Wet Tumbling

[Mozella]

......... snip.................... I've read that worked brass tends to age harden fairly quickly, .......... snip..................

What you read is wrong. Cartridge brass does not age harden at room temperature to any measurable degree. I wonder if what you read was written by reloaders or other people who do not have an educational background which included the study of metallurgy.

I don't doubt what you say, but if the precision of your loads deteriorates with age, it is for some other reason than the cases age hardening. I have a 600 yd bench rest gun I shoot only once a month or less. It's not uncommon for me to load a big batch of competition ammo for the upcoming 6 months. The old stuff shoots just as well as the new stuff, so my experience is different from yours.

[m12lrs]

What you read is wrong. Cartridge brass does not age harden at room temperature to any measurable degree. I wonder if what you read was written by reloaders or other people who do not have an educational background which included the study of metallurgy.

I don't doubt what you say, but if the precision of your loads deteriorates with age, it is for some other reason than the cases age hardening. I have a 600 yd bench rest gun I shoot only once a month or less. It's not uncommon for me to load a big batch of competition ammo for the upcoming 6 months. The old stuff shoots just as well as the new stuff, so my experience is different from yours.

opinions vary

don't know what happens from a metallurgy standpoint but neck tension changes.

I do know my 6mm likes ammo loaded the night before and misbehaves with 3 month old ammo

In 100/200 yard Benchrest you will find most competitors load their ammo throughout the day. In 1000-yard BR you rarely see this. Believe it or not your gun will tell you whether it likes ammo loaded right before it is shot, or several days in advance. I load at least 48 hours before a match. One time I tried loading at the range right before a shoot-off. No dice. I went from an 8″ group to an ugly group with 12″ of vertical. Just by not loading ahead of time, I went from more than respectable to out of the running. I’m really not sure what the problem was, but now I always get my ammo ready well in advance.