New Brass

[Dadbod]

First off let me say, I'm new to reloading, so there's that. I recently purchased my first PRS rifle in 6BR and need to start reloading for it. I have good info on the load I'm going to use but I had a question about new brass. When I hear people talk about precision loading they always refer to once fired or fired brass and this is where my question comes in. The question is this, with the scarcity and cost of Quality reloading components available, do you load your virgin brass the same as you would normally? Do you shoot a lighter load? Do you (can you) use a more readily available (or less expensive) bullet (the Berger 6mm 105g Hybrid targets are hard to find and $$$)?

Thanks,

 

[rustyinbend]

First off let me say, I'm new to reloading, so there's that. I recently purchased my first PRS rifle in 6BR and need to start reloading for it. I have good info on the load I'm going to use but I had a question about new brass. When I hear people talk about precision loading they always refer to once fired or fired brass and this is where my question comes in. The question is this, with the scarcity and cost of Quality reloading components available, do you load your virgin brass the same as you would normally? Do you shoot a lighter load? Do you (can you) use a more readily available (or less expensive) bullet (the Berger 6mm 105g Hybrid targets are hard to find and $$$)?

Thanks,

Some will argue with this ... but ... I use new brass for new calibers to do load development, and then "tune" the load for brass that's subsequently been fired. My experience is that it works great, or it's at least very close to the optimal charge weight. Some say using older, different, or surplus powder/primers/bullets as kind of "disposable" parts on new brass to fireform it prior to load development ... is fine as well, and I don't disagree with that. Both techniques work great ... just figure out what works great for YOU. I don't keep a lot of trash-components around so doing initial load development on new brass is best for me. If you've got lots of extra "stuff" hanging around, then that might work best for you.

 

[CK1.0]

JMHO, but I use my normal components through the life of a barrel and its brass.

I load them up with a safe, middle-of-the-road charge, and seat them with a healthy jump (seating too close to the lands/rifling can increase pressure and is no bueno until you know more about how your combo is working).

 

[parshal]

I load new brass and rarely change that load for fired brass. Work up the load with new brass and when you use once fired just chrono and check the accuracy with the same load. With a BR I doubt you have to change anything.

 

[straightshooter1]

First off let me say, I'm new to reloading, so there's that. I recently purchased my first PRS rifle in 6BR and need to start reloading for it. I have good info on the load I'm going to use but I had a question about new brass. When I hear people talk about precision loading they always refer to once fired or fired brass and this is where my question comes in. The question is this, with the scarcity and cost of Quality reloading components available, do you load your virgin brass the same as you would normally? Do you shoot a lighter load? Do you (can you) use a more readily available (or less expensive) bullet (the Berger 6mm 105g Hybrid targets are hard to find and $$$)?

Thanks,

When I get a new gun/barrel, I like to use new brass that I intend to use for the life of the barrel. A new barrel typically will need to be broken in with about 100 rounds through it to where, as you may have heard, it will speed up. So, while the barrel essentially needs that many rounds to stabilize and the cases need to be fire formed, the issue over component shortage leads me to use powder and bullets other than the higher end ones that I intend to use after the barrel in stabilize then the cases are fireformed and previsioned tuned. I don't worry about load development at this preliminary stage as I have a good idea what'll work well and it won't take much time or components to do the load development.

Starting from scratch, as you seem to be doing, you're going to want to get some load development done as soon as possible with your new gun and the components you're going to use. In the early stages of stabilizing your barrel and fireforming your brass, you may not want to do all of that using those rare and expensive components, but you'll want to save time and wear by doing some. Once the barrel has stabilized and brass is fireformed and you've got a little preliminary load development done, you can then do a little tweaking, with those components you're going to using, to finally get your loads where you want them.

 

[Dadbod]

Thanks everyone, I appreciate all the help.