Stainless steel media, should I add it?

[doctnj]

Bearings on the rods. I'll be posting the results of the shoot today. I have some questions I need input on.

[doctnj]

Ill try to make this as short as possible because people dont like to read long posts.
I shot 3 rifles today. 10 rounds using dry medium to clean the brass and 10 rounds that used stainless pins.

All three rifles MV dropped an average of 15 fps. I would think this may be due to less neck tension but honestly I also just opened a bottle of new powder when I started loading the stainless rounds so it possibly could have been the powder.

Next the SD and ES on all three rifles improved from dry to stainless just a couple points but improved nonetheless. I cant tie that change into powder so maybe there could have been lighter neck tension but apparently more consistent.

But last issue and the one I need help understanding. My rpr 243 and the 6.5 creedmoor both have somewhere around a 5 SD with an es in the teens. My 260 on the other hand has an SD of 11.8 with the stainless and a large ES in the 30's. I looked back at a year ago and it is about the same. On paper at 100 yrds I can make one ragged hole with 10 shots off of bags so it appears to perform well. Does my rifle not like that load as much as I think it does? Should I go back through load development again? I can cover the hole of ten rounds with a dime. Why do my numbers say other wise? I am confused. I take all of my reloading through the same steps every time. I anneal every time so the neck has the same properties every time. The only things that come to mind are the large jump around 30 thousanths and the possibility that my rifle just is not in tune with that charge weight. Any thoughtful input would be appreciated.

[WeldNFool]

I have the Hornady ultrasonic cleaner and a Rebel 17. Ran brass thru the ultrasonic cleaner before I got my Rebel. After I ran some brass thru the Rebel 17 with the stainless steel media I proceeded to run the ultrasonic brass thru the tumbler. No comparison. I could see down inside of the brass after running in the Rebel just from the reflection of the light inside. Not so with the ultrasonic. Don't get me wrong, the Hornady cleans it good but the Rebel is a beast. The quality of the Rebel is also excellent. The base is heavy, pillow block bearings for the barrel rollers. The barrel itself is also of good quality. I'm a fabricator/welder and I over build stuff. I was impressed with the weight of the steel used and the quality. The Rebel is of course more expensive than the Hornady but if you want sparkling brass, the Rebel 17 with the stainless steel media is a winner in my book.

[doctnj]

Weld fool you are absolutely correct about ultrasonic vs the 17. I did exactly what you did. I used to go 4 hours in dry media. Get everything trimmed then into the sonic. Go one case at a time and wipe out the pockets with a q tip to get them as clean as I wanted them. Then back into the media for 4 more hours. Then inspect the cases one at a time to get the media out of the flash hole which was 90% of the cases. Now 2 hours in the 17 and bamm. Awesomeness. But I have the above differences to think about. I really think that the slight difference is no difference at all. Maybe even better as they seem to be more uniform result. I just wish I knew why my 260 was so out of line.

[Robinhood]

I just wish I knew why my 260 was so out of line.

Are you annealing?

[doctnj]

Yes. I anneal every time.

[Robinhood]

Yes. I anneal every time.

Sorry, I did not read the whole post.
I had this happen with a CBI barrel. I wish I had an air gauge and a bore scope. I still cant figure out what happened to it. At around 1200rds it just went south. I tried JB's and carbon removers and copper removers. The bore scope might tell the tale.

[doctnj]

I've gone into this in Greater detail over on snipers hide under the reloading forum if you can go over there and read it and tell me what you think please

[RC20]

Annealing once every round is a bench rest shooter need, unless you shoot the 0s, 1 or 2s, excessive.

It can also affect cases if not done right.

That said, I have a vibratory tumbler and my brass is totally clean, factory bright. It takes 6 or 8 hours but I keep reserve brass so I am not short in any area. Some is waiting to be sized, sometimes some is being tumbled, some is tumbled (trimmed if needed) and ready to load.

I got a batch of once fired RP that was stainless steel tumbled and the finish is off. Shoots fine, but lost that nice brass luster, more a duller yellow now. I like my shiny shells so that is a bit of a downer.

Just have not seen the need to get any of the other stuff.

[doctnj]

So with all this process change I was looking at my loads. I discovered that on my 260 I selected a bushing that is too large and was getting high ES and SD. However on my 6.5 Creedmoor I chose too small of a bushing from a suggestion from another shooter. My question is this. With the bushing being quite a bit too small, I'm getting very low ES and SD. Is there a problem with continuing to use that small bushing? I realize that the expander ball pushes it back out so it can't be smaller than that right?

[WeldNFool]

I had some RP brass come out that same way the other night. Darker yellow, wasn't pleased with it. Put it in the ultrasonic for a few rounds and when it was done it was back to shiny. I was experimenting with the amount of LemiShine and think that is what caused my problem or handling the brass with greasy fingers(was working on a vehicle sometime during the day I think). I also rinsed with cold water and didn't rinse as much as I normally do. Usually hot water, stir the brass around in the barrel with a rubber glove until water is mostly clear. Then drain, rinse, drain, rinse, etc. I did cold water and everything went south. Could be high minerals in my water too. Definitely will go back to the recommended amounts for the Rebel.

[doctnj]

I changed out to a tighter bushing to increase the tension on the bullet. That certainly helped bring the ES and SD down.

I have an issue Im trying to chase down. I havent shot for group size since the beginning of last season. Ive changed a few things so I wanted to see where I was. Changing the bushing to a tighter size nearly cut the SD in half. and reduced the ES by a third. But now my group has opened up!!! Using the stainless steel media, new bushing, I am getting slightly slower MV; Like 30 fps slower. I would never had thought that with the tighter bushing but none the less. I guess I need to start over with load work up. The new mv is 2776. the old one is 2801. I feel like I need to just keep adding till I cross that threshold.

[Nor Cal Mikie]

A good run with "untreated corn cob" will put the shine back on your brass.