06-12-2023, 06:48 AM
Great post! I will say Klem is right about Cold Bore. You may not see it at 100 yards, but you definatleybwill at 600 yards. Thr bullet barrel friction etc interface of a clean barrel on that first shot, is quite different than on the second, amd will show up at distance. If it's Cold bore still fouled and last shot in the last few days, then sure - not much difference. But a cleaned rifle sitting for 6 months is fired Cold, that firstbshot can easily be at least 1 scoring ring off at 600.
As to annealing - I lean in your direction. I don't anneal, though admit of done right it's no harm and a great way to extend brass life. I run 7.62x39 at times, amd that stuff will crack quick. Ah well. It comes to me free (pickup), it goes away free. If I had easy access to an annealed, I'd run it; but otherwise haven't had the gumption to bother with the effort and expense.
I will say, I seem to have a similar correlation to brass that sits loaded for a while, tends to neck crack on me at a notably higher rate than the same lot fired shortly after reloading. I don't really know why. People don't mention this much, amd just dismiss it when it comes up; but it happens to me - and you, and I suspect others. I tend to load large volumes to exhaustion, so large portions of some of my reload lots can end up 5-10 years old, and then that 1000 rounds cycled into use for a season. In my experience it often doesn't affect anything, and I've won matches where every single neck cracked.
As to annealing - I lean in your direction. I don't anneal, though admit of done right it's no harm and a great way to extend brass life. I run 7.62x39 at times, amd that stuff will crack quick. Ah well. It comes to me free (pickup), it goes away free. If I had easy access to an annealed, I'd run it; but otherwise haven't had the gumption to bother with the effort and expense.
I will say, I seem to have a similar correlation to brass that sits loaded for a while, tends to neck crack on me at a notably higher rate than the same lot fired shortly after reloading. I don't really know why. People don't mention this much, amd just dismiss it when it comes up; but it happens to me - and you, and I suspect others. I tend to load large volumes to exhaustion, so large portions of some of my reload lots can end up 5-10 years old, and then that 1000 rounds cycled into use for a season. In my experience it often doesn't affect anything, and I've won matches where every single neck cracked.
4x P100