Armory Sponsor
Posted: 8/19/2012 8:45:32 AM EDT
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Quoted:
Yes I pick up brass and steel too. From sandy gravel pit. I soaked these cases in water and Dawn for 1/2 hour and rinsed off. Let dry then and decapped and wet tumbled. Steel cases are dry tumbled and loaded. Be sure to carefully inspect range brass before loading. Easy to see bad cases after they are cleaned up. Instead of hijacking a thread, I thought I would start a new one. On the steel case subject. I have resized a handful that I shot thru my AR. I lost probably 50% or more due to neck splits. How do you prep steel? is 50% attrition just the nature of the beast? |
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First, I segregate the .223 Boxer primed cases from the Berdan cases. So far as I can tell, there is no source for the Berdan primers for those cases, so they get recycled.
Next, I inspect 'em, just like brass. Usually there's nothing to see, and I move on, but sometimes I find a reason to recycle a Boxer steel case, so it's a good step. Finally, you clean those cases. Dryflash3 recommends a brief tumble in walnut, and it's worked for me so far. Separate the media from the cases and you're ALMOST ready. The real key is to make sure your expander ball is very smooth, and that you lubricate the CRAP out of the insides of the case necks. Otherwise you'll hurt the cases, hurt your die, or both. For 7.62X39 steel cases, I do the same thing except they're all Berdan, and they use the same primer as brass cases. MAKE SURE YOU TAKE OUT THE DEPRIMING PIN before you do anything with Berdan cases in your sizing die! |
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I have loaded steel cases in .45 ACP and .223 Remington.
I've gotten one or two neck splits with the .223 loads and none with the .45 ACP. I certainly don't get anywhere near 50%. Otherwise everything is the same except you can skip trimming. (Still measure your cases to be sure) |
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