Reloading Basics

Although reloading is all about recycling cases, there are occasions when you have to treat yourself to some shiny new brass! They are undoubtedly expensive, and splashing out on new cases can be a bit of a shock to your pocket, but are new cases any better than old, previously fired ones?

New, second-hand, or older
Brand-new, unfired cases, straight from the factory, are manufactured to SAAMI dimensions and will generally fit most guns chambered for the specific cartridge. Second-hand cases come from fired factory ammunition, used once and fire-formed to the gun they were shot through. They will be of good quality, prepared and loaded in consistent factory conditions. Older cases, on the other hand, have been shot more than once, sometimes several times, and will also be fire-formed to the last gun they were fired in.

Sourcing cases
A lot of shooters source their brass from factory ammunition, using the factory rounds for either competition or stalking and then reloading them for general shooting and target practice. Although this is initially expensive, with factory ammunition costing a fair amount, it is a good way to source brass. This ensures that you are using high-quality and consistent brass fired in your own gun and fire-formed, from new, to the dimensions of your chamber.
Buying brand-new brass might seem a bit counterintuitive to most reloaders, as the whole process usually revolves around using previously fired cases, but sometimes it is necessary. If your cases are worn out and need retiring, then new brass is required. However, new cases come with some particular issues which need addressing to make them ready for use.

Working with new brass
As new cases have been produced to SAAMI specifications, they should require little, if any, trimming to length. A lot of reloading data states a “trim to” length, which is slightly shorter than the SAAMI dimension, to allow for the stretching of the cases when fired, but this is not usually necessary. Basically, very hot loads that cause excessive case stretching can benefit from starting with slightly shortened cases. New cases do not usually require resizing and are pretty much ready to go, but they should still be carefully inspected first.
Depending on the brand and the packaging that the cases are sold in, new brass can often require a bit of work before you reload it. Case mouths can sometimes be dented during transit, flash holes may not have been properly formed, and other odd faults or poor finishing may be evident. So, new cases need to be treated in a similar way to once-fired cases. There are exceptions to this, with brands like Lapua and ADI selling very well-finished cases in good protective packaging that arrive in perfect, ready-to-use condition. There is nothing wrong with other brands, but some can be more easily damaged in transit or may not have had as much time spent on finishing them. This is reflected in the price, and with brass, it is very much a case of “you get what you pay for.” Premium cases, well-finished and well-packaged, come with a much higher price tag.
New cases should be individually inspected, the flash holes deburred, and if necessary, the cases should be trimmed to a consistent length. If any case mouths are dented or misshaped, you can put them through a resizing die, either full-length or neck-only, but it is important that if you need to do this, then all of the cases must be resized, so that they have all been stressed and processed in the same way. This will ensure that they perform consistently. Processing brand-new cases this way can be time-consuming and somewhat disappointing, but the lower cost of such cases makes the extra effort more palatable.

New versus old brass
New brass often does not perform as well as once-fired brass because it has not yet been fire-formed to the gun. When the case has expanded in the chamber and then shrunk back slightly as the chamber pressure drops, it may require some resizing to bump the shoulder back slightly and re-establish the correct neck tension. Other than that, it is perfectly shaped to function in that gun. By comparison, new brass is made to SAAMI dimensions, to be fired in any appropriately chambered gun, and this difference can have a critical effect on the accuracy of the ammunition.
As brass gets older and is fired more times, its ability to shrink back down to size after firing starts to diminish, as the metal becomes less springy and starts to thin. In time, the case mouth will not be able to provide sufficient neck tension to hold the bullet correctly, and this will affect chamber pressure and consistency. This is when cases are at the end of their useful life and should be disposed of.

Other considerations
Many dangerous game hunters will not consider using reloaded ammunition, or even once-fired brass, because they feel more reassured using factory ammunition when the critical shot is needed. The theory is that they are avoiding the risk of ammunition not feeding because the brass wasn’t resized properly. This is more of a reflection of a lack of confidence in their own loads rather than a realistic risk. When stalking any type of game, you should always ensure that your ammunition chambers correctly before heading into the field, so you can be confident it will feed when needed.

Conclusion
Brand-new brass is no doubt a treat, and if you get it from a high-end brand, very little work will be required before you can reload it. The important thing to remember is that it is only new once, and it might not perform at its best until after it has been fire-formed in your gun.