[elktrout]

I have always loaded new brass in my bolt guns by just running the case mouth over the expander ball of the sizing die to true up the mouth and then loading the case.

I noticed on Midway's site that they recommend all new brass be run completely through a sizing die before using it.

Which process do you Garand shooters use?

[dmazur]

I use Winchester brass, and to prep the new brass I cut the primer pocket to a uniform depth (Sinclair tool), then lube and resize/prime, then trim to length as necessary, and inside/outside chamfer as a final step (if trimmed).

It's tedious, but when I run them through a headspace gauge I know they're good.

New brass that doesn't fit a bolt gun gives you the option of closing on it anyway (brass crushes a bit...), or extracting it and swearing a little.

New brass that doesn't fit a gas gun can (possibly) result in an OOB firing, which can be a very, very bad day.

It's all supposed to meet spec, so I might consider using new brass if it measured correctly on a headspace gauge. Part of the reason I just run it through the routine is the primer pocket prep. I figure I may as well do it all, then I know what I'm dealing with.

You know what assuming can lead to... :)