Well, this was a surprise. I tumbled 50 pieces of Lapua twice-fired .223 brass and was about to reload it tonight. I dropped one piece into a Wilson .223 case gauge and I was surprised to see it go in with a metallic "thunk" of a re-sized case. I checked the rest and all 50 dropped right in, with the case head about 2/3 of the way between the minimum and maximum marks on the gauge. Here is the history of these 50 cases:
When new, I full-length re-sized these cases and ran them into a Giraud trimmer just to make sure. None were long enough to trim. I fired them once, then full-length resized them and trimmed/chamfered in the Giraud, reloaded, and fired again.
Rifle is a semi-auto AR rifle: JP CTR-02 with a Wylde chamber. Load is not hot, just a SMK-69gr averaging 2,740 fps. (21.2 grains of Viht-133)
So now I am wondering what, if any, is the significance of these fired cases fitting into a case gauge. Should I be happy that I don't have to FL resize them? Should I get a neck sizing die and leave the case body alone, thereby extending their useful life?
If I end up neck sizing only, then these cases will no longer be of uniform length, after getting a little short as a result of the last firing. Their range is 1.7435 to 1.7520, mostly on the shorter end of this range, so I can't trim them in the Giraud. Unless the neck sizer will stretch the necks. Will it?
My primary goal is making the most accurate and reliable ammo that I can for this particular rifle, and case life is of secondary importance. But, it would be nice to use Lapua cases over and over
What's your advice?
When new, I full-length re-sized these cases and ran them into a Giraud trimmer just to make sure. None were long enough to trim. I fired them once, then full-length resized them and trimmed/chamfered in the Giraud, reloaded, and fired again.
Rifle is a semi-auto AR rifle: JP CTR-02 with a Wylde chamber. Load is not hot, just a SMK-69gr averaging 2,740 fps. (21.2 grains of Viht-133)
So now I am wondering what, if any, is the significance of these fired cases fitting into a case gauge. Should I be happy that I don't have to FL resize them? Should I get a neck sizing die and leave the case body alone, thereby extending their useful life?
If I end up neck sizing only, then these cases will no longer be of uniform length, after getting a little short as a result of the last firing. Their range is 1.7435 to 1.7520, mostly on the shorter end of this range, so I can't trim them in the Giraud. Unless the neck sizer will stretch the necks. Will it?
My primary goal is making the most accurate and reliable ammo that I can for this particular rifle, and case life is of secondary importance. But, it would be nice to use Lapua cases over and over
What's your advice?