JohnhenrySTL
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Ive had some brand new Nosler brass for some time. I just opened it. I'm tempted to just load it up. Would you resize it?
Brand Nosler .308 brass resize it?
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I would. Does it fit in your chamber, is there neck tension to hold the bullet, how are the case lengths? A little measuring will tell you how sized it is but it would probably be easier to just resize and prep the brass like you would anything else. I have never found new brass that was ready to load out of the box but then again I have never had new Nosler brass play with.
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JohnhenrySTL
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Thank you. I would rather be safe than sorry.
Varminterror
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Resize, fireform, size, trim.
Nature Boy
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I recently purchased some new .308 Nosler brass. I don't think you will need to trim it. All of mine measured at 2.000
I would go ahead and run it through the sizer. It won't touch the shoulder but it will make the neck tension uniform
I would go ahead and run it through the sizer. It won't touch the shoulder but it will make the neck tension uniform
alientrainwreck
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I would bet there will be no trimmer needed but I would size for sure.
Nature Boy
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I tried loading some Lapua .308 right out of the box with no prep and neck tension was all over the place, as was the down rage results. Eventually you're going to run them through your sizer unless you're rich. May as well go ahead and do it the first go around. Not sure what it would hurt
I'd run it through a FL die to uniform its neck and mouth dimensions. With good brass well made, none of that's necessary.
I've seen no significant difference in accuracy with new .308 cases versus fired then resized ones. Except when the rifle's bolt face is not squared up properly. Once fired case heads take on the bolt face angle; they're slammed and pressed hard against the shoulder. After firing, an out of square case head can cause up to 1/2 MOA error in bullet impact. No resizing method squares them up. Their high point smacks the bolt face off center causing tiny extra barrel muzzle whip in that off center axis; most will be at right angles to the bolt lug axis; horizontally with typical 2 lug bolts.
This is the reason military rifle teams shooting M1 and M14 rifles used new cases to shoot best scores. No 'smith has ever squared up one of those rifle's bolt faces. International long range Palma matches are shot with new cases producing well under MOA accuracy through 1000 yards. Some of it's been tested and shot well under 3 inches at 600 yards. All with .003" bullet runout, near .010" spread in case length and 3/10ths grain spread in charge weights.
If new unpreped cases don't shoot well, their heads are cockeyed or something other than the cases is cockeyed.
I've seen no significant difference in accuracy with new .308 cases versus fired then resized ones. Except when the rifle's bolt face is not squared up properly. Once fired case heads take on the bolt face angle; they're slammed and pressed hard against the shoulder. After firing, an out of square case head can cause up to 1/2 MOA error in bullet impact. No resizing method squares them up. Their high point smacks the bolt face off center causing tiny extra barrel muzzle whip in that off center axis; most will be at right angles to the bolt lug axis; horizontally with typical 2 lug bolts.
This is the reason military rifle teams shooting M1 and M14 rifles used new cases to shoot best scores. No 'smith has ever squared up one of those rifle's bolt faces. International long range Palma matches are shot with new cases producing well under MOA accuracy through 1000 yards. Some of it's been tested and shot well under 3 inches at 600 yards. All with .003" bullet runout, near .010" spread in case length and 3/10ths grain spread in charge weights.
If new unpreped cases don't shoot well, their heads are cockeyed or something other than the cases is cockeyed.
I recently purchased new Nosler 257 Roberts brass. I have been waiting for years for new 257 Roberts brass to appear on the market and while I am glad to buy a box of 50, the brass was not cheap.
My Nosler brass is really nice, no dinged case mouths and they beveled the case mouth so my flat base bullets would enter the case without shaving.
I have loaded them all up, coated them with a lubricant so there will be no sidewall stretching on the first firing. This is a practice of World Champion Bench rest shooters, they want the perfect case so they fireform lubricated cases. I of course would love a perfect case, but I cannot hold hard enough in a hunting rifle to tell the difference, but I can tell the difference in case life. And given that these cases are about $1.50 apiece, I want the maximum case life I can get out of them. I plan to take the rifle and the brass down to CMP Talladega Alabama and get some 300 yard zero's.
My Nosler brass is really nice, no dinged case mouths and they beveled the case mouth so my flat base bullets would enter the case without shaving.
I have loaded them all up, coated them with a lubricant so there will be no sidewall stretching on the first firing. This is a practice of World Champion Bench rest shooters, they want the perfect case so they fireform lubricated cases. I of course would love a perfect case, but I cannot hold hard enough in a hunting rifle to tell the difference, but I can tell the difference in case life. And given that these cases are about $1.50 apiece, I want the maximum case life I can get out of them. I plan to take the rifle and the brass down to CMP Talladega Alabama and get some 300 yard zero's.
Grumulkin
Member
No, I wouldn't resize it.
Done with unjocked around with new Nosler brass.
Just curious, you say better safe than sorry. What don't you think would be safe about reloading new brass? When you buy a box of ammo at Cabela's or wherever, do you take it apart to be sure the ammo manufacturer did it right?
How did you determine that "neck tension was all over the place"? Lapua brass is about the nicest brass I've seen.
Shot with new Lapua brass not messed around with in any way. I don't think there is too much evidence of inconsistent neck tension. What would resizing hurt? Every time you resize brass you work harden it and decrease it's life expectancy. Annealing helps. Do you do that?
This resizing and messing around with new cases of all descriptions is generally a waste of time but it's your time so use it as you like. Yes, I look at new cases, but over the years in loading hundreds of new cases I can count on one hand the ones I found that weren't usable for some reason and have loaded the majority without any prep; that includes cases with mouths a little out of round.
alientrainwreck
Member
I just look at the necks when I'm loading new brass because I buy in bulk and sometimes there will be brass here and there that the necks are dented in, then I just neck size those. Otherwise no problems
Nature Boy
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The variation in felt force required to seat the bullets (Berger VLD) and the variation in OAL. After getting erratic down range results, I ran the next batch of new brass through the sizing dies and all that variation went away. What do you attribute that to?
KansasSasquatch
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I don't buy any of the higher dollar brands of brass, but don't Lapua, Norma, and Nosler all package their brass fairly secure in pretty nice boxes? Between that and the fact that they're all known for top-shelf products, that would be a sign to me that the brass is unlikely to be out of spec or dinged up. I would think those brands should come ready to load.
The brands that get loosely packaged in plastic bags, Remington and Winchester for example, I would resize those everytime I opened a new bag. Assuming I ever buy new brass made by them. Most of my rifle brass comes from factory ammo that I've fired or that I was at least present when it was fired.
The brands that get loosely packaged in plastic bags, Remington and Winchester for example, I would resize those everytime I opened a new bag. Assuming I ever buy new brass made by them. Most of my rifle brass comes from factory ammo that I've fired or that I was at least present when it was fired.
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JohnhenrySTL
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Grumulikin is that a yote or a fox? I'm thinking coyote but it's blonder than the ones around here. Is that an m14? I don't know if it's the party shirt or the m14 but I gotta give credit where credit is do. Did you call that predator or just come across it?
That's one of the coolest internet pictures I've ever seen.
I meant to clarify better safe than sorry. I've heard lots of stories about people making large loads of rounds and then have to pull them all. They didn't cycle, they were over pressure, or just plain sucked. I live in the city, sometimes it months between times I'm able to make it out and test loads. I didn't want to invest a bunch of time in my cartridges and then realize there is some problem.
I decided to resize them. My .308 collection includes a 700 and a Sig 716. I was worried that they wouldn't chamber or would jump if I did decide to run a magazine through my AR10.
Reisizing them was easy. None of them seemed to grow. I used a small amount of case lube but likely didn't need to.
But I screwed up anyway. I'm frustrated with myself. I ordered 5 boxes of Sierra 168 bthp. I was always awaiting when I built up enough cases to create 500 bad ass .308 rounds just for sunny days. After making 20,I realized I was working with 150 grain Sierra Boat tailed hollow points. Both my guns favor heavier loads. I think the sig is 10/1 and the 700 is 12/1.
The question for me now is should I pull them or test them out. My 700 is sighted in for 168 grain. Coincidentally they have 43 grains of 4064. That is the documented starting load in my book. It has also has the length at 2.735. These are 2.797. Am I nearing under powdered rounds that could build up high pressure?
Thanks for making it through my post and for all your help. I'm certain I'm complicating this. But I think during the shooting drought, those bullets cost me a couple hundred bucks.
That's one of the coolest internet pictures I've ever seen.
I meant to clarify better safe than sorry. I've heard lots of stories about people making large loads of rounds and then have to pull them all. They didn't cycle, they were over pressure, or just plain sucked. I live in the city, sometimes it months between times I'm able to make it out and test loads. I didn't want to invest a bunch of time in my cartridges and then realize there is some problem.
I decided to resize them. My .308 collection includes a 700 and a Sig 716. I was worried that they wouldn't chamber or would jump if I did decide to run a magazine through my AR10.
Reisizing them was easy. None of them seemed to grow. I used a small amount of case lube but likely didn't need to.
But I screwed up anyway. I'm frustrated with myself. I ordered 5 boxes of Sierra 168 bthp. I was always awaiting when I built up enough cases to create 500 bad ass .308 rounds just for sunny days. After making 20,I realized I was working with 150 grain Sierra Boat tailed hollow points. Both my guns favor heavier loads. I think the sig is 10/1 and the 700 is 12/1.
The question for me now is should I pull them or test them out. My 700 is sighted in for 168 grain. Coincidentally they have 43 grains of 4064. That is the documented starting load in my book. It has also has the length at 2.735. These are 2.797. Am I nearing under powdered rounds that could build up high pressure?
Thanks for making it through my post and for all your help. I'm certain I'm complicating this. But I think during the shooting drought, those bullets cost me a couple hundred bucks.
Just sayin' ...
I always check the necks on brand new brass to make sure some freakin idiot jackass idiot-of-all-jackasses (like maybe UPS or USPS or some other Einstein along the way ??? ) didn't step on the box and make a neck out-of-round. Not the whole body, just the neck. Like the brothers above I trust new brass manufacturers completely, but I don't trust the jackasses along the way. It's a long, long way from the mfr to your doorstep. Hundreds of jackasses along the way, and they each have two feet.
I trust the manufacturers, but I check the brass on my bench the first time. After that, I'm good to go.
[PS... I don't full length resize, just the necks if I find any odd ones. That's all.]
ants
I always check the necks on brand new brass to make sure some freakin idiot jackass idiot-of-all-jackasses (like maybe UPS or USPS or some other Einstein along the way ??? ) didn't step on the box and make a neck out-of-round. Not the whole body, just the neck. Like the brothers above I trust new brass manufacturers completely, but I don't trust the jackasses along the way. It's a long, long way from the mfr to your doorstep. Hundreds of jackasses along the way, and they each have two feet.
I trust the manufacturers, but I check the brass on my bench the first time. After that, I'm good to go.
[PS... I don't full length resize, just the necks if I find any odd ones. That's all.]
ants
Grumulkin
Member
Regarding the coyote, while wearing some of my best camo (LOL), it happened to come for a visit one evening while I was sitting on my front porch with an M1A. It was DRT with one 168 grain Nosler BTHP match bullet.
I don't think you're in any danger of underpowered loads building up high pressure with 43 grains of IMR 4064 with 150 grain bullets. I would shoot at least a few of them; they might be just fine.
If you want to know if loads will work in a gun, run a few through the gun keeping it pointed in a safe direction. That won't tell you how well they'll cycle a semiauto but will weed out problems such as crimping deforming a case too much to chamber, rounds loaded too long, etc. Regarding semiautos of various descriptions; I've never had new brass cause a problem in them. Some semiautos are more picky than others in cycling resized brass (you might need a small base die, etc.).
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