Hornady Virgin Brass, so you prep?

[stevegun 1]

I wanted to find out what people do prior to priming and loading new Hornady brass, your thoughts?

[mwilkins]

I asked the same question regarding some Lapua brass. Was told to inspect for out of round necks from shipping. If no issues, load and go. Follow the regular procedures after you get a firing on them.

[CPT.CRAZY]

I siezed and trimmed about 300 new hornady brass and am of the opinion that it ia not needed unless uou visualy see a dent or bent case.

[seatleroadwr]

I run an expander down the throats. This takes care of any out of round issues. I'll also chamfer the mouths.

[babaganoush]

I run an expander down the throats. This takes care of any out of round issues. I'll also chamfer the mouths.

Exactly the same as my treatment of Hornady, and virtually any other quality brass. Trimming or full length sizing is moot since the case is fire formed on the first use, making those dimensions subject to change.

[Drifter]

I wanted to find out what people do prior to priming and loading new Hornady brass, your thoughts?

Depends upon expectations and planned use.

If reliable function and plinking rounds that go "bang" is the goal, minimal prep of new brass is necessary.

If precision accuracy is desired, you might consider a few cases with minimal prep, and another small batch run through the sizing die for comparison. I suggest this because maximum accuracy is somewhat dependent upon correct and consistent neck tension for a particular bullet-brass combination in your particular chamber. Until you've compared results from new unsized brass to brass run through your die and / or chosen bushing size, and over your expander button at whatever position you have it set at, then loaded and fired in your barrel, it's difficult to say with certainty what prep is really needed.

So again, I say that "it depends"...

[stevegun 1]

Thanks all, thank you drifter.

[babaganoush]

I siezed and trimmed about 300 new hornady brass and am of the opinion that it ia not needed unless uou visualy see a dent or bent case.

Hmm. Cap - are you saying that you found 300 bent and/or dented cases?

I'm just sayin' ...

[CPT.CRAZY]

Hmm. Cap - are you saying that you found 300 bent and/or dented cases?

I'm just sayin' ...

No, I worked over the first 300 I got then decided I was wasting my time.

[mwilkins]

But at least now you are absolutely sure the cases are in good order....... Sorry.......

[Zach987]

I would definitely check a small batch first. I loaded my first 100 cases and should have pulled them down to resize them. They absolutely wouldn't fully return to battery. I ended up shooting them all single shot. They wouldn't feed from the mag. The only way to chamber them was to drop a single round in and let the charging handle slam. Factory hornady amaxes work flawlessly, as do my once fired and resized brass. YMMV :-)

[ducks-and-bucks]

Maybe im crazy but I do the whole prep first with new brass... ive seen way too much new brass out of specs... plus I load for accuracy... you get no where with out concistancy and all new brass is not concistant no matter how bad you think it is because its new... haha. Sorry to burst your bubbles! But its true. Case prep them ALL!


If all you want is it to go bang... one day you will get a big bang that used to be your barrel when a oversized case gets stuck perfect and is ignited.

[SCAMP62]

De-burr & chamfer your flash holes, you will be surprised how much brass comes out of the case !!

[babaganoush]

Maybe im crazy but I do the whole prep first with new brass... ive seen way too much new brass out of specs... plus I load for accuracy... you get no where with out concistancy and all new brass is not concistant no matter how bad you think it is because its new... haha. Sorry to burst your bubbles! But its true. Case prep them ALL!


If all you want is it to go bang... one day you will get a big bang that used to be your barrel when a oversized case gets stuck perfect and is ignited.

Truth to what you say, D&B, but as several have said, YMMV. I opine that it comes down to your particular setup. Chamber dimensions, quality of the batch of brass, etc. I check all my new brass with a wilson case gauge, which saves me quite a bit of time and offers substantial peace of mind. Any visible flaws in the brass are caught during this process. Having said that, full length sizing new brass doesn't hurt a thing, but does add to prep time. Some folks have this time, whereas mine is somewhat limited. I look at the ROI, and choose to go the shorter route.

To the O.P.'s question, with Hornady brass, all I've ever needed to do was neck size and inner ream the case mouths. This brass, with 123 Amax, has consistently delivered 3/8 moa in my setup. I wish I had to work so little on all my chamberings as I need to on the Grendel.

David