New to reloading, gifted 1000 pre-primed cartridges - looking for sage advice

[jekemi]

That makes sense, but shouldn't my factory brass fit into the die when the decapping rod is removed completely? If you look closely in the pics, I removed the decapping rod and still couldn't get the case to insert all the way.

I ordered RCBS case lube, I was using an old (gifted) bottle of one shot, maybe that's the issue. New case lube should be here Saturday night

Make your own Case Lube. Use about 12 oz of 90% (or stronger) Isopropyl alcohol. Add to it 3 oz of generic lanolin and shake the mixture. Put it in a spray bottle. It works great and its cheap.

 

[DizzyJ]

Make your own Case Lube. Use about 12 oz of 90% (or stronger) Isopropyl alcohol. Add to it 3 oz of generic lanolin and shake the mixture. Put it in a spray bottle. It works great and its cheap.

That's what I use as well. Works amazing, just make sure to give it enough time to dry before using, and don't let it sit too long after sizing before you get it cleaned off. It gets pretty sticky and gummy if you don't.

 

[Lasers]

This thread lives on...

Ok, so I now have a check gauge! What a time saver, wish I would have done this right when you guys suggested it.

Most of the primed brass, isn't in spec for size. Maybe uncle skipped a step (it's possible!), because the rounds are consistently off, in fact some fit the case gauge fine and others not so much.

From what I've read, I should be ok resizing these with the depriming pin removed? Maybe being a bit extra careful/slow?

Pics to follow

 

[Lasers]

When uncle was teaching me, we went through the powder and projectile stage on 20 of his pre-primed rounds. My case checker liked 6 out of the 20...


In the pics with 3 rounds side by side... Left and right are reloads, center is a factory round

Pics:

Case gauge
3 rounds 1
3 rounds 2
Good reload
Good factory load
Bad reload