Load Development... New Brass vs. Fire Formed ?

[FamilyMan]

Newbie Question,
So i am about to start doing load development for a factory Rem 700 SPS Varmint in .243 and i have about a hundred new Win brass(50 prepped and 50 that still need prep done) and about 40 Win brass from factory rounds that have been fired in it. Am i better off only doing my load development with rounds that have been fire formed to my action or is it fine to do it with new brass?

 

[BuzzBoss915]

Re: Load Development... New Brass vs. Fire Formed ?

Well, some purists would say stay strictly with the fireformed brass, but I don't see much difference, in this case. They have to be shot sometime, so might as well do it now, but there's no wrong way. Whatever blows your skirt up.
BB

 

[FamilyMan]

Re: Load Development... New Brass vs. Fire Formed ?

Thanks, that is kinda what i was thinking but i didn't wanna get through a hundred rounds just to find out i gotta start all over again.

 

[dmpowder]

Re: Load Development... New Brass vs. Fire Formed ?

Either way you do it just make sure you don't load once fired and new brass for the same load when doing your load work.

 

[Hook Creek]

Re: Load Development... New Brass vs. Fire Formed ?

I just did a test at 200y to see if there was a POI change between once fired, and brand new brass and there was none. Even with seating two different neck tensions it still grouped the same with same POI. I'll let you know later today when I try it farther.

Edit: Forgot to mention these cases were resized with a fl die.

 

[oldfatguy]

Re: Load Development... New Brass vs. Fire Formed ?

Running cases through a FL die pretty much returns them to unfired dimensions. Neck sizing keeps the case body closer to the size/shape of the particular chamber it was fired in. In theory that makes for more accurate rounds. However you'd have to shoot better then I do to see much of a difference.

OFG

 

[Deadshot2]

Re: Load Development... New Brass vs. Fire Formed ?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: oldfatguy</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> In theory that makes for more accurate rounds. However you'd have to shoot better then I do to see much of a difference.

OFG </div></div>

Definitely. A fire formed case, in theory, will hold the bullet more properly aligned with the bore so when it if fired the bullet enters the bore/rifling as true as possible.

Fire forming can also yield more case capacity so what may have been a compressed load in a factory (or factory sized) case will often not be compressed. Depending on the powder this may or may not make a difference.

I like to stick with fire formed, neck sized only cases merely to extend their life by minimizing the working of the brass.

 

[FamilyMan]

Re: Load Development... New Brass vs. Fire Formed ?

Thanks For all the replies And i agree with OFG i am nowhere near able to shoot well enough to see the difference <span style="text-decoration: underline">YET</span> but i will hopefully sooner than later.

 

[FamilyMan]

Re: Load Development... New Brass vs. Fire Formed ?

How do you guys do your load development? do you shoot from your normal position i.e. prone, bench with sand bag..etc or do you use a gun vise? i have asked this question a few times but haven't got an answer yet. it makes sense to me to use the vise to take the user error out of it for the load dev part but then again i have never done it.

 

[stinkyDrunk]

Re: Load Development... New Brass vs. Fire Formed ?

I like to shoot from sandbags front and rear off a bench for load development. Don't know a better way to get a more stable shooting platform.

 

[BuzzBoss915]

Re: Load Development... New Brass vs. Fire Formed ?

The answer is; although a gun vice seems logical, a properly sand bagged rifle is more accurate. At least that's what the "experts" tell us.
BB

 

[TexIndian]

Re: Load Development... New Brass vs. Fire Formed ?

I've been doing quite a bit of ladder testing for some new guns lately (and a few older guns that I never really put through their paces) - mainly at 300 and 400 yards. I've mostly been shooting off of a bench with a mechanical rest up front and sand bag at the rear.

I tried one of those Lead Sled Plus rests the other day with 50lbs of shot on board, trying to eliminate myself from the equation. That thing tended to slide around on the table from recoil and had to be repositioned. And when I tried to lock down the front elevation support by turning the locking screw, it would move the POA quite a bit. But despite all of that, I was getting tighter groupings than with my usual method. I'm not sure whether that speaks good about the Lead Sled or bad about by usual bench technique.

 

[Deadshot2]

Re: Load Development... New Brass vs. Fire Formed ?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: stinkyDrunk</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I like to shoot from sandbags front and rear off a bench for load development. Don't know a better way to get a more stable shooting platform. </div></div>

Not only stable but it also allows the rifle to "behave" more like it will when shooting at other times.

When you lock down the rifle in a "machine rest" this keeps the barrel and stock from moving in a natural manner which can give you an entirely different behavior. It's all about the barrel harmonics and natural movement of the rifle when developing a load. It's up to the shooter to keep things consistent and since each has their own "ergonomics" it's best to develop loads under those conditions.

This is why all too often one good shooter can pick up another rifle that's "dead on" with the owner shooting it, and be totally inaccurate due to the different dynamics within the rifle.

 

[Heman]

Re: Load Development... New Brass vs. Fire Formed ?

In your case it will make no difference since you are using .243 brass in a .243 chamber. If it was a .243AI chamber then there would be a difference. Friend of mine who is on the US Palma Goodwill team (Maj Dave Cloft) went over to Australia with some fired brass and some new virgin brass, made no difference at 1000yds on impact. I have noticed the same thing. Only time I have noticed a difference is when you are forming your brass to somthing different. WHen I take .30-06 brass and form to .280 I use a hydraulic die. It moves the shoulders but they aren't completely crisp. At 1000yds there will be a little more deviation with them vs. formed but again not that much to make a difference. They are still will inside 10 ring elevation.

Since your shooting .243 do not waste your barrel life fire forming.