Does my sized brass look GTG?

[earthquake]

I'm working through my first ever reloads and so far have gotten through sizing the brass. These are all 1x fired Hornady cases from factory ammo I shot in my rifle. I decapped with a decapping die, tumbled, cleaned primer pockets, FL sized in a Redding S-bushing die, and put 0.001" neck tension, and bumped the shoulders 0.002".

I was checking them in my Wilson case holder and noticed how much of a difference there is between my unsized (1x fired) brass vs. my sized brass as seen in these pictures:

1x fired in my chamber, un-sized...


Sized...


Factory round unfired...


It was just one of those "wow" moments when I realized how much brass changes size once fired and wanted to know if this is GTG before I begin priming and charging. One thing I was wondering is should I even be resizing brass after only one firing as long as it's not over specs? Wouldn't the fire formed to my chamber brass be "better"? As long as it's not too long...

Thanks!

 

[gstaylorg]

Your brass seems to be ready to go. The .001" neck tension may be a bit on the light side, but you can always go with the next bushing size down if you want to tighten it up a little more. As far as re-sizing/not re-sizing after one firing, try closing your bolt (or BCG) on a fired case and a fired, re-sized case. You may find the bolt (BCG) won't close on a fired case that has not been re-sized. Regardless, consistent brass prep (meaning re-sizing) is the way to go for best results. In addition, the necks are often dinged up by even one firing, particularly if you have a strong ejector. An expander die can help clean that up somewhat, but it's not nearly as concentric afterward as it will be following full-length re-sizing.

 

[earthquake]

Thank you for the reply. I'll size some more with the -0.002" bushing to experiment with.

One more follow up question: Do I need to trim yet? I measured my 50 sized cases and they average 1.917", and range from 1.913" - 1.919". Book max is 1.920"...I thought I'd trim them all to the same length, but is it necessary yet?

 

[flashhole]

Not necessary if you are below SAMMI length. But ... trimming to the same length will eliminate one more variable if striving for accuracy loads.

 

[rjacobs]

Never seen a gauge like that. How do you measure? Ive only had drop in head space gauges that had the steps on them for min and max head space.

I gave up on drop in gauges when I bought the Hornady headspace gauge kit for calipers. Way better to get good measurements instead of eye balling things.

 

[gstaylorg]

Not necessary if you are below SAMMI length. But ... trimming to the same length will eliminate one more variable if striving for accuracy loads.

And you can get consistency with your chamfer after you trim as well.


Edited to add: Not sure that is a gauge...looks like the case holder from a Wilson trimmer.

 

[leadbullet]

Doesn't look like. Case guage at all, when all else fails make sure they fit in your rifle, if the bolt closes easy you are fine then neck size after fire forming .