 07:42 PM   #3
Smokey Joe
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Never hurts to question "established truths" once in a while...

Poline--For target rounds, I can't see that you're doing anything wrong, with your not trimming, not cleaning primer pockets, and not chamfering.

On the chamfering--this is pistol rounds, now, with lead bullets--I'll go you one further: I never chamfer, inside or out. If a case gets trimmed, the belling then removes the sharp edge on the inside, and the crimping removes the sharp edge on the outside. So why bother doing the extra steps with a chamfer tool?

Can't imagine carbide dies being hurt by a little case lube; it'll make things go a bit smoother but no other effect, IMX.

I used to assiduously clean primer pockets, until learning that those paragons of accuracy, benchrest shooters, usually don't do that. So much for one more fussy reloading step! If EVER a case with a primer pocket that's so dirty the new primer won't seat properly comes up (none such so far, pistol, rifle, or shotgun!) I'd just scrap that one case.

So there you have it, one shooter's answers. Doubtless there will be others.
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Old December 4, 2012, 07:48 PM   #4
dickttx
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Smokey Joe has it right. Only thing I might add is that it seems to me if you chamfer the case mouth on pistol rounds you are decreasing the area that the cases headspace on.
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Old December 4, 2012, 08:17 PM   #5
poline
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Sometimes I just loves this forum, thanks fellows!
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Old December 4, 2012, 09:06 PM   #6
tkglazie
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I load my handgun rounds exactly as you have described poline. I only lube about every once in a while though, just enough to keep the cases moving free and easy.

Believe me, your targets will never know that you skipped any steps. Unless you are looking for under 1" groups at 25yds you will never miss the clean pockets and trimmed and chamfered cases.

Last edited by tkglazie; December 4, 2012 at 09:20 PM.
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Old December 5, 2012, 01:48 PM   #7
BigJimP
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I've always used carbide dies ...and I've always used spray lube on the cases...and no, its no big deal.

I will typically run about 2,000 - 3,000 rounds at a time in one caliber....and when I change calibers, I always take the dies apart and clean them / but a pipe cleaner works real well on the resizing - depriming die if you don't want to take it apart.../ and there is always a little bit of crud up in there...but nothing that would prevent the die from working properly if I didn't clean it for 30,000 rounds probably...
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Old December 5, 2012, 03:47 PM   #8
schmellba99
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I can honestly say that I have never trimmed a pistol round - generally you find that they shrink anyway over time.

I can honestly also say that I have never chamfered a pistol round. Belling them eliminates the need, and as already mentioned - on auto rounds you are reducing the surface area on your headspace, which I can only imagine being a bad thing.

Primer pockets - clean when really dirty, otherwise rock and roll with whatever the tumbler did. Same with uniforming or deburring the primer pockets. They are, after all, target/plinking rounds.

I always lube, regardless of whether or not it is rifle brass or pistol brass with a carbide die. Lubing will extend the life of your die and help eliminate overworking of the brass while in the die.
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Old December 5, 2012, 06:38 PM   #9
Misssissippi Dave
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When I feel a case starting to get harder to extract from the sizing die it is time to hit the cases with a little One Shot Case Lube. It won't hurt the carbide dies a bit. I load on a progressive and I don't size pistol cases either. I want as much brass as I can have for pistol ammo especially for semi-auto cases. As for cleaning primer pockets I keep it simple. When the cases are really dirty I just put them into the vib tumbler and let it run all night long. The cases come out really shinny and clean. Any other crud should be forced out when de-priming. I don't load for bullseye shooting either. My method works for me.
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Old December 5, 2012, 07:24 PM   #10
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I do chamfer all new cases just to remove the roughness. Only takes a couple seconds and only have to do once for the life of the case.

I too have never trimmed a revolver straight walled case. Rifle yes. I still get very good groups without this step.... Same with cleaning primer pockets. Just don't see the need (used to do it all the time, but then found clean/dirty still shot the same... for my level of shooting that is... hmmm). You can tell after depriming when it looks like time to 'clean'.

As for lubing. Never have for straight walled cases in a carbide die. What I will do sometimes is swipe around the case with my fingers and the oils are enough to make the operation smoother. I figure they designed carbide dies so you don't have to get messy... and so far that was worked for me since the 80s... YMMV.
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Old December 6, 2012, 12:54 AM   #11
dacaur
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Nothing bad will happen if you dont trim a straight wall pistol case, since it headspaces on the case mouth, worst case scenario it wont fully chamber and the gun wont fire since its out of battery. Of course thats not generally a problem since normally the problem is them shrinking, not growing like a bottleneck case does.

The reason we HAVE to make sure we keep bottleneck rifle cases trimmed is since they headspace on the shoulder, if they are too long the case can intrude into the barrel throat, which is narrower than the chamber, when fired the case cannot expand enough to release the bullet easily, and pressure spikes... not good.
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Old December 6, 2012, 07:18 AM   #12
bird_dog
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I've been reloading for 8 years, .44mag, .357mag and .45acp.

I never chamfer, and I don't own a case trimmer.

The loads are super accurate, and I've killed several deer with the 44 loads from 5 yards, out to 85 yards, with a handgun.

Oh, and I only use Unique powder! This supposedly isn't a good powder for deer loads. My dead deer would disagree.

Do whatever works for you, within the established safety guidelines, of course. I like to keep it simple.
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