Case preparation
The first step in the reloading process is cleaning the fired case. I use vibratory and rotating drum case cleaners with corncob media, walnut shell and stainless steel pins. I usualy start with a quick run in walnut shell to clean bras enough to start prepping then finish polish in corn cobb or wet stainless pins. I use Thumbler's Tumblers exclusively, my older unit iwas purchased in 1976 years and is still humming.
Afrer decapping and a initial sizing I then move on to primer pocket prep and trimming the case to length. The exception to this is depriming military cases. For these I prefer Lee's "unbreakable depriming tool". I still break these occasionally but they happily replace them every time. All reloading manuals give the recommended trim length for most calibers. For very short runs I use a manual trimmer but the majority of trimming is done with power trimmers or manual trimmers converted to power units. I use my RCBS Trim Pro powered case trimmer exclusively for 45 acp as I load more 45 than al other cartridges. When combined with the RCBS three way cutter you are able to trim to length, chamfer and debur the case all in one step.
Cleaning and uniforming the primer pockets can be done in a single step using a primer pocket cutter on a powered case prep center. Many companies make them but RCBS was the first to market with them {at least to my knowledge in the pre-internet days) so I use the R.C.B.S. powered case prep center to handle these chores. Hand powered tools can be purchased for very little money and will serve most people well. Once again I prefer the R.C.B.S. versions. If you need to remove the crimp from military cases the powered case prep tool is the bomb. If you don't have three way cutters on your case trimmer then you can debur and chamfer the case at the same time.
After uniforming the primer pockets with a cutter then its time to debur and uniform the flash holes and thesn your brass is ready for making quality ammo. Many skip one or all of these steps but they tend to have more "unexplained" problems and steps like cutting primer pockets and deurring flash holes are a once time step for the life of the brass. For most shooting purposes these steps are sufficient to guarantee consistent quality cases to base the actual loading process on. For long range accuracy there are more steps that can be done to insure even more consistency.
CONSISTENT CASE PREP STEPS ARE KEY TO GOOD HANDLOADS
MUCH MORE ON ADVANCED CASE PREP COMING SOON
NAVIGATION
