Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles belted magnum resizing collet die

Never loaded belted magnum, research turned up this item

belted magnum resize die

Any input appreciated

Resize as if the belt is not there. After shooting virgin brass, neck size only. After the second firing, be ready to bump the shoulder back for a snug fit in the chamber. Just use the shoulder, not the belt to index the brass in this manner.

I like Wilson adjustable gauges to quickly check brass fitment. I use 2x fired brass to set the gauge. Not a must have, but very handy to see what your brass is doing.

You can get them cheaper from various vendors besides Wilson.

https://lewilson.com/adjustable-case-gage

Looks like a useful tool.

To size and get maximum case life, I use a Redding body die and a Lee neck collet die.

Also, on the first firing , neck up the case a bit then size down to create a false shoulder, then fire form.

As the case head spaces on the belt, and is only required to be fired once , it tends to be sloppy , have seen 0.008" slop at the belt, that is why the false shoulder to prevent the initial stretch,

After many cycles you will probably experience increasingly harder bolt closure and a bit of a 'click' when doing that. This requires a trip through a full length size die, then the false shoulder then fire form.

As others generally ignore the belt and head space of shoulder until it becomes an issue.

Totally unnecessary! Don't waste your money on it!

The description on his website is not accurate, i.e. false. A regular full length sizing die (or body die) will size cases all the way to the belt. When setting up your full length sizing die, adjust it to bump the shoulder back about .002" so the cases headspace off the shoulder, not the belt.

Tell that to the FL die I was using for a 257 Wby. I was loading for.

I was able to manage a workaround but that collet die would have been mighty handy.

Good post^^ That's all I've ever done and have never had a single issue. I load for 7mm rem mag, 300wm, 308 Norma magnum, 300 WBY mag, 338wm, and 375H&H. I guess I've just been really lucky. Having loaded thousands of magnums without that collet die. I generally only load my magnum cases about 8 or so times though. Most of what you hear about the belted magnums is hype. There's no difference in reloading them vs standard cartridges. No difference in how they feed into your rifle either. Unless you have a piss poor rifle. All of mine feed belted magnums into the chamber effortlessly. Also, for the OP: If you aren't shooting benchrest competitions, don't neck size like some here suggest. More than likely you are going to use it as a hunting rifle. Just bump the shoulder back .002-.003" and you are golden. You gain nothing by neck sizing, but could lose reliability and function, which is what you absolutely don't need on a hunt. Just buy a regular ol RCBS fl die set and adjust it to bump the shoulder back. Bingo, you are done. What cartridge are you going to be loading for?

I'd only been loading belted magnums for twenty five years before I ran into the situation where the collet die would have been nice to have.

BTW, it was a regular old RCBS die set.

I have one. Don’t use it much, but it works.

Sorta expensive but with brass sometimes hard to find, beats chunking it.

DF

What about a case such as the 300h&h? Not much shoulder there. Seems headspacing off the belt is the best solution here?

Even so I'd say sizing just enough for smooth chambering is the way to go.

I have a 300Win mag target rifle and fully sorted and prepped brass last > of 20 cycles, not inclined to pitch the brass early as a lot of work went into them, something you can't buy.

I had some 7 Mag brass from a Savage that I was going to use in a Tikka. It was sized using a body die and a neck sizing die but it wouldn't fit because the chamber of the Savage was larger above the belt. I used the Willis collet die and was able to return that area to a size that fit in the Tikka. For brass that is fired in one rifle and re-sized for that rifle, I haven't had a need for the collet die.

It can happen with only one rifle involved.

Same deal here. Only needed it a few times but when I did nothing else would work. Well, a custom set of of dies may have worked but the collet works easy enough for those rare cases.

Yep. I did buy one years ago...never had to use it because I set my my FL dies to HS off the shoulder. I am too OVD to use neck sized brass for hunting, ha, never did that either. Its a good idea and IF I still had a 257 WBY I would use it, they bulged too much for my FL die, but I traded sold the rifle to my friend.

The shoulder isn't much but it's there. You still will get separations if you insist on moving the shoulder more than a couple thou.

Thanks for all the input.

I have been shooting the 7 Rem Mag since 1978, never used collet belted mag sizer...never. I bought one when they first came out, never used it, sold it.

Why buy it if you didn't need it?

Yeah, I hear about cases where it is needed. I would buy one ONLY if it is needed. Directed to the OP only.

I have / do load for 4 different belted magnums and have never needed one. I am up to about the 5th or 6th firing of the same Nosler brass (have to look at my records) for one of my .257 Weatherby magnums and have not had a need for that die.

A false shoulder will save life on the initial brass stretch, but I never bothered because I did not know about the technique when I started out. I don't think it mattered a whole lot since I am getting good life out of the brass. It is definitely a worthwhile step to learn though. I found out about it from Big Stick.