neck tension and time

Johnathan

The time between sizing necks and seating bullets at a BR Shoot is is less than 5 minutes usually. I think the article was referring to loading at home where a person may size one day and seat bullets another day. I will read the article for what it's worth.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR
 
short range benchrest and F-class

Kent Harshman said:
...what is your application?... short-range benchrest?, long-range benchrest?, varminting?, big game?...
Click to expand...

I load at range for short-range benchrest, and preload for F-class. Sometimes I will resize, prep, and prime brass at home then I just charge and seat them at the range. In the past I have sized and primed my brass but then not loaded them for quite some time.
Thanks,
Jonathan
 
I read that article myself, and i must admit i am quite skeptical? Now i dont have any reason not to believe what was written as i dont have a personal experience one way or another. There are a few folks on this forum that if they told me this was true then i would believe it. So whats the scoop from some of the experienced shooters here? Thanks Lee
 
This is not a new discovery.

The website mentioned had another article on this perhaps two years ago.
IMHO a chemical bond between two differing metals that have different dielectric properties.......which increases over time.
 
Brass will get a harder "neck tension" (force needed to seat the bullet) if left in air for some time. If you size brass one weekend, and then seat bullets the weekend after, you will experience a increased force needed to seat the bullet.

I have always thought that oxidation of the brass was the reason, but I could be wrong? I guess that it´s the same thing as if you try to pull bullets from loaded ammunition. If you pull them right after you have seated the bullets, it´s most ofter fairly easy. Let 'em sit a week, and it becomes way more difficult.

As long as you load the ammunition the same way from time to time, I guess it doesn´t matter at all.
 
Something else to worry about.:rolleyes:

I don't think it's important unless it detracts from accuracy. Both point-blank and long-range shooters who load at home days or weeks before a match seem to do very well at kicking butt. Does that tell you anything?:cool:

JMHO

Ray
 
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Ray,
I think that uniformity of neck tension within a given group is probably the main thing. Wouldn't you think that mixing them would be undesirable?
 
Here is Something I have Noticed

Have you ever had some rounds left over from a Match, and a couple weeks later, decide to shoot them, and they all go into the same hole?

I have experienced this with both my 6PPC and my 30BR. More than once.

Maybe over a period of time, the neck tensions all stabilize, and sort of even out.

I plan on pre-loading for every Score Match this year. Maybe even a week ahead if time permits...........jackie
 
If the author of that article is correct in his assertion that the ductility of the brass changes over time, it would seem to follow that more frequent annealing is desirable.
 
I don't think

Neck tension means much except to hold bullets in the proper OAL the barrel likes to shoot them at. When one considers how big that boom is, WELL - - - - -. OAL folks, this is what matters !

Of coures for those who jam hard none of it matters.
 
Jackie, why

jackie schmidt said:
Have you ever had some rounds left over from a Match, and a couple weeks later, decide to shoot them, and they all go into the same hole?

I have experienced this with both my 6PPC and my 30BR. More than once.

Maybe over a period of time, the neck tensions all stabilize, and sort of even out.

I plan on pre-loading for every Score Match this year. Maybe even a week ahead if time permits...........jackie
Click to expand...

does it matter at a score match rather than a group match? what is the difference?

David
 
Jonathan,
for what it's worth. When I take off a barrel ( for whatever reason)I will usually retire the 25 pieces or so of brass that I was shooting along with it( in whatever condition they were in,fired,resized and primed or loaded). Might be six months or so before I screw it back on( for whatever reason). Invariably the brass necks and shoulders are harder and more set than they were while I was shooting and resizing them 6 months ago, but once I size,shoot and resize; the brass ductility( is that a word?,yeah, I looked it up and it's a word,precisely the word I wanted)get's back to normal and it's as if I never parked that barrel at all.Do I trust 6 months ago preloaded rounds or resized brass? No way! It definitely takes a set. I think the best way to park brass is in the fired and unresized mode.
Joel
 
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David

Most of the Score Matches I will attend are one day events, many just a single yardage.

All of the Group Matches are two day, Two Gun Events. I simply do not have that much 6PPC brass made up...........jackie
 
Nader said:
Jonathan,
for what it's worth. When I take off a barrel ( for whatever reason)I will usually retire the 25 pieces or so of brass that I was shooting along with it( in whatever condition they were in,fired,resized and primed or loaded). Might be six months or so before I screw it back on( for whatever reason). Invariably the brass necks and shoulders are harder and more set than they were while I was shooting and resizing them 6 months ago, but once I size,shoot and resize; the brass ductility( is that a word?,yeah, I looked it up and it's a word,precisely the word I wanted)get's back to normal and it's as if I never parked that barrel at all.Do I trust 6 months ago preloaded rounds or resized brass? No way! It definitely takes a set. I think the best way to park brass is in the fired and unresized mode.
Joel
Click to expand...

I agree with all of this post :)

Another tidbit about brass..... if your resizing dies are set REAL close you can size and shoot loads that if you leave them set overnite wil not chamber easily the next morning. ;) Shoulders will creep.

al
 
Thanks everyone

for the great feedback. I dont think it will affect me since I usually load within a week of sizing, but I will defenitly keep this in mind if I know Im not going to be shooting for while(which hopfully wont happen) I will leave my cases unsized:)
 
For what it's worth...

...you seem to have gotten some good feedback here, but I'm gonna add something that I've found to be imperative if you want to get anywhere close to the same "feel" with neck tension from the end of one match to the beginning of the next match several days later...
Whether you size your cases or not at the end of a day's shooting (personally speaking, I don't think that's a big deal at all, and actually, always try to do so), ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS TRY TO BRUSH YOUR NECKS, and ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS KEEP THEM IN SOME KIND OF A SEALED CONTAINER! The sealed container doesn't have to be fancy at all...an MTM box is fine. Sealed container doesn't mean "nitrogen purged", just take some care to protect them from the elements they would be exposed to sitting in a cartridge block on a picnic table all night long. This will eliminate a significant portion of what "P. Ericson" talks about in his post. Additionally, BRUSH THEM AGAIN, a few days later when you load them...
Now, before I get flamed by 42 people telling me that neck tension doesn't matter, remember that what I'm trying to address is your initial post...which led me to believe that you were looking for what steps you could take to try and make your neck tension "as consistent as possible" from one day (or week, or month) to the next...
 
Kent

I, for one always listen to your advice. I will be brushing my necks more than ever before. Do you use brass or nylon brushes in your necks? Do you use any solvent on the brush? Thanks for the information, and look forward to seeing you at the SS. James
 
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