Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Neck Sizing Question

Since I started reloading in 2000, I've been a full-length resize kind of guy. I'm mostly a hunter that shoots and not the other way around. Then I started reading here and got hooked on the idea of Lee Collet dies. I tried them and all of a sudden I'm shooting much more accurately, so I start buying Lee Collet dies for all my regularly shot chamberings.

I've forgotten one thing: after you start neck sizing, when do you give the brass its next full-length resize?

Mule Deer is kinda the Guru of reloading he will give the better answer. but in the world of bench shooting most no longer neck size its been proven full length sizing is actually more accurate in consistency . good luck and Merry Christmas,Pete53

When the brass gets hard to chamber its time to size the shoulder/body back.

Many folks, me included don't do a full resize, we use a redding body die to size the shoulder back down and then use the collet die for the neck. Actually I don't wait for the brass to get hard to chamber but I do the body die and anneal on the 5th load. I have found that routine coupled with good brass and avoiding chasing the last little bit of velocity has left me with nearly infinite brass life, well at least really good brass life.

Not a gunwriter here, but since everyone seems to feel free to respond in this forum I'll go ahead and follow suit...any misstatements tend to be corrected by a bonafide genuine gunwriter anyway...

My own practice is to continue neck sizing only until I begin to notice undue or unusual effort required to lock the bolt down on a round. I'll make note of it and the next time I begin to process that batch of brass for a reload, I'll use a body die to bump the shoulder back two or three thousandths. A properly adjusted FL die will accomplish the task also.

Many say they never have to do this, but I often do myself. I suppose it may depend on the cartridge geometry, the rifle's chamber, the quality of the brass, maybe the pressures you're loading to, or a host of other factors such as the dies or other equipment.

That's my two cents worth, yours free.

Lee Collet dies are great for hunting rifles and competition rifles. I know people who use both in competition. Many more use the LCD for their hunting rifles.

As Riverrider said, when you feel resistance to chambering a loaded cartridge. The shoulder has crept forward just enough that the cartridge becomes a press fit.

This next thing will start a lively debate, so I'll throw it out there and see where it goes. Forster makes a bushing bump die. It's a specialty product that uses a bushing to reduce the neck enough to hold the bullet without overdoing it. At the same time, it will bump back the shoulder just enough to chamber the cartridge with little or no resistance.

Personally, I don't bother with a bump die for my hunting rifles, but I have a few specialty rifles where I use them. I do not believe that they are necessary for any off the rack rifle. A Lee Collet die and a body die (or the FL sizing die you got with your die set) will do just fine.

Do a search on the Forster bushing bump die. You can judge for yourself whether you want to get one.

Thanks all.

OK. Help me out with nother related questions:

How does a body die differ from a full-length sizing die?

If you remove the expander ball from a FL die and then run it through a Collet neck sizer, then what?

The FL die squeezes the neck, the body die doesn't.

OK. That makes sense.

I use the body die on every firing, I like things consistent. I also anneal every firing for the same reason, but that wasn’t the question.

if you want better dies use Redding dies and probably the best would be Redding full length bushing die ,guys that do well in competition use the better brand dies and Redding is one of them. Lee, RCBS and many other lower priced brand dies are fine for hunting rifles . maybe buy some of Mule Deer`s books on reloading and volumes 1 & 2 gun gack books also. myself when i shoot my competition rifles i always use a Redding full length bushing dies with the correct bushing for that cartridge and rifle ,small things in reloading make big differences in group size.

I only neck size, and I do like the Lee Collet dies for the purpose. We had a bit of a discussion on the subject a couple of years ago: https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/12428682/1

I have seen one video making this claim. I don't hang on any benchrest site often, so I don't know what they're saying or what the consensus is. I am not sure where the video was shot and I do not know which discipline the shooters were following but almost all of them told the interviewer they used FL sizing. I did not hear a single mention of whose FL dies they're using, though. Not knowing who this crowd really is, I take it all with a grain of salt. Next time there's a benchrest match at my club I may just take a little survey of my own.

For a hunting rifle, I'd use Lee collet dies as long as there are no chambering problems for the simple reason that along with getting very straight necks, no lube is required. That matters when you sit down to load 500 rounds of .223!

Absolutely. Faster and not as messy.

And the Lee sizes the whole neck, the Redding does not.

with respect your right new lower priced dies are fine to use for your hunting rifles. its just after 40 some years of reloading rifle ammo i have noticed i can reload and/or load new brass better with better equipment that shoots smaller groups. i used the lower priced reloading equipment for a couple of years ,until i started shooting bench rest competition ,the first time there i got a education on how and what reloading equipment should be used to shoot better groups . good luck and have a Merry Christmas,Pete53

Are you saying that you have never seen Lee collet dies in the trailers or loading areas at a BR match? I hope so because I haven’t either.😃

$20 gets you 99% there with no mess or fuss. Life is good! Brass life is unbelievable. Accuracy is superb. What's not to like?

For $300, a lot of mess and fuss, and triple the reloading time you can improve your groups by 1/4" at 500 yrd's though. Neccassary if your a competition benchrest shooter, insane amount of work if your loading for a hunting rifle IMO.

If useing Redding bushing dies you also need to turn necks to realize your best concentricity because unlike the Lee Neck Die the bushing die sizes the neck from the outside rather than the inside.

Trystan

Many ways to skin the reloading cat, but FL sizing is the way to go for 90% of reloading in my book. Most serious benchrest guys are using custom FL bushing dies, or Redding FL bushing dies to size the brass everytime. With unprepped brass that hasn't had the necks turned enough to clean them up a Lee collet will help make your loads more concentric vs dragging a expander ball back thru it. That alone may be part of your accuracy gains, and it also could be that your getting less neck tension with the collet die. I prefer Forster FL dies myself.

This thread is an example of what is right with shooting forums in general and the 24 hour campfire in particular. Thanks to all for providing excellent perspectives and information to those of us who are still learning.