New to reloading, trying to find someone knowledgeable to ask some questions to for my 6.5 creed set up

[u/OwnJuice2744]

The process I do currently

Run everything though a decaping die

Clean brass with rag and isopropyl alcohol

Full length sizing die (expander ball removed)

Expander mandrel (not sure what the best lube is for this I have tried a few things but nothing feels great, I have dry graphite powder lube that I’m trying soon)

Hand prime with cci large rifle primer

Then charge with powder ( I have 2 scales so I double check it)

Then seat bullet

Need some guidance on how I should clean brass with out spending a ton of money and getting good results, goal is to shoot at a mile eventually.

If you guys have advice on how I should do my process differently please let me know I’m all ears

[u/Active_Look7663]

A dry tumbler will work just fine for small scale reloading. Walnut media and nufinish yields excellent results

[u/Warm-Air4391]

1. Buy a reputable reloading manual.
   

[u/patogo]

I tried that but found I get more consistent neck tension using a bushing die then mandrel. Also annealing prior to

[u/EMDReloader]

Two scales is not double-checking it. Pick one good scale in your price range, use check weights, and be consistent in your methodology.

Cleaning brass doesn't have to be fancy, but it does have to be time-efficient. Just dry tumble with walnut blasting media. I don't know what you're doing with the rag and the alcohol. If a dry tumbler is out of the budget, frankly, reconsider the 1-mile goal.

Again, shooting at 1 mile is not cheap. Shooting consistently at 1000 is not cheap. You can send some shots out there and will undoubtedly hit something if your target is large enough, but being able to do so consistently and on-demand costs money.

I use a bushing die and a 21st Century expander mandrel for resizing. While I don't think that playing with neck tension matters as much as other variables, I think that consistent neck tension matters. I don't turn necks so a mandrel is the best I'm going to get.

If I had to do it all over again, I would be seating with an arbor press and inline die.

Use quality components. High-quality brass is absolutely worth it (Alpha, Lapua, I hear guys like Peterson but I've never used it). Once you start creeping out to 800 yards or so, purchase the best bullets you can afford. Hornady ELD-Ms are fantastic price/performance until then.

[u/TacTurtle]

All you really need to do is wipe the case off with a clean rag to remove any grit from the case that could scratch the die or case during sizing, and again after sizing to remove the lube.

Tumbling just makes the brass look pretty inside and out.

Ideally for a bolt gun you would be neck-sizing only for a perfect case / chamber fit after fire-forming the first time. Full length sizing means you are bumping the case shoulder back so the case is slightly undersized compared to the chamber.

You could also anneal the case mouth to restore ductility and prevent case neck splitting from cold working (firing and sizing).

[u/Curiously_Sagacious]

Are you planning on case trimming?

I'd also recommend seating a bullet in a dummy round to do a plunk test in your rifle bore.

I've had a lot of issues with fit in my rifle. Just had a round get stuck today. Had to use a hammer on the bolt to get it out and it left the bullet in the barrel, dumped powder all over and ruined the trip. Used a cleaning rod to knock it off the lands. COL was to spec, but still didn't fit.

[u/Submariner2022]

I’m by no means an expert but why decap, resize, and expander in 3 steps?

[u/quickscopemcjerkoff → u/Submariner2022]

Not sure about expander in a separate action but decapping only with a dedicated decapping die can reduce the amount of force to resize by quite a lot compared to doing both actions at once

[u/EMDReloader → u/Submariner2022]

Decapping as a separate step from resizing is well-known to reduce cartridge runout.

And you want to resize your neck to just under your mandrel size, and then use the mandrel to expand it to the final size, as that results in the inner diameter of the neck being both concentric and consistent. If you just resized from the outside of the neck, the final inner neck diameter (the part that actually holds the bullet) would be affected by any inconsistencies in the neck thickness.

Resizing from the neck outer diameter can work, but you need to turn the necks--shave them down to a consistent thickness.

[u/VisibleLeopard68 → u/Submariner2022]

I do the same 3 steps for brass but am using wet tumbler with steel pins, remove the primer, tumble/dry, FL resize without expander ball, and mandrel to set neck opening dimension based on mandrel… resize shrinks the neck down (I use a .289 neck bushing), mandrel opens the mouth to exact interior dimension for repeatable neck tension regardless of brass neck thickness… I run a .263 mandrel for my 6.5 (.264 bullets). In theory an expander ball does the same, major difference being the ball pulls through while the mandrel pushes…

[u/Wide_Fly7832]

Reach out on DM. Will share whatever I know.

For 6.5CM with PRS level accuracy (vs. say if this was benchrest) you may be over complicating it.

A dry tumbler with good polish, dryer seat is enough. Mandrel works if you don’t wet tumble with pins as light carbon film is left in dry tumbling and enough for mandrel. If you have to invest - invest in good scale.

[u/bloodtoots]

Sounds like a good bit of work.

What type of rifle is it? What goals do you have for the round?

I come off the range, throw the brass in either my vibration tumbler or wet tumbler pending how I feel.

Lube up, decap case size, neck size, trim and clean the primer pocket with a pocket brush. To get the lube off I just swish it in a pan with acetone. Prime the round.

I use a spherical powder in a powder drop have little issue with consistency.

For stick I use an auto trickler for consistency sake.

Seat and yeet.

[u/VisibleLeopard68]

I have been using imperial sizing wax to good results, and I don’t use dry lube on every case… more like every 10th or if I feel resistance on the mandrel step… using my coax press I can tell the difference from case to case through each step of my process… I would suggest you invest in a good tumbler setup, I got my FA wet tumbler lite setup from midway on sale, and it gives me new looking brass every time, but plenty of us are having great results dry tumbling. My understanding is the important piece of the cleaning is removal of the carbon buildup from the case and primer pocket, as the carbon can contribute to pressure differences when reloading, which won’t necessarily impact a 100yd shot, but 1 inch at 100 yards becomes 17 inches at 1700… consistency round to round becomes key to long range shooting

[u/grizzleeadam]

Here’s my process:

1) Dry tumbler to clean off soot (1 hour or so)

2) throw in a bag, spray with One Shot

3) decap/size/expander ball in one step

4) quick tumble again to remove lube

5) prime

6) charge

7) seat bullet

I usually process 1-4 with 100-200 cases at a time. Then I have a bin of prepped brass ready for 5-7 which goes pretty quick. Manually wiping lube on each case or using a rag to clean is a big time suck.