Brass Life Expectancy

[JTB]

JTB:

If the new brass is Lapua, run it through a Full Length Sizer and champher the neck. Load and shoot. After shooting them five or ten times, measure a few to see if you need to trim them. If you trim them you will have to champher again.

If Hornady or other brass, run them through a Full Length Sizer and measure a few to see if they are the same size. If so, champher and shoot. After five or so shots, measure length again and see if you need to trim.

Trim to minimum length if you trim.

Spend money on components and not annealing gear.

Getting a decent Forster or other collet type of sizing die will mean you won't overwork the necks and will never need to anneal.

If you think the accuracy will suffer from a first firing of new brass, you need to focus your money on components and practice more than annealing gear.

LR55

Thank you for the reply sir. It is Hornady brass. I use Forster currently but my sizer is not a bushing die. They offer a service to hone and set the next neck for you but I would rather look into bushing dies and learn to use them. The process you described is pretty much what I expected it to be. I am glad I have some fresh brass now to start over with. I am about to join a range and currently I shoot every 2 to 3 weeks but it’s time to get ready for hunting season so I don’t really want to shoot at my property at the moment. Looking forward to smacking some steel out to 500 real soon. I’ll get them prepped and loaded up this week. I do plan on going one more time this coming week but the soy beans are getting so tall now that I have to lay in the back of my truck.