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Cleaning The Inside Of Case Necks?
Horse Plains Drifter
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Is it SOP to brush/clean the inside of case necks before resizing? Frequently when backing the case from the sizing die, the case gets pretty sticky and sometimes actually squeaks when the expander ball sizes the inside of the case neck. I found a wire brush in my shop that fit the case necks, so this time I brushed a bunch of them before they went into the case cleaner. I will see if that makes a difference. Just wondering how others deal with that situation.
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I bought anRCBS case neck brush for fired cases when I began reloading for .270 Winchester back in the 70's. Just another detail to make your hunting ammo the best it can be.
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If I cleaned the whole case I would not clean the neck. If I did not clean the whole case I would clean the primer pocket and case neck with the appropriate tool or brush. There is an old trick of wiping the inside of the cse neck with a very small amount of case lube every ten cases or so to provide adequate lubrication in the sizing operation. This was my process for rifle cases. I never found it necessary to lube the inside of pisto; cases. Good luck.
Thank you, fellas.
I always ran my brass through a wet tumbler. Then used Hornady one shot lube before resizing.
Never had a problem....of course I've only been reloading about five years now. I'm new compared to a lot of the folks in reloading.
There is an old trick of wiping the inside of the case neck with a very small amount of case lube every ten cases or so to provide adequate lubrication in the sizing operation. This was my process for rifle cases.
Some brass cases and some sizing dies are just more squeaky than others.
The hornady tapered sizing spud is usually less likely to squeak.
When I run into the really squeaky case necks I lay cases out on the workbench in a row and take a Q-tip and apply just little bit of imperial sizing wax to the q-tip and then very lightly lube every 3rd case internal neck and run them through the sizer so as every 3rd case is sized. This transfers the lube to the sizer spud often enough that all internal case necks does not have to be manually lubed.
After sizing I can run the cases through my Ultrasonic, or put some lacq thinner on a q-tip and manually clean the internal case neck lube. I always remove external and internal case lube BEFORE sending the cases to walnut or corn cob polishing media so as to extend the life of the media and also lube removal before priming and adding powder.
I have a RCBS old model 90375 and case neck brushes but very seldom use it for internal neck cleaning unless the cases are really old and dirty.
The 90375 really takes a lot of the pain and boredom out of case prep such as cleaning primer pockets, inside and outside neck chamfering, deburring primer holes inside the cases.
One of the most important things I've found for consistent accuracy when reloading for a accurate rifle is to cull the light and heavy weight cases. (use close matched weight brass)Mixing up light and heavy weight brass really make a normally accurate rifle produce some wide spread groups at 100 yards.
I heard a comment somewhere, on a Dillon video or other Youtube video that sticking cases on the powder measure of a Dillon 550 which is where the inside dimension is sized was due to the cases being too clean. I had that issue on my press after tumbling my brass with stainless media. I just wiped some Imperial sizing wax on the powder funnel stem every few cases and the problem went away.
As mentioned before Randy, lube the necks every so often to stop the squeaking. It wasn't clear what type of lube was recommended, but I like the dry lube much better than the wet stuff. I bought this from Midway and it works great, just dip a neck every so often into the media and you're golden.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1012768197?pid=614125
One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet, is the case necks might be thickening, after repeated firings. The brass squeezes forward towards the neck, also thinning near the base. Often the cases need trimmed back to "trim-to length", often specified in reloading manuals. This thickened neck can make it more and more difficult to pull the expander button through. Some calibers are worse than others in this respect. High pressure loadings increase the effect. So lubing the inside of the neck can in general be a good thing. But also be aware of case neck thickening. There are some remedies to the thickening, for example, inside neck reaming, or outside neck turning. Both require a lot of effort, and can offer their own problems. Usually better to consider the case as used up after a certain number of firings, which varies according to the caliber, etc. Note also, sometimes the thinning bottom of the case, after too many firings, can result in case-head separation upon firing. Belted magnum cases can be worse than other designs in this regard.
Thanks again guys. I have a ultra sonic cleaner on order, so will see how that works.
Many years ago, on this forum, someone suggested and claimed to use small lead shot that had graphite added. You just pushed the case neck down into it and presto, it was lubed enough for sizing. I tried it and it works but good god is it messy. Black crap everywhere. So I went back to a case neck brush with case lube and make it quick. I wash my cases in hot water and a little dish soap anyway. This gets the little shards of brass out from trimming.
I use Hornady one shot spray to lube all my cases. Very fast, lubes the inside and outside of the case, doesn't hurt anything.
Match shooters prefer a small amount of carbon on the inside of the case necks. Too clean gives inconsistent neck tension. I vibrate the cases but do nothing to the necks.
Lube in the necks will definitely yield inconsistent neck tension, and therefore greater extreme spread and standard deviation. Watch for vertical dispersion in the group's.
If I have to lube the necks occasionally, I place them in boiling (filtered) water afterward for a few minutes and then let them dry. I have experienced powder contamination from the lube left in the necks. Just an FYI
Nice to see you back JustC..
You too. It's been a minute but I am trying to check in fairly regularly.