worthwhile or a waste of time practices.

[seadog]

I reload much larger brass then is being discussed here so my case preparations are extensive. Primer pocket gets reamed to .318. Flash hole debured(both ends). Trimmed for length. Neck turned to .020 (for consistent neck tension). Cases weighed and separated in lots as well as bullets. When it's all said and done, I run each round through a Bersin device.

[Airgator0470]

I reload much larger brass then is being discussed here so my case preparations are extensive. Primer pocket gets reamed to .318. Flash hole debured(both ends). Trimmed for length. Neck turned to .0020 (for consistent neck tension). Cases weighed and separated in lots as well as bullets. When it's all said and done, I run each round through a Bersin device.

Do they sell those still?

[seadog]

I think so, I've had mine for about 8 years.

I didn't really give an answer to the OP, but i would say that consistency is the key to accurate reloading.

[mapper]

Thanks for the replies so far...



Currently I am decapping, sizing with redding dies using carbide expander balls with the mouths dipped in mica and decapping pins removed, lube is imperial wax, trimming, chamfering, deburring, brushing neck, primer pocket, and removing crimp with rcbs crimp remover, powder charging is with the charge master. For the time involved I have been satisfied with it. But now that I want to reach out a bit farther in range I'm wondering if it would make a diffrence to change my procedures.

So the stuff I'm asking about I'm not currently doing other than sorting brass by headstamp..and doing those by lots..

I know that this may turn into a question of "I wish I didn't ask", but either short of asking, or buying additional tools to debur flash holes, turn necks, and check runout to see if it makes a diffrence other than positively knowing that any sort of inconsistiencies have been put to a minimum within my control, and my wallet has gotten thinner.

If I go down this road, I want it to be a 100% repeatable, easy to use system..

So a powered solution would be preferable to a hand operated one. Even though it only needs done once.

[FLT]

You are going to need some way to check the quality of your work. One of the better tools for this is the NECO concentricity and wall thickness runout gauge. It's available from many sources but I got mine from Sinclair international. They run around $170 but will allow you to check any and all aspects of the case or loaded round.

[mapper]

So you like that better than the sinclair, hornady or other models?

[FLT]

I like it better than the Sinclair. I've never had a chance to try the hornady or RCBS.

[mapper]

So from what I have seen in the hornady, the neco, and the sinclair, the neco allows more movement of the indicator, to check more dimensions for runout, such as the inside of case necks..

While this would be a good check on the finished product, and a good tool to determine where more work is required, you still can't fix anything with it, just identify wher the problem is.

Which gets back to neck turning.....
I have seen diffrent models of those, from the k&m to the 21 st century..
I haven't looked at the other offerings, either in hand held models or lathe type..

If the key is consistiency, both in runout and in bullet tension, and turning necks takes the high spots off the neck and uniforms it to a desired thickness, that would allow less tension on the expander to pull the necks off alignment in the size die....

Good discussion, thanks for the replies as I'm learning things..

[Rumbler]

I'm not positive how relevant this is at this moment, but I believe it is an important enough concept that it needs to be clearly understood:

If you have a case neck that is thicker in one place than another and you resize that case neck without removing the thicker portion you actually introduce a concentricity problem.

Think about which part of the case neck is going to take less force to expand - or shrink. The thinner portion. Thus it is very plausible that even loading with $1000.00 each custom cut wiz-bang reloading dies, you may very well still have concentricity problems.

That's all . . .

[mapper]

Understood.....
I haven't got to the bushing die question yet, as it requires uniform neck thicknesses, to be able to chose the bushing for desired tension....

Just was at the can I take the high spots off the neck by turning and use a standard non bushing die to get better results part of the question..or does it need to be turned to a standard thickness..

(At this point being the average of the thinnest dimension on the cases I have, some lc, some fed,win,r-p,etc..

The idea here is that the neck stays concentric while going in as well as coming out of the size die.