New LC 5.56 Brass: Is sizing necessary?

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fearless leader

fearless leader

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I bought some new LC brass and would like to start loading it, but I have a couple of questions.
1) Should I anneal it?
2) Should I run it through the sizing die; after all, the fact it is the shape it is means it's been through one already, right?
I've never loaded new rifle brass before, and advice from more experienced rifle loaders is appreciated, so I don't make some catastrophic failure or Ka-Boom.
 
It is already annealed, so don't anneal it again.

I always run new brass through the sizing & expanding operation, as it often has out of round case mouths, etc.

Also a good time to check case length after sizing as it all came out of different forming dies on a big machine when it was made so it may not be exactly all the same after sizing in the same die.

rc
 
I run such brass through a Lee Collet (neck sizing) die, just to insure mouth roundness.
 
Thanks for your replies. I'll size it then gauge the case lengths.
I got in on a fairly good deal from Midway; 1,000 pcs for about $140 or so. I got 2 lots at different prices, but it was under $300 after shipping.
I figure I'll load a few to get the recipe right, then vacuum pack and store them for an undetermined event.
 
Make sure you use lube when resizing the new brass. I ran a hundred new pieces of .243 through my RCBS FL dies last week without using lube and by the time I hit 50 I noticed there were some pretty deep scratches on the brass. I was lubed the necks, but didn't really notice much pressure when resizing down by the head so I didn't think it would be necessary to use any lube. Anyhow, it took me about an hour to remove the burrs from the die. Live and learn.
 
New brass with moderately round mouths goes tight to the loading operation. Especially if I'm using a boat tail projectile.

If concerned drop em in a case gauge to verify dimensions. You do have a case gauge right?
 
If it ABSOLUTELY must be perfect and reliable, then yes.

If there is any chance that your rifle can fire out of battery, then yes.

Otherwise, you can eyeball it.
If it looks OK, go ahead and load it, and go to the range and have fun.
Worst thing that could happen is you overlook a slightly smooshed case, and it won't go fully into battery.

Eyeball for deformations, excessively long necks, burrs on case mouths, and obstructed/missing flash holes.

I loaded 3000 virgin Remington cases without incident.
 
Firing cases doesn't wear them out sizing them however does. A sizing you make at the beginning of a piece of brass'es life is just one fewer that you'll get at the end.

If you want to do something that matters and might actually improve accuracy skip sizing new brass and instead focus on segregating them by weight

My $.02 YMMV and again assuming the mouths are round to a reasonable degree
 
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yes, you should at least neck size it and it would not hurt seeing as it is new brass to also chamfer the mouth of the case inside and out. at least that is what I do. :)
 
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