DSS
New member
As an update, I went ahead and loaded un-crimped with neck sizing only. I have been pretty anal thus far about sizing, etc... I trimmed my new cases just to make sure we had a good starting point - probably a huge waste of time.
Anyhow, I took some loads, fed them into the magazine, and chambered/extracted them several times (as rough as I could). Absolutely zero change in OAL. No need to crimp these, as others have said. In fact, I made a few dummy rounds (drilled out the primer pockets to allow pushing bullets back out) and the neck sizing provides quite a bit more tension than I would've thought.
On the downside, this Winchester brass isn't so hot. I have 200rds of it, and case lenght was a bit variable, necks weren't true, and flash holes (which appear to be punched?) had much flashing on the inside. Also had a case with a badly cracked neck. I'll be trying Nosler next. 2x the $, but probably worth it.
Also, I have powder burns on the necks of all of my loads. Some of these are very near or at "maximum" loading. I did, however, leave the bullets seated much farther out than the minimum "spec" for OAL. I am wondering if this is due to the Win brass not being very malleable? Perhaps I will find it to be a bit brittle? Dunno, I'm new to this game...
Back to the upside - in my first 10 guesses on loading (5 rounds of 5 different loadings with 2 types of bullets; total of 50rds), I was able to get a few loads that shot 5 shot groups under .4" @ 100yds in my el-cheapo Stevens 200 .22-250. Savage is fantastic.
Anyhow, I took some loads, fed them into the magazine, and chambered/extracted them several times (as rough as I could). Absolutely zero change in OAL. No need to crimp these, as others have said. In fact, I made a few dummy rounds (drilled out the primer pockets to allow pushing bullets back out) and the neck sizing provides quite a bit more tension than I would've thought.
On the downside, this Winchester brass isn't so hot. I have 200rds of it, and case lenght was a bit variable, necks weren't true, and flash holes (which appear to be punched?) had much flashing on the inside. Also had a case with a badly cracked neck. I'll be trying Nosler next. 2x the $, but probably worth it.
Also, I have powder burns on the necks of all of my loads. Some of these are very near or at "maximum" loading. I did, however, leave the bullets seated much farther out than the minimum "spec" for OAL. I am wondering if this is due to the Win brass not being very malleable? Perhaps I will find it to be a bit brittle? Dunno, I'm new to this game...
Back to the upside - in my first 10 guesses on loading (5 rounds of 5 different loadings with 2 types of bullets; total of 50rds), I was able to get a few loads that shot 5 shot groups under .4" @ 100yds in my el-cheapo Stevens 200 .22-250. Savage is fantastic.
Last edited: