SmallCaliberCentral

Hi All,just joined the forum and like all the info Im getting.I just got a rem.204 ruger and I never reloaded new brass before.I bough some Hornady brass before I started reading about most of you guys not liking it very much,oh well My question is,do I need to prep the new brass first.(trim,resize,chafer,etc) I checked the lenth and it appears to be consistant 1.842 Thanks for any help you can reply with

Welcome to the forum. At the very least i would chamfer the case mouth with a VLD chamfer tool and neck size the brass. By neck sizing the new brass you are assuring that the necks are not out of round or otherwise out of spec. There is no need to trim the brass until after you have fired it, and then only if it is longer than spec. Best of luck on your new 204 Ruger rifle and feel free to shoot us an email if you have any questions.

Brad

I have never had a problem neck sizing new Win brass, but I have had problems with new Hornady brass. On some of the rounds it was very tough to close the bolt. I thought the shoulders might need to be bumped back so I full length resized them and they worked fine after that.
I would full length size the brass the first time then neck size after that. I'd anneal them too after the second or third firing. Hornandy brass hardens up really quickly when you work it.