223 the defense rests its case on prepping

Lilswede1 · December 8, 2008, 10:20 AM

Just got 1M cases from Gibrass.com and it looks good.
Prepped the 1st 100 last nite and was trying to remember all the constructive advice I have obtained from this site.
Like cleaning the primer pocket. Absolutely useless according to some.
Reaming the flashhole. Another waste of time (according to others).
Brushing the neck. (some people didnt even know what I was talking about).
Trimming brass prior to resizing. (A no-no 'cause brass will elongate when full-sized).
When I started to clean the new (to me) brass I took these statements into consideration and came up with a conclusion.
Do any of the above cause harm to the cases in any way?
NO?
Does it make me feel better to know that I have done all things possible to make my brass as clean and good looking as I can?
YES!!!
Since I am handling the brass up-close and personal am I more likely to find defects?
YES!!!!
Do I have more confidence in my ammo at the range?
DEFINITELY!!!
Is it worth the effort?
Sure is to me and really, that's all that matters in the long run.
I am using a Dillon 550B progressive loader and want all the brass to be in good shape before starting.
The FL resizing die does make cases .002" longer so I set the trimmer to compensate for that. The 1st 100 cases came out great.
After I have fire-formed these reloads to my gun I think I can be a little more relaxed about case prep but for now, being a NEWBIE, I need to learn all I can.

Alleykat · December 8, 2008, 11:19 AM

Jesus! How much did you pay for 1,000,000 pcs of brass! How long will it take you to prep it?

cdrt · December 8, 2008, 01:16 PM

In the cartridge world "M" equals one thousand, not one million.

It's a Roman numeral that means one thousand.

jaguarxk120 · December 8, 2008, 01:42 PM

I use the flash hole uniformer to remove the burr in side the case. In brushing the necks, Use a nylon brush and apply a few drops of oil, the resized case's just slid over the expander ball with no resistance. Primer pockets I clean also.

I do this because I want to, I think doing many of the small things others say unnessary does make a difference in the reloads we make. All in all do what you think is best.

Alleykat · December 8, 2008, 06:07 PM

Quote:

In the cartridge world "M" equals one thousand, not one million. It's a Roman numeral that means one thousand.

In the cartridge world and in the rest of the real world, a big "M" equals a million; little "m" equals 1000.

cdrt · December 8, 2008, 07:01 PM

Quote:

In the cartridge world and in the rest of the real world, a big "M" equals a million; little "m" equals 1000

Not sure what alternate universe you're in.

From one of many explanations of Roman numerals:

Quote:

Roman numerals are written as combinations of the seven letters in the table below. The letters can be written as capital (XVI) or lower-case letters (xvi).
Roman Numerals
I = 1 C = 100
V = 5 D = 500
X = 10 M = 1000
L = 50

One million is written as "M" or "m" with a line over it. The line indicates thousands. For example, a "C" with a line over it would be 100,000.

Maybe it's just a failure of the current school system.

Tim R · December 8, 2008, 08:56 PM

I 've bought GI brass from Barletts before and have had good luck with it. I always get the unprocessed brass as I like to process it myself. If you got the unprocessed brass you will also need to swage the primer pocket. I use a Dillon super swage, well worth the money IMHO. I also have the RCBS swage but you will need a single stage press to operate the swage. I like the swaged primer pockets over a cut one as I get better "feel" when seating the primers.

The other thing I do is uniform the primer pockets. This is the best bang for the buck IMHO for making smaller groups. I also uniform the flash holes but I think the jury is still out on doing this. I shoot the 223 in a Service rifle for High Power.

Alleykat · December 9, 2008, 02:19 PM

Quote:

One million is written as "M" or "m" with a line over it. The line

indicates thousands. For example, a "C" with a line over it would be 100,000.

Maybe it's just a failure of the current school system.

Nobody uses a line over the "M" in the financial world. As I stated before, big "M" equals a million, little "m" equals a thousand, as does a "k". How, exactly does one put a line over a letter with a standard keyboard? You probably REALLY don't want to compare educations and backgrounds.

SKULLANDCROSSBONES65 · December 9, 2008, 03:33 PM

G'day 'gentlemen'. It seems like there is a little bit of confusion with some translations.

I did not realise that the abbreviations used in the decimal system are the same as the numbers used by the Romans.

May be we all need to go back to school.

Roman numerals probably should not be used in conjunction with numbers of other languages. e.g. The xxv-06 at 3.247k f/s is IMHO good enough.

We probably need to cut back on all of the abbreviations. Just IMHO.

cdrt · December 9, 2008, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Nobody uses a line over the "M" in the financial world. As I stated before, big "M" equals a million, little "m" equals a thousand

Really. This is from the Merrill Lynch glossary. Maybe they need to go back to school as well.

They use MM not M for million.

Quote:

Market Cap ($MM): Latest price of the stock multiplied by the number of shares outstanding, shown in millions.

Market Capitalization: The value of a corporation based on the latest price of its common stock multiplied by the number of shares outstanding. Often displayed in $MM (millions of dollars).

rn22723 · December 9, 2008, 07:37 PM

Rifle Reloading Procedure:

I clean rifle brass, not polish bright
I size brass using lube on the case body, inside the case neck my preference is Imperial Die Wax. I use Redding Type S bushing dies for most of my resize operations. Other cartridges I use Redding FL dies with a carbide expander ball.
polish brass to remove case lube
I do one time case prep of swaging primer pocket crimp, deburr flash hole, and uniform primer pocket
I trim to length, then deburr and chamber - I use a Giraud Trimmer
I brush the case necks of brass for precison ammo
I record the heritage of the brass with respect to # of times fired, and sizing history for precision brass
I store brass in a ready to load state, either in MTM Cases or large Zip Lock bags.

jaguarxk120 · December 9, 2008, 07:49 PM

I've found that the brushing of case necks with a small amount of lube really makes a difference when pulling the case neck over the expander ball. Even brushing dry you can tell the difference when on the down stroke.

Lilswede1 · December 10, 2008, 12:15 AM

All good info but we may have gotten a little carried away with the thousand thingy but made for a good laugh.
Luckily, most people seemed to understand the quantity I was trying to indicate.
Tried the "lube the neck" and it sure does make resizing easier.
Got a Redding FL Die for my single stage. Will size brass before trimming now.
And yes, I also use the primer seating tool after having cleaned the primer pocket.
Went to our range yesterday. Did 9 sets of 3 shot groups - all but 2 rounds were in the 1" bullseyes and most were touching. (100 yds)
I was pretty happy with that.
Not quite so at the 280 yd. target (that the longest distance available).
WIll keep working on that.

December 8, 2008, 10:20 AM	#1
Lilswede1 Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2008 Location: NW Wash State Posts: 216	223 the defense rests its case on prepping Just got 1M cases from Gibrass.com and it looks good. Prepped the 1st 100 last nite and was trying to remember all the constructive advice I have obtained from this site. Like cleaning the primer pocket. Absolutely useless according to some. Reaming the flashhole. Another waste of time (according to others). Brushing the neck. (some people didnt even know what I was talking about). Trimming brass prior to resizing. (A no-no 'cause brass will elongate when full-sized). When I started to clean the new (to me) brass I took these statements into consideration and came up with a conclusion. Do any of the above cause harm to the cases in any way? NO? Does it make me feel better to know that I have done all things possible to make my brass as clean and good looking as I can? YES!!! Since I am handling the brass up-close and personal am I more likely to find defects? YES!!!! Do I have more confidence in my ammo at the range? DEFINITELY!!! Is it worth the effort? Sure is to me and really, that's all that matters in the long run. I am using a Dillon 550B progressive loader and want all the brass to be in good shape before starting. The FL resizing die does make cases .002" longer so I set the trimmer to compensate for that. The 1st 100 cases came out great. After I have fire-formed these reloads to my gun I think I can be a little more relaxed about case prep but for now, being a NEWBIE, I need to learn all I can.

December 8, 2008, 01:16 PM	#3
cdrt Senior Member Join Date: June 7, 2007 Location: The Lone Star State Posts: 255	In the cartridge world "M" equals one thousand, not one million. It's a Roman numeral that means one thousand. __________________ Navy Vet, SWIFT Boat OIC, Distinguished Pistol Shot #1399 USS JOHN S. MCCAIN (DDG-36)

December 8, 2008, 08:56 PM	#7
Tim R Senior Member Join Date: November 30, 2004 Location: God's side of Washington State Posts: 1,601	I 've bought GI brass from Barletts before and have had good luck with it. I always get the unprocessed brass as I like to process it myself. If you got the unprocessed brass you will also need to swage the primer pocket. I use a Dillon super swage, well worth the money IMHO. I also have the RCBS swage but you will need a single stage press to operate the swage. I like the swaged primer pockets over a cut one as I get better "feel" when seating the primers. The other thing I do is uniform the primer pockets. This is the best bang for the buck IMHO for making smaller groups. I also uniform the flash holes but I think the jury is still out on doing this. I shoot the 223 in a Service rifle for High Power. __________________ God Bless our Troops especially our Snipers.

December 9, 2008, 03:33 PM	#9
SKULLANDCROSSBONES65 Senior Member Join Date: August 19, 2008 Location: Far Nth Wst QLD Australia Posts: 992	G'day 'gentlemen'. It seems like there is a little bit of confusion with some translations. I did not realise that the abbreviations used in the decimal system are the same as the numbers used by the Romans. May be we all need to go back to school. Roman numerals probably should not be used in conjunction with numbers of other languages. e.g. The xxv-06 at 3.247k f/s is IMHO good enough. We probably need to cut back on all of the abbreviations. Just IMHO. __________________ If you're not confused, you're not trying hard enough! When you're confused, I'll try to use smaller words!!! Last edited by SKULLANDCROSSBONES65; December 9, 2008 at 03:40 PM. Reason: spelling & punctuation.

December 9, 2008, 07:37 PM	#11
rn22723 Junior member Join Date: December 10, 2001 Location: Burbs of Minneapolis Posts: 676	Rifle Reloading Procedure: I clean rifle brass, not polish bright I size brass using lube on the case body, inside the case neck my preference is Imperial Die Wax. I use Redding Type S bushing dies for most of my resize operations. Other cartridges I use Redding FL dies with a carbide expander ball. polish brass to remove case lube I do one time case prep of swaging primer pocket crimp, deburr flash hole, and uniform primer pocket I trim to length, then deburr and chamber - I use a Giraud Trimmer I brush the case necks of brass for precison ammo I record the heritage of the brass with respect to # of times fired, and sizing history for precision brass I store brass in a ready to load state, either in MTM Cases or large Zip Lock bags.

December 8, 2008, 11:19 AM	#2
Alleykat Junior member Join Date: July 26, 2007 Posts: 3,668	Jesus! How much did you pay for 1,000,000 pcs of brass! How long will it take you to prep it?

December 8, 2008, 01:42 PM	#4
jaguarxk120 Senior Member Join Date: February 28, 2008 Location: Michigan Posts: 2,620	I use the flash hole uniformer to remove the burr in side the case. In brushing the necks, Use a nylon brush and apply a few drops of oil, the resized case's just slid over the expander ball with no resistance. Primer pockets I clean also. I do this because I want to, I think doing many of the small things others say unnessary does make a difference in the reloads we make. All in all do what you think is best.

December 9, 2008, 07:49 PM	#12
jaguarxk120 Senior Member Join Date: February 28, 2008 Location: Michigan Posts: 2,620	I've found that the brushing of case necks with a small amount of lube really makes a difference when pulling the case neck over the expander ball. Even brushing dry you can tell the difference when on the down stroke.

December 10, 2008, 12:15 AM	#13
Lilswede1 Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2008 Location: NW Wash State Posts: 216	Thanks for the replies. All good info but we may have gotten a little carried away with the thousand thingy but made for a good laugh. Luckily, most people seemed to understand the quantity I was trying to indicate. Tried the "lube the neck" and it sure does make resizing easier. Got a Redding FL Die for my single stage. Will size brass before trimming now. And yes, I also use the primer seating tool after having cleaned the primer pocket. Went to our range yesterday. Did 9 sets of 3 shot groups - all but 2 rounds were in the 1" bullseyes and most were touching. (100 yds) I was pretty happy with that. Not quite so at the 280 yd. target (that the longest distance available). WIll keep working on that.