Does new brass need to be sized?

[Huskerguy]

This may be a dumb question. I have previously reloaded all once or more fired brass and either FL or neck sized depending on what rifle it goes back in.

I picked up some new brass in 223 a while back and never gave it much thought. My first inclination is that it is OK to just load right out of the bag. However I wondered if the safe bet would be to go ahead and size it anyway. It is bulk brass, repackaged, and I have a lot of it.

I will be shooting this in AR's, Winchester bolt and mini 14's - so far.

 

[Bud Helms]

Yes. Resize it.

 

[DiscoRacing]

I do

 

[Dannyl]

I do

I do too,
and I also check them for length and trim if required
last thing you want is to finish a batch of cartridges only to find out that they do not chamber well and you need to take them apart...
Brgds,
Danny

 

[mrawesome22]

Resize, trim, de-bur flash holes, load, fire.

 

[Sam06]

Resize, trim, de-bur flash holes, load, fire.

What he said! Don't forget to chamfer the case mouths too

 

[That'll Do]

Another vote for sizing new brass.

 

[Nomo4me]

Winchester/Remington/Hornady yes. Lapua/Nosler/Norma no. I don't even neck size the higher quality stuff the first time out.

 

[A_Gamehog]

Sometimes when there is a small dent in the mouth of the case and this is new brass and you are loading flat base bullets you will tear the case as you seat the bullet if this opening is not round. Boat Tail bullets not so problematic. I like Lake City brass and somewhere during the process of making the brass it is dumped or dropped enough to change the shape of the case mouth in 10% of the product. It requires more initial prep work before it will shoot and reload well.


By sizing you will elimate this from happening and have more consistent accuracy from day one.

 

[Sidewinder72]

I resize new brass to straighten up the mouths. A lot are bent up in handling and shipping.

 

[shooter_from_show-me]

Yup on the resizing. I usually only check a sample of say a dozen or two on length per bag of 100 on the Silver State Armory brass that I use in Rem 6.8 SPC. Their stuff is consistent and I find that it falls within spec and don't worry about the other 76 pcs.

Bill

 

[rrp]

I always resize new brass. I have had too many bent case necks, and on a few occasions, split case necks on new brass. Resizing and trimming the cases make them all uniform.

 

[jepp2]

On rifle brass, I just run the expander through the neck to make it round, then inside neck chamfer.

On pistol I chamfer the inside of the neck, then run it through the process. Pistol brass doesn't seem to get the out of roundness as the soft necks on rifle brass. And the expander makes them perfect while charging powder.

I realize most do resize, I just didn't see the necessity. No problems with neck tension on pistol brass, and rifle brass always chambers. Drop them in a cartridge gauge if you don't believe it.

 

[DaveInPA]

Like another poster said, depends on the quality. Standard stuff like Winchester, Remington, etc, yeah I resize it. Not Lapua though. It's ready to go out of the box.

 

[fella5]

DaveInPA,

I just bought some Lapua .223 REM brass from advice from others. So do you mean you don't have to chamfer, de-bur or set the neck tension? Just prime, charge and seat the bullet? Just want to make sure it's okay.

Scott

 

[mrawesome22]

If you're using Lapua brass I'd assume your gonna be neck turning, weight sorting, checking concentricity, and using a custom die. If not, you just wasted your money.

 

[fella5]

mrawesome22,

That is why I'm asking.... others have mentioned that the Lapua brass is pretty consistent and you won't have to neck turn. I have the RCBS Gold Match die and waiting for my Neco gauge. Just looking for good input on what and what not to do. I have also weighed my brass, but some say to weigh it after you prep it and some say to check the volume of the case. My 100 new Lapua brass range from 95.3 - 97 grains out of the box.

Scott

 

[mrawesome22]

Glad you didn't buy that high dollar brass for you're truck gun.

Sounds like you're on your way to printing tiny groups.

 

[Nomo4me]

"If you're using Lapua brass I'd assume your gonna be neck turning, weight sorting, checking concentricity, and using a custom die. If not, you just wasted your money. "

Just goes to show, not all free advice on the internet is worth what you pay for it.

 

[dhhardw]

Resize

Actually, I'm not sure this is a matter of manufacturing quality. For me, some of the brass I buy new comes in boxes and some in plastic bags. It gets banged around in shipment and sometimes the mouths are not perfectly round. I read somewhere that you should run new brass into your sizing die (and case mouth expander for rifle cases) just to make sure it's not out of round, etc. From the big name manufacturers, the brass is almost certainly within specifications. Since I prime on the downstroke of the resizing step, it's no real hassle.

If you think about it, it's a good idea.