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Flash hole size |
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D. Bravo
Optics GrassHopper Joined: December/16/2007 Location: Cntrl Minnesota Status: Offline Points: 13 |
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Posted: November/29/2008 at 23:46 |
In "The ABC's of Reloading" by Dean Grennell about 1974 he mentions flash hole size should be about .0820 in diameter or a No. 45 drill bit. Does anyone check this or have any advice on doing such a thing? I did do it on some .22-250 ammo I reloaded a long time ago but I neglected to do any reference for it. It shot well and as I remember there were no extraction problems. I would think this just another case prep procedure like primer pocket uniforming or flash hole deburring. Opinions?
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cheaptrick
MODERATOR Joined: September/27/2004 Location: South Carolina Status: Offline Points: 20844 |
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"Uniformity" is the name of the game in reloading, friend.
I have the Lyman flash hole uniformer tool I use. Has it made a difference?
Going from Federal/Winchester .308 brass to Lapua brass made more of an impact on my group size consistency certainly than flash hole size consistency.
Matter of fact I have never needed to de-burr a piece of Lapua brass in my life.
Standard SOP it on all my "Fedremchester" brass.
Buy the best quality brass for your given caliber and make your life happier and simpler.
Welcome to Optics Talk.
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pyro6999
Optics Retard OT TITAN Joined: December/22/2006 Location: North Dakota Status: Offline Points: 22034 |
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i can remember many years ago when my grand dad was playing with flash hole size, he was actuallu drilling them out bigger and bigger, bad part was he died before i found out what he was trying to accomplish by make the flash hole so much bigger, im guessing a more uniform burn, or a hotter burn maybe.
ct is leading you down the right path
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They call me "Boots"
375H&H Mag: Yeah, it kills stuff "extra dead" 343 we will never forget God Bless Chris Ledoux "good ride cowboy" |
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Crosswire
Optics Apprentice Joined: November/04/2008 Location: West NC Status: Offline Points: 67 |
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"I would think this just another case prep procedure like primer pocket uniforming or flash hole deburring. Opinions? "
You are correct.
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Sam Colt did more to make men equal than any politician ever did.
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D. Bravo
Optics GrassHopper Joined: December/16/2007 Location: Cntrl Minnesota Status: Offline Points: 13 |
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Thank you all for your answers. I do have some Lapua brass for my 06 but have not loaded it up yet. I suppose all prep is makeing a silk purse out of a sows ear but it is relaxing. After rereading a few paragraphs, it seems this prep was done because some decapping pins were larger than the flash holes but the problem was asscociated with brass from just after WWII so I guess we don't have to worry about anything now unless your breaking or pulling out your decapping pin too often. Thanks
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pyro6999
Optics Retard OT TITAN Joined: December/22/2006 Location: North Dakota Status: Offline Points: 22034 |
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i hate case prep there isnt anything relaxing about chamfering and de-burring, and i really hate cleaning the primer pockets tideous work that makes my hands and wrists hurt,i need to buy a rcbs casemaster thingy
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They call me "Boots"
375H&H Mag: Yeah, it kills stuff "extra dead" 343 we will never forget God Bless Chris Ledoux "good ride cowboy" |
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cheaptrick
MODERATOR Joined: September/27/2004 Location: South Carolina Status: Offline Points: 20844 |
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Add to those neck turning and chasing the run out demons on a RCBS Case Master and you'll understand my reasoning for popping the extra coin for Lapua.
I never minded cleaning primer pockets too badly though.
Fact is, for the "ham and egger" shooting factory chambered rifles, like myself, a lot of case prep is just a waste of time.
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pyro6999
Optics Retard OT TITAN Joined: December/22/2006 Location: North Dakota Status: Offline Points: 22034 |
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i wont neck turn i dont have any reason to, i dont shoot competitively so plain jane factory brass works for me, one thing that will really piss me off is when i order a batch of say 100 cases from somebody and they show up with the necks all bent up, i end up resizing them any way but its like people dont care or something.
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They call me "Boots"
375H&H Mag: Yeah, it kills stuff "extra dead" 343 we will never forget God Bless Chris Ledoux "good ride cowboy" |
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RifleDude
MODERATOR EVIL OPPRESSOR Joined: October/13/2006 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 16337 |
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I'm not familiar with that brand of brass, Mark, but I'm gonna go out on a limb anyway and say it ain't as good as Lapua.
Personally, I don't do diddly squat with my flash holes. I tried uniforming flash holes and the only difference I saw from the exercise was that my fingers were sore after about 1000 cases yet weren't sore at all when I don't do it. Therefore, I choose not to do it! Edited by RifleDude - December/03/2008 at 18:07 |
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Ted
Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle. |
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Roy Finn
MODERATOR Steiner Junkie Joined: April/05/2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 4856 |
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If using Remington, Federal or Winchester brass, I will weight sort brass when it is new because I have seen some variation that would probably cause a flyer (a heavy or light case). If using Lapua or Norma brass, I don't bother as they are very consistent and in a factory rifle I don't think it would make much difference anyway. The reason flashole is coming into play with domestic brass is because the domestic stuff is "punched" to form the flashole and the Norma/Lapua brass is drilled making it much more consistent. Like with all the case prep processes, I don't think any one procedure is the deal breaker, rather the sum of many operations that will effect group size. The good news is that if you have the time to weight sort, deburr flashole's, turn neck's etc. you do it once and your done with it. Personally, I don't cut primer pockets as I feel it just leads to premature loose primer pockets when running hot hand loads.
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8shots
Optics Jedi Knight Lord Of The Flies Joined: March/14/2007 Location: South Africa Status: Offline Points: 6253 |
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The mystery of reloading! I think we do a lot of stuff because it feels nice to turn out those shiny brass ammo and stack them in the shell boxes! I do!
I was reading an article of a top shooter and he reckoned that most of the stuff we do shows no positive result. The all important issue is a finished cartridge with nil run-out , even seating depth and neck tension.
For the rest he did not see much use.
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Urimaginaryfrnd
MODERATOR Resident Redneck Joined: June/20/2005 Location: Iowa Status: Offline Points: 14964 |
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I have reloaded a lot of brass that was obviously not the best quality and required lots more work becasue of that. So far the only conclusion I have drawn is I wish I only reloaded straight wall cases like 44 mag and 45-70.
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"Always do the right thing, just because it is the right thing to do". Bobby Paul Doherty Texas Ranger |
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geezer
Optics Apprentice Joined: October/22/2008 Location: Georgia Status: Offline Points: 133 |
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I used to weigh cases, deburr flasholes, and check run out on all of my cartridges. I quit doing this on my hunting ammunition because my longest shot where I hunt is around 115 yards. I don't mind the occasional flyer because it normally only opens my groups up to maybe 1 1/2 inches. The deer can't tell the difference. I am more meticulous with my varmint/target loads since I expect a higher level of accuracy.
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