Anthroblogogy - on the brink of civilization, or off the edge...: The green, green, brass of earth.

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

The green, green, brass of earth.

Oops, I got that mixed-up with The Green Hills of Earth.
Cleaning brass and kickin' ass.

9 comments:

davidwhitewolf said...: Heh. That cleaning media looks like gravelly earth.; Tuesday, June 09, 2009 5:48:00 PM
Borepatch said...: You look like you're fixin to get your Redneck on ...; Tuesday, June 09, 2009 7:06:00 PM
DirtCrashr said...: I've got a lot of de-priming ahead. Porter Wagoner - I have a lot to still learn about being a proper redneck, but I got a pickup truck!; Tuesday, June 09, 2009 9:12:00 PM
Rivrdog said...: Yeah, running brass through the decapping and sizing die and cleaning it up. That's about all the reloading I'm doing until the component supply opens back up.

Got a lot of brass to decap, resize and clean up though, so my reloading shed is staying busy in the cool mornings.; Tuesday, June 09, 2009 10:42:00 PM
Conservative Scalawag said...: Oh,only to have the room in my cramped apartment for reloading set up.

Perhaps a single stage set up next year.; Wednesday, June 10, 2009 4:42:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Ah, a Heinlen man.
And a gun nut...er, enthusiast to boot!

I love the smell of tumbling media in the morning...

jimmyb; Wednesday, June 10, 2009 5:27:00 AM
DirtCrashr said...: Rivrdog - IMO brass prep seems to be 90% of reloading. Pouring powder and pushing bullets is the easy part.

Conservative Scalawag - Hope springs eternal! My bench is a little kitchen-cart from Target that, including standing-area, occupies a 3'x4' section. Small can be relative - but now I *think* that I wish I had a progressive press too, so results would seem greater and also appear faster!
(Like my friend JimmyB's Hornady Lock-n-Load!)

JimmyBAnon - Heinlein and me go waaaay back!; Wednesday, June 10, 2009 8:44:00 AM
Rivrdog said...: Question about working rifle brass:

Since the bullet may be seated a little closer in or out, at least in a range of, say, .020", to give that perfect COAL of whatever down to .005 (my standard, not anyone else's), what is the point of trimming brass so fervently?

I can see such precision in a benchrest rifle, but to just put together some round to send downrange at Mr. or Mrs Average Deer, or even at boomers at Boomershoot, why are we talking up this trimming?

I discard any hull that shows the SLIGHTEST sign of mouth cracks, and I measure EVERY finished round with a vernier caliper as to COAL.

I don't unnerstan all this case trimming. In the Magnums, with pressures of well over 50,000 CUP, maybe yes, because brass flows at those pressures/temps, but not so much at pressures under that figure.

Same-o with crimp. In a boltie, how important is a tough crimp? Important enough to shorten the life of a hull by half? I don't think so.

Just a few idears from MY "shackzilla".; Thursday, June 11, 2009 5:57:00 PM
DirtCrashr said...: Hi Rivrdog - Good questions!
Reloading for an AR and a Garand for whom neck brass is always going to get worked. A Krag and a Swiss K-31 are the only bolt-guns, and I haven't done any reloading for them.
My understanding at this point is that crimp (not necessarily heavy) stabilizes/uniforms neck-tension, so the bullet let's-go evenly upon ignition.
The other thing I'm lead to believe is that trimming has an effect on chamber-pressure - a too-long case intruding into the chamber will make pressures spike - more important to a semi-auto than a bolt gun.
I have not (yet) set my seating die to taper-crimp and my 69-grain MatchKings don't have a cannalure.; Friday, June 12, 2009 8:13:00 AM

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