My brass seems to be too soft

Share information about reloading the 204 Ruger.
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futuretrades
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.204 Ruger Guns: HOWA 1500 .204 Ruger Varmint, Bull Bbl, Lupy 6-18x40 custom

Re: My brass seems to be too soft

Post by futuretrades »

hi all,
i finally got some remington new, never loaded, brass. i sized 35 cases with full length resize die. i did not lube the inside of the necks before sizing. all cases went through the resize die with little pressure other than when i pulled the brass back out of the die, but still no excessive tightness. i then trimmed back to 1.840 on all of these cases. as i stuffed 32 grain vmax bullets in each case, i kept expecting the CRUSH. but to my chagrine, :mrgreen: that never happened. all went very smooth with no problems 8) .
and i have never had problems by not lubing the necks in all of my loading experience, up until now
i have never used winchester new brass until now, but you can bet your a$$ i will never use it again :evil: too many steps and frustration. it's not worth it to me. :reddot: i still have 300 cases left that i will be willing to trade for some new remington brass. anyone interested? or maybe i will sell outright for the right price!
now if you will escuse me, i have some ammo to burn up! :assault:
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HOWA 1500 Varmint 204 Ruger, Bull Barrel, Hogue Overmold Stock, Leupold VXII 6-18x40mm AO LRV Custom Reticle Timney Trigger
Cooper Mdl 21 20VarTargW/Leupold VXIII, 6-20x40AO Varmint Hunter reticle.
acloco
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.204 Ruger Guns: 12FV, 12BVSS -S
Location: Nebraska

Re: My brass seems to be too soft

Post by acloco »

You really need to lube the case necks.

By previously smoothing the sizing button, you have alleviated the problem on this set of dies, for the time being. Unfortunately, it will probably creep back up, as the necks become dirty.

I tumble after all the brass sizing/trimming/etc operations...with no effect on accuracy. I shot my personal best with my 204 Tuesday evening.

Do you load other bottleneck cases?
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futuretrades
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Posts: 835
Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2007 11:16 am
.204 Ruger Guns: HOWA 1500 .204 Ruger Varmint, Bull Bbl, Lupy 6-18x40 custom

Re: My brass seems to be too soft

Post by futuretrades »

futuretrades wrote:Do you load other bottleneck cases?
yes i do load others. i shoot and load a lot of .223. and i load for my .270. on the .270, lubing the necks is probably a good idea. resizing these cases can be a chore. i started running cases with a neck brush to clean them and that made a big difference. i will start lubing with the graphite. as for the .223, i have not run into any problems running cases thru the sizer die. all of my brass in .223 is at least once fired.
can anyone explain to me why i would need to neck lube before resizing, other than to make running the brass into and out of the die a bit easier. the people that taught me reloading for rifle and pistol, never mentioned neck lubing, and to my knowledge, do not lube the necks. its always nice to get another persons prospective on any subject. especially subjects that are of great interest to myself.
that is why i really like this web site. :mrgreen:
NRA Benefactor Life member
HOWA 1500 Varmint 204 Ruger, Bull Barrel, Hogue Overmold Stock, Leupold VXII 6-18x40mm AO LRV Custom Reticle Timney Trigger
Cooper Mdl 21 20VarTargW/Leupold VXIII, 6-20x40AO Varmint Hunter reticle.
acloco
Senior Member
Posts: 1708
Joined: Mon Sep 25, 2006 8:53 pm
.204 Ruger Guns: 12FV, 12BVSS -S
Location: Nebraska

Re: My brass seems to be too soft

Post by acloco »

Good deal.

Of note, not all dies are made the same.

Regardless of manufacturer, a set of dies (FL or neck) can size the neck too little, just right, or too much.

The thickness of the brass also comes into play. If you happen to be sizing thick necked brass, then the inside diameter of the sized brass will be smaller than thinner brass.

What you experience with one set of dies (or brand) does not necessarily carry over to the next.
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