284 win case prep

[bern]

Hi all, I have had a barrel made up for my barnard f class rifle in 284 win for the long ranges. I have got my brass (200 pieces) to begin. Its lapua 6.5-284 brass and looks really nice, should I for accuracy's sake do the primer pockets and flash hole with my k&m gear or just leave them on this brass. I will be neck turning as it's a .312 neck in the chamber and I think I will give weight sorting a go, I have never sorted brass before how many grains should i sort them by 0.5 or just to the 1.0 gn ? What kind of scales should I use for sorting, I have pocket hornady scales(not real good) an old lee beam scale and a chargemaster combo?

I'm planning on running 2209 with 180 gn berger vlds or hybrids. I have 2 boxes of vlds to get me started

[williada]

Bern,
Do your trimming, primer pocket checks etc. after the brass's second firing. By then the dimensions start to settle. Then it is appropriate to sort with the most accurate scales you have. On the first sorting I would run with 1 grain batches again until things settle. After that, you may wish to volume sort with metho, or water or just weight sort by 1/2 grain. I don't use full bottle loads on the case's first firing in an effort to condition the cases. They will hold dimension better if allowed to work harden for couple of shots. David.

[.248WIN]

I found my Lapua cases to have very similar weight and primer pockets dimensions.And I didn't have to do anything to the primer pockets or flash holes.I did however found doughnuts after the second firing, I didn't check after the first firing. So I don't know when they did appear.

I pushed the doughnut out with a Sinclair mandril, and outside neck reamed them to .014 and cut them a bit into the neck,haven't had any thereafter yet.

[bern]

I was looking at the cases and some of the flash holes were'nt right, so I deburred all 200 of them. I am erring on the side of caution with the primer pockets, they should be fairly consistent and with all the trouble people have with loose primer pockets I think that taking any brass our of the sides of the pocket is not so good a thing to do. After a few firings and they get looser the are all going to be a bit different to each other anyway I think so for now I am going to leave the primer pockets.(I don't want to regret it if they get loose soon and I think I should have left them, that and for 350 bucks to get 200 cases to me I might just leave the pockets alone).

OK I am up to necking up and trimming and turning, I am not sure of what I should do. I am thinking of either expanding to 7mm and using a body die then trimming and turning or using a body die and expanding then trimming and turning or just expanding to 7mm then trim and turn. Which way would be the better?

[Norm]

I just run an expander mandrel into the necks. Then neck turn.
You may want to do this in two steps with a .312" chamber neck.
After turning I run them through a FL bushing die to straighten everything up, then load and shoot at a club match.
I only trim after they are fire formed and the shoulder has been formed into its final position.

[ecomeat]

This old thread about Neck Turning on the AHN blog was of value to me several years ago when I first started serious reloading for competition. ... http://www.australianhunting.net/index. ... ic=76371.0
It is written in "laymans language" with some clear photos, and it might help to give you an idea about the process before you start.
Since then I have neck turned approx 1200 cases in 6 x 47 Lapua and 284 Win, and i would stress that you must use Expanding Mandrels and Turning Mandrels from the same manufacturer. eg dont try to mix say Sinclair brand with K & M brand
Unlike "trevort" who wrote the article, i didnt/dont have any problems at all with the Sinclair turners, and happily did around 500 x 6mm cases with it, quite successfully.
I used K&M brand for my 284 Win, (and a 223) because the donut-cutter turning mandrel seemed like a good idea.
Hopefully the link might give you a bit of a feel for the process !

[Kianga1971]

More of a question on effect neck turning brass will have if done after a load has been developed.

I would think that by turning the neck after the load development is done it would reduce pressure as there will be more room in the chamber for the neck to expand as the bullet is released.

I might be wrong and would appreciate any feed back.

Peter

[williada]

Peter any load development should be done with the best components. Yes, you can skew the results otherwise. Once the cases are conditioned by a couple of firings you trim etc. then you do load development. Those that who have been competing awhile know what starter loads to use and they shoot well, but match tuning requires leaving nothing to chance.