the bullet will allow you to determine if this happens, as you will see a mark on the bullet all the way around the shank. Another method is to simply
smoke the bullet seated in an empty cartridge case and chamber it. Extract the cartridge and see if you can identify rifling marks on the bullet. If you can, seat the bullet a bit deeper and resmoke it. Repeat until you can no longer see rifling marks. Yet another method is to remove
the firing pin from your bolt. (Sinclair sells a very slick tool for removing fir- ing pin assemblies from Remington 700 type bolts.) Removing the firing pin removes all pressure when closing the bolt. Take a cartridge (again, always a dummy cartridge) seated a bit long. Try to chamber it. If the bolt won’t close, stop. Seat the bullet a bit farther. Repeat until the bolt almost closes. Measure the OAL, and then seat the bullet in 0.001 increments (this is where a micrometer seating die really helps) until the bolt just barely closes. This is the maxi- mum OAL; any cartridge length longer than this will result in the bullet being jammed into the rifling. Measuring OAL is fine, but I like
to keep records using what I call COAL, or comparator overall length. A bullet comparator shows spaces on the bullet shank just where the ogive is tangent to the shank. This eliminates errors from bullet tip deformation. Once we establish our COAL,
we are ready to seat our bullets. When seating bullets, I parse out any cartridge whose bullet seats too easily; I mark a letter “L” on the case with a Sharpie. These bullets are reserved for barrel fouling, although I often shoot them at long-range. But the “L” marking is a warning that neck tension is a bit loose, and point of impact may be different. So far, I have discussed how I load
new cases. Loading fired cases is very similar, but a bit less work. I first resize and deprime the cases. I then wipe off the case sizing lube with a rag and then clean the outside case neck with fine steel wool. I suppose that after many, many firings the steel wool could re- move some brass, but I don’t think it is an issue. I clean the primer pockets us- ing the primer pocket uniformer. This makes it very easy to obtain sparkling clean primer pockets. We don’t need to turn the necks, but it is a good idea
to measure the case length and ensure it doesn’t need to be trimmed. At this point, many shooters tumble their cases, but I generally skip this step. After brass is reloaded many
times, it becomes brittle and hard. Af- ter a while, neck tension will vary and eventually the neck will split. Because neck tension varies, accuracy will suf- fer. Case annealing modifies the grain structure of the brass and makes it less brittle. Most shooters don’t bother an- nealing; many who do anneal do so after every fifth loading or so. How often you anneal is up to you, but I prefer to anneal very frequently after the brass has been shot about five or six times. Annealing is a subject all of its
own, but I want to discuss how I do it, because I think it is a critical step in reloading. If you have never annealed a cartridge case, I would highly recom- mend that you buy the Hornady Anneal Kit. This kit contains five items: three cartridge holders, some heat paste, and instructions. The cartridge holders are milled aluminum cylinders sized to fit the 223 Remington class, 30-06 class, and belted magnum class. Each car- tridge holder has a stem that fits into a standard 3/8" drill. Noticeably lacking is a case holder for cartridges such as the 300 RUM based on the 404 Jeffrey case, but I modified the largest holder by drilling it a bit wider halfway down. You also will need a propane torch and a bowl of quench water. Case annealing is a bit tricky; if
you don’t get the neck hot enough, you won’t anneal the case. But if you get it too hot, you will destroy the case. And annealing is for the neck only – you don’t want to heat the case body. Annealing cases with the Hor-
nady kit makes it difficult to under or over anneal, and since the case holder is used, you can’t heat the body unless you tried. You attach the proper case holder into an adjustable speed drill. Next, apply some of the heat paste just below the shoulder of the case. This paste will melt when the cartridge case has reached the proper temperature. Don’t fret about this step: in practice, you soon will recognize when the case has been heated properly and you can dispense with the heat paste. The Hornady annealing kit re-
quires a propane blow torch; most readers probably already have one.
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They are not expensive. To anneal cases, spin them in the drill while applying the torch flame to the cartridge neck. After about 25 seconds (depending on the flame temperature) the paste will melt. Stop and tip the case into a bowl of water; it is critical that the case is cooled rapidly. Unlike steel, brass will not harden after being rapidly cooled. Properly annealed cases will show
a bluish color just below the shoulder; the neck will be a deep golden color. After I have annealed all of my cases, I dump the water out of the quenching bowl and dry the cases. I then place them mouth down in a loading block and allow them to dry overnight. Be- cause I view case annealing as a critical step for long-range loads, I never reload a fired case in one sitting – it is a two- step process of case prep followed by priming, charging, and bullet seating. After the cases are dry, I run them
through a neck sizer one more time, then prime them. The rest of my loading techniques are unchanged. You may notice that I didn’t men-
tion checking case/bullet concentricity. Another confession: I never bother. Ben- chrest shooters might criticize my tech- nique, but I rarely miss at long-range because of vertical bullet dispersion. When I miss, it is because of horizontal dispersion which I attribute to the wind. I have limited time, and I believe my time is best devoted to learning more about wind drift. Using the techniques I describe allows me to shoot ½ MOA groups in the field using my bipod sit- ting position. Surely ¼ MOA is better, but it is a waste at 800 yards if I can’t estimate the wind within one mph. My techniques may seem tedious
to some, and painfully crude to others. But for me, they are a good compromise between spending time at the loading bench and spending time in the field getting in some long-range practice. If you have any comments or questions, please email me at antanies@envoy-
development.com or visit my website at
www.theoutdoorwriter.com.
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