Family man, 49 years old, living in the Midlands Nr Birmingham, full time job working in horse racing looking after Jockeys, this is a job I’ve done for over 30 years. How did I get into shooting? I’ve shot all my life from a very early age, naturally started off with Air rifles in a mates back garden lighting matches & shooting targets as a kid 40+ years ago. Moved on from there when about 16 to shooting a 410 shotgun on my friends farm i went to school with, then from there I got the odd invite on a small walked up mini driven pheasant & Partridge days which i loved, from there I applied for my own shot gun certificate & took a lot more interest in shooting clays & also driven & walked up days as well as pigeon shooting. A couple of years later I moved onto Rifles, I’ve been very lucky to help a few keepers along the way with their Pest Control & also travelled the country Shooting deer, I’ve managed red stags, fallow bucks, roe bucks & does, Chinese water deer bucks & does & muntjac bucks & does & I am also a member of a deer syndicate in Scotland. I’ve also tried my hand at boar shooting but so far they have alluded me but hoping to put that right very soon.
For years i used Norma factory Ammunition with out any problems, so once i got into loading the natural choice of brass was always going to be Norma as you can always guarantee its consistency. I’ve put together a short video of my prep stages for loading for my .204 Ruger
Step 1.
Sonic Clean brass, you can add some sea clean to the water and I normally clean it for 30 mins to lift all the dirt, grease & grim from the cases. Once cycle has finished put brass either in a warm cupboard or on a radiator to thoroughly dry. Check cases for split necks and head separation.
Step 2.
Lube the outside of case either using a lube pad & case lube or imperial sizing wax, I always use some graphite powder on the inside of neck also (personal choice) wiping excess off the neck.
Step 3.
De-prime cases and do a partial full length re-size, bumping shoulders back around 2 thou.
Step 4.
Pop the de-primed case into the case trimmer & trim accordingly.
Step 5.
De-bur/ Chamfer the inside and outside of the neck and clean the primer pocket, then run a brush through primer pocket (the brass Boss from RCBS makes this a very easy job).
Step 6.
Pop your prepped cases into the dry tumbler with either corn/ walnut media leave it to run for around 4 hours (cases like new again). You’re now ready to prime your cases, load with your chosen powder & seat your bullet head.