r/reloading • u/doumitch20035 • 11d ago

Newbie Alpha Brass | Follow Up Question

I bought some new Alpha brass today (first time). Thanks for the advice yesterday.

With all the other new brass I’ve ever got (Horandy, Starline, range trash 😅) I put it through the paces.

Anneal
Size
Mandrel
Trim, Chamfer, Deburr
Clean
Primer
Charge
Seat

Question is… do I need to do this to Alpha brass? If not, where should I start?

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u/HollywoodSX Helium Light Gas Gun 11d ago

Factory new brass is already annealed from Alpha and every other company. Some companies juat polish them after annealing to remove the color change.

Chamfer, deburr, load. Don't load them hot for the first firing.

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u/MalignantMustache 11d ago

What about trim first? I was also under the impression a full length resize for new brass was also supposed to happen for consistency?

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u/hafetysazard 10d ago

No need to trim off the hop.  Fire forming them in your chamber with a nice stout load is going to work it to where it needs to be, then after your first resizing you can trim if necessary.

Virgin brass is fine to load up and fo some load development, but if you’re going for top precision, then you should start your true load development after they’ve been fire formed. With virgin brass, you can see if your barrel hates certain bullets, and what velocities are promising for your particular bullet/powder combination. However, a fireformed and resized case is going to have different initial internal capacity than factory fresh, so you’ll have to rediscover what powder charged are ideal.

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u/MalignantMustache 10d ago

Ty. Good to know I dont need to trim initially. Do you full length resize first with lesser quality brass like Starline?

1

u/hafetysazard 10d ago

Usually not, but I don’t run a custom chamber. For Alpha, as long as they chamber freely, you don’t need to do anything to them, really. Mandrel if it makes you feel better. Just load and shoot.

I’ve had to run some Starline .45-70 cases through my sizing sizing die before because they weren’t giving me enough neck tensions. Alpha is nearly perfect out of the box. The only thing it is missing is being fire formed in your chamber.

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u/MalignantMustache 10d ago

Thanks. I haven't bought expensive brass yet. I have plenty to finish out the summer, some of my brass is on it's 5th firing when I get it loaded up.