I'm new to BPCR, with a beautiful M71 Mauser I am itching to play with. Although I am a well experienced hand loader and caster, I'm new to case forming and annealing.
I started with new Starline 45-90 brass (for 43 Mauser). I stood a handful of brass on a brick and heated with torch until cherry red, then let it slow cool. Now I am wondering if I should have had the base in water, concerned that when fire formed the primer pocket may be soft and grow?
I will stand the base in water from now on.
I am trying to form and size minimally, and let the fire forming do the rest. I found that if I only size the neck down about a half inch, then I can chamber it in the rifle, and when I close the bolt (which is easy, not much force needed), the brass is nicely shaped to the shape of the chamber. It must be dead soft.
Which brings me to my 2nd question...Should I heat it back up and dump in water to attempt to harden it? Or will repeated firing do the job?
My plan is to never resize again, and only seat the bullet by dropping it in on top of the charge / card.
By the way, I found that full length brass fits in the rifle, so I see no need to trim it down.
Thanks, Dan