Shooter and reloader in Indiana

rulellis

Sergeant of the Hide
Full Member
Minuteman
Sep 1, 2018
118
38
I have read the posts on this site for a while and appreciate the wisdom, advice, and input that I find here.

As to an introduction, I am a shooter, hunter, and reloader. Hunting was always my passion, but in Indiana there are not a lot of hunting opportunities to shoot much over 200 yards. However, on a bear hunt a few years ago I couldn't get a rifle to zero well and so a friend introduced me to reloading. I was blown away what some handholds can do in improving the inherent accuracy of a rifle. Since then I did my first western hunt in Colorado for Elk and the opportunity to shoot at longer distances got me addicted to the chase of better and better accuracy.

I have been building my reloading skills and the correlated list of stuff. I run a forester co-ax press, mainly Whidden dies (though I do like the lee collet die for neck sizing), I use a forester trimmer, and typically tumble with SS media. I know it is not all the best stuff, but I upgrade when I can and am proficient at using the things I own.

What motivated me to finally join this forum is a question I have had and haven't been able to find a satisfactory answer for regarding basic brass prep. I use norma brass in my 308 (savage stealth with Vortex PST Gen II 5-25), but the brass as seems to always be the case comes in with the shortest piece being around 1.9950". But the minimum should be 2.005". In seeking consistency I trim to the shortest case, i.e. all at 1.9950", but then when I fire and resize there is no possible way for them to all reach 2.005". So how do you maintain consistence while growing your brass to a uniform length of 2.005"? I typically lot in lots of 50 rounds, but the only way I can see growing them to 2.005 is by either not trimming them and losing consistency, or trimming the in smaller lots of 5 pieces of brass or so (but those would still likely never reach the 2.005" mark. Any thoughts on how to achieve this would be greatly appreciated.

Anyhow, it thank you for allowing me on your site and the information you provide.
 
The sooner you accept the fact that there is variation is every process, the sooner you will be at peace.

You're obsessing over .0005" variation in case length? You need to learn what matters and what doesn't. After reloading rifle ammunition for over 15 years, I'm here to tell you that such a level of variation does not matter.

I work in a precision manufacturing company, and to consistently achieve less dimensional variation than that you need a freaking CNC grinder that will cost you north of a quarter million dollars.

Relax...............
 
Thank you for your response. My concern is that I am .01" short of min recommended length. And my cases vary by that same amount, the shortest case is 1.995 and longest is 2.005. I just can't decide if minimum length is more important (so don't trim any brass and let all grow) or if consistent case length is more important (so trim all to shortest 1.995" case length so rounds are consistent)?

I appreciate the perspective.
 
Thank you for your response. My concern is that I am .01" short of min recommended length. And my cases vary by that same amount, the shortest case is 1.995 and longest is 2.005. I just can't decide if minimum length is more important (so don't trim any brass and let all grow) or if consistent case length is more important (so trim all to shortest 1.995" case length so rounds are consistent)?

I appreciate the perspective.

What cartridge is this we're talking about?
 
Rulellis,
Welcome to the site and to your new time consuming addiction.
The shorter brass will not be an issue. If all your brass is of the same head stamp and fired from the same rifle and you have an urge to eliminate as many variables as humanly possible, go ahead and make them all the same length. I will warn as 308pirate alluded to, that you'll find more variations such as brass thickness (directly related to the weight and internal volume of the case), primer pocket dimensions, brass stiffness, neck tension, etc. that you'll be considering as another variable you'll want to control and then barrel erosion. You can prep and record anything and everything , but in the end, you'll find some things show discernible change and others do not. If you are a benchrest shooter competing indoors I'm certain there will be more evidence from changing some of the things mentioned above. If you're shooting outside from a bipod, a sub moa rifle will get you to the top if you can read wind.
For reference, some of the top guys i compete with use Lapua brass, don't prep it, and only wipe down the outsides of the case before reloading to save their dies from any foreign debris.
Be careful of this rabbit hole, it's a deep one