Should i clean my brass/cases?

[jam1e]

Hi folks,
I'm a "newbie" on the forum. And to reloading!
I've reloaded my first batch of 20 rounds. And using my CZ 527 at 50 yards i had a ragged one hole group.
Just to point out that it started at 50 yards as this was mainly for my young son's bennefit as it was his first time having target practice with his .22 rimfire. As he wanted to carry on at that distance, I thought i'd fire a few rounds at "the right-hand" target on the sheet.
To cut a long story short my group was terrible at 100 yards. But after a few swear words i realised the lack of "threadlock" had caused half of my mount screws to come loose!
Apologies for my "rattling on" before the main question.
I didn't clean my once fired brass before reloading. I used a "scotchguard" pad to clean any powder residue off the outside of the cases and checked for any cracks in the neck or other problems. But i didn't use a tumbler or similar device. Does anyone else do the same? If not what mistakes or dangers could i face using this method??
Also, What are your thoughts on my rounds. Obviously .204 Ruger cases. Made by Hornady. Sierra 32gn Blitzking bullets, 28 grains of Hodgdons BL (C) 2 and Magtech primers.
Cheers
Jamie

[RAMOS]

Clean is clean. Nothing wrong with what you are doing, just a little more labor intensive. Be sure and clean the inside of the necks with a brush.

As far as the load, I don't use that powder so I can't comment on that. I will say that many of us have given up on Hornaday brass for this cartridge.

[jam1e]

Clean is clean. Nothing wrong with what you are doing, just a little more labor intensive. Be sure and clean the inside of the necks with a brush.

As far as the load, I don't use that powder so I can't comment on that. I will say that many of us have given up on Hornaday brass for this cartridge.

Thanks for the reply Ramos,
I forgot to add that i do clean just the inside of the neck with a nylon brush.
I'm only using the Hornady as i have 80 cases from when i bought the complete rounds with various grain bullets.
It was to try different bullet weights to see what suited the gun best.
I've just bought 100 new Winchester cases, but i'm intrigued by your comment. Is Hornady brass no good then?

[RAMOS]

Not everyone will agree with me but, many of us have found the case material to be hard to work with. Also, primer pockets are inconsistent and usually loosen up pretty fast. Some have complained about slipping quality on the WW brass as well. Personally, I have been quite satisfied with my Winchester brass after a full prep.

[32dgrz]

I have had good luck with my Hornaday brass. I read all the bad press on it and figured that I would see if it was true. I have Nosler brass too. It's my opinion that the Nosler is worth the extra cost. That being said if properly prepped the Hornaday will group as well as the Nosler. Or that is what I have found. I have have no loss of the Hornaday brass to date. It does require the shoulder to be bumped back more so than the Nosler.
I like the 39g BK's and my powder of choice is 8208. If I do my part it will make one hole at a 100 yards and I have a few at 200 too.

[hemiallen]

How did you determine the Hornady needed to be bumped more than the Nosler? I assume the Hornady had springback ( harder) than the Nosler brass.

Thanks

Allen

[bazz]

1 love the federal brass , on the 8th reload with one box and only ever neck size and only trimmed once , only shooting one box then reload the same 20 rounds again just as an experiment to see what brass life will be and find out at what point i will need to bump the shoulders back as for your question i just wipe the case necks with a piece of leather and use a bronze brush to clean the inside of the necks and only tumble when cases get dirty from blood or mud its marvellous how clean a case will clean up by rubbing in your hands for a little while and welcome aboard cheers bazz

[jam1e]

1 love the federal brass , on the 8th reload with one box and only ever neck size and only trimmed once , only shooting one box then reload the same 20 rounds again just as an experiment to see what brass life will be and find out at what point i will need to bump the shoulders back as for your question i just wipe the case necks with a piece of leather and use a bronze brush to clean the inside of the necks and only tumble when cases get dirty from blood or mud its marvellous how clean a case will clean up by rubbing in your hands for a little while and welcome aboard cheers bazz

Thanks for the replies folks.
Thanks Bazz
When you say "bump the shoulders back", do you mean use a full length die back to "factory" size?
And if thats right, once the case has been used several times and needs to be full length sized is it likely to last much longer after that?
Cheers
Jamie

[bazz]

1 love the federal brass , on the 8th reload with one box and only ever neck size and only trimmed once , only shooting one box then reload the same 20 rounds again just as an experiment to see what brass life will be and find out at what point i will need to bump the shoulders back as for your question i just wipe the case necks with a piece of leather and use a bronze brush to clean the inside of the necks and only tumble when cases get dirty from blood or mud its marvellous how clean a case will clean up by rubbing in your hands for a little while and welcome aboard cheers bazz

Thanks for the replies folks.
Thanks Bazz
When you say "bump the shoulders back", do you mean use a full length die back to "factory" size?
And if thats right, once the case has been used several times and needs to be full length sized is it likely to last much longer after that?
Cheers
Jamie

i only bump the shoulders back not resize the whole case , do do this set up you full length resizer so it touches the case in the reloading press then turn or adjust the sizer down only enough that the case can sit in the rifle chamber and the bolt closes easily if you follow me , i only do this if closing the bolt starts to get stiff but i throw cases out before they need it. i have a piece of stiff wire that has been sharpened to a point then slightly bent to one side , i then insert the wire into the case down to the bottom and slide the wire up and down the side of the case feeling for a bump if i feel a bump i know that case is at the end of its life and its about to have case head separation problems. or the case neck will start to split , i don't anneal the neck cases i just throw them out when i see them signs of splits and if one case in the batch splits i throw the lot , but i usely find a bump in the case webbing before the neck splits and by the amount of case length trimming you have done , this is what i do and by no means the way you or any one else has to there are a lot of more experience re loaders on here than me, cases will grow alot quicker with hot loads too , hope this helps bazz

[tuck2]

I use 4/0 steel wool to clean the outside of the neck and a bore brush on the inside of the neck. When ever I get a new rifle I also purchase 200 cases for it. The primer pocket is cut to the same depth, the cases are cut to the same length, the in and outside of the neck is deburred and the inside flash hole debured. With a Hornady tool the case length from the base to shoulder is measure and recorded. At times the necks are turned but only to cut off some of the thickest part of the neck brass. The cases are then seperated by weight and put into groups of 20 rounds. After fireings the rounds the first time ,the case length from base to shoulder is measured to compare to the unfired cases. Redding sells a set of shell holders for 222 Rem size case bases. The shell holders upper lip varries in thickness so the cases can be resized so that the case length will jest fit into the rifles chamber. This reduces the over sizing of cases when full size resizing. The shell holder size used is recorded with other reloading data for that individual rifle.