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GECO Brass


Mark II

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Hello all

I have been given a bag of Geco 308 brass so before I start processing it all does anyone here use it and is it good for reloading. 

Also do you batch your brass by weight and if so what tolerance do you use.

Cheers Mark 

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I hope it is good. I have 1000 pcs of 7.62x39 new UPB made by them. Hope to load some soon.

To properly 'batch" brass by weight, the cases need to be FL resized, trimmed all to the same length and scrupulously clean. A bit of a pain outside the highest level of competitive shooting. I buy good brass, prep it uniformly, and go with it. ~Andrew

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5 hours ago, Mark II said:

Thank you that's what I do each time I reload apart from the weight but out of interest I did check some ppu brass I have been reloading and it was all within a couple of grains.

It's case volume that's important, usually done by weighing an empty case and subtracting from a case filled with water; ballistic apps like Quickload use water volume in their calculations.  I'd agree that it's highly likely that the same manufacturer's batch of cases will weigh the same when prepped as described by Andrew, and any variance will be tiny wrt volume.  Differing manufacturers and or batches may vary due to machining difference and brass alloy specification.

It's my belief that a lot of reloading practice is based on prepping low quality brass,  Lapua brass (for example) is so good that a size and trim is all that's needed.

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31 minutes ago, Popsbengo said:

It's case volume that's important, usually done by weighing an empty case and subtracting from a case filled with water; ballistic apps like Quickload use water volume in their calculations.  I'd agree that it's highly likely that the same manufacturer's batch of cases will weigh the same when prepped as described by Andrew, and any variance will be tiny wrt volume.  Differing manufacturers and or batches may vary due to machining difference and brass alloy specification.

It's my belief that a lot of reloading practice is based on prepping low quality brass,  Lapua brass (for example) is so good that a size and trim is all that's needed.

It will be interesting to see once cleaned, sized and trimmed what the difference in weight will be compared to the ppu.

What tolerance do you look for between cases 

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55 minutes ago, Mark II said:

It will be interesting to see once cleaned, sized and trimmed what the difference in weight will be compared to the ppu.

What tolerance do you look for between cases 

I have in the past tried to see any variation at the range between five batches of 20 selected cases from 100 batch.  I could not see any correlation between tiny weight variation and precision shooting off bipod and bag at 500yds or beyond.  Obviously field testing is prone to many variables.

With Lapua brass (6.5mm; .308; .338) I have found so small a difference that I don't bother sub-dividing a batch of brass but I do keep batches separated.  I clean scrupulously so I don't have variable amounts of carbon fouling in the cases - although unless filthy I'd be surprised if it made much difference on large volume cases.

Full on benchrest shooters may think it worth their while.

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3 hours ago, Popsbengo said:

I have in the past tried to see any variation at the range between five batches of 20 selected cases from 100 batch.  I could not see any correlation between tiny weight variation and precision shooting off bipod and bag at 500yds or beyond.  Obviously field testing is prone to many variables.

With Lapua brass (6.5mm; .308; .338) I have found so small a difference that I don't bother sub-dividing a batch of brass but I do keep batches separated.  I clean scrupulously so I don't have variable amounts of carbon fouling in the cases - although unless filthy I'd be surprised if it made much difference on large volume cases.

Full on benchrest shooters may think it worth their while.

Thank you for the input I always full length resize and trim but just wandered if weight would make a  noticeable difference which it appears not  so unless a case or two are way out I will give that step a miss.

Next step annealing, how often? 

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Weight comes into play when you are changing from one brass manufacturer to another. By averaging sample weights of both cases (identically prepped) you can conclude the heavier brass has less case capacity. If that is the brass you are moving too, reduce the charge by 12% of the difference. If the difference in average weight is 10 grains, you'd reduce your charge weight by 1.2 grains. ~Andrew

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11 hours ago, Mark II said:

Thank you for the input I always full length resize and trim but just wandered if weight would make a  noticeable difference which it appears not  so unless a case or two are way out I will give that step a miss.

Next step annealing, how often? 

Annealing:  I balance practicality, performance and case life.  I anneal with molten salt (the best method - cue pile-on 😉). 

For .308 & 6.5mm I'll anneal after four reloads ie, I shoot the case five times.  The neck tension is noticeably different each time I load (arbour press and in-line die gives great feel) however range performance is still good.

I've recently dumped a batch of Lapua .308 LRP after 15 reloads due to slack primers, not case splits.

For .338LM I anneal after one firing, manly because it's relatively rare I get to shoot it and annealing is not such a burden as I follow on from a batch of .308 etc.  If I were shooting the same quantity of .338LM as .308/6.5 I'd be broke so annealing would be the least of my worries 😁

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16 hours ago, Mark II said:

Thank you for the input I always full length resize and trim but just wandered if weight would make a  noticeable difference which it appears not  so unless a case or two are way out I will give that step a miss.

Next step annealing, how often? 

I anneal after every firing. It's step 2 in my brass prep process. 

Regards 

JCS 

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4 hours ago, Mark II said:

Thank you all for your input  especially reducing powder charge for a heavier case I hadn't thought about that. 

When batching your brass what tolerance do you use between cases

You are bound and determined to weight sort your brass, aren't you? The tolerances are for you to choose. Are you bored?  If you are sorting brass, you might as well sort your bullets too. 

I anneal every reloading.~Andrew

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Can you see a quantifiable advantage in annealing every time? How many times can you typically reload a case?

I anneal every 3-4 firings, and it has definitely increased case life. It was split necks that prompted my purchase of an annealer.

I'm currently reloading 6BR for the 19th time..........but then it is a comparatively low pressure round. I use Lapua brass.

Pete

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13 hours ago, Mark II said:

Thank you all for your input  especially reducing powder charge for a heavier case I hadn't thought about that. 

When batching your brass what tolerance do you use between cases

At one time I had Remington 260 Rem brass that varied by 5 grains. I batched it into 1 grain batches. Once I got nosler brass I stopped weighing the brass. I wouldn't dream of weighing quality brass nowadays. 

I do as little as possible to my brass. Practice in the field is much more important. 

Regards 

JCS 

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7 hours ago, jcampbellsmith said:

At one time I had Remington 260 Rem brass that varied by 5 grains. I batched it into 1 grain batches. Once I got nosler brass I stopped weighing the brass. I wouldn't dream of weighing quality brass nowadays. 

I do as little as possible to my brass. Practice in the field is much more important. 

Regards 

JCS 

+1 to that

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17 hours ago, Andrew said:

You are bound and determined to weight sort your brass, aren't you? The tolerances are for you to choose. Are you bored?  If you are sorting brass, you might as well sort your bullets too. 

I anneal every reloading.~Andrew

 I did weight 10 but they were so close I stopped,  maybe just a bit ocd.

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