Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Sizing. Full Vs Neck.

PFLR for some bolt rifles, neck for others. FL for levers, autos, or pumps. My favorite combo for bolt rifles is the Lee Collets with a Redding body die to bump the shoulder when the cases get snug. Neck sizing works just fine for hunting rigs, but as mentioned, chamber your cases for your hunting rigs prior to going hunting.

I also think neck sizing is ok for hunting. Chambering every round is a good idea. Has anyone ever heard of someone getting a round stuck from dirt because of not FL resizing? I mean if you have that much dirt in the chamber I think it would stick one that has been FL sized also.

The only thing I can think of that would be a problem is if your chamber was out of round to begin with. If the concentricity of the fired case body is good, there shouldn't be any problem.

Having said that, if you had a slight run out on the case body, that would probably be taken care of by FL resizing. I have a rifle that has .004 runout at the base of the chamber that makes it oval. Even FL resizing will not get it to chamber, but if you rotate it to the right position, it will drop in.

I a little different...


I FL size any semi auto, pump, lever, or double rifle...

and anything for hunting.

well really I only FL resize

That might have some interesting results. I don't do much of anything to my brass until it has been fire formed to the rifle it will be used in but if your method works, it could save quite a bit of wear and tear as well as powder and bullets.

Does neck sizing work with Weatherby chamberings also with all the freebore?

yes just be sure you have inside the neck lubed good too i seem to sometimes have trouble "pulling" the shoulder foward (lenghten)
in the weatherby cal. guess it is the radius shoulder ? or maybe just me

Freebore shouldn't have anything to do with it.

I have found Wby/Norma brass to be very soft, which could be your problem "pulling" the shoulder fwd. The radius probably doesn't help. It's so soft you can bend the neck with your thumb at times.

I'll fiddle with it and post back my results
Thanks for your thoughts, BD

I've experienced case lengthening in the resizing process also. I'm also somewhat OCD with "Roy" cases and Norma brass. What has helped me at times is I use a bronze bore brush of the appropriate bore diameter and brush the inside of the necks first, roll them across the lube pad, then I dip the necks in a dry lube, then into the sizing die. The fly in the ointment of PFL sizing is that eventually, depending on your rifle, the case, and the hardness of the brass is that you will have to fiddle with resetting the sizer down enough for the cases to chamber. I have had 2-3 firings in some calibers before having to do this, 5-6 in others. IME every rifle chamber and make of brass has been different, and setting the sizer down or up has been adjusted accordingly.
At todays prices of premium factory fodder, the extra work seems, at least to me miniscule, but Hell, I enjoy doing it anyway
I guess reloaders are twice paid

FWIW, when I set up a F/L die, I set it up to full length resize the case, including the cam over needed to completely F/L resize. Then I make a flat washer out of flat stock that will fit around the body of the die. I put that between the lock ring on the die and the top of the press. Dime or nickel thickness is about right. With that in place, I am PFLRing the brass. When it becomes hard to chamber, I remove the washer so's I can F/L the brass. This keeps me from having to keep adjusting the die (and stripping out those little, bitty set screws).

I adjust my FL die every time I use it, and I never use the set screws. I FL size the brass, but barely.

Alot of BR shooters only size a portion of the neck.

A lot of competition shooters full length size, just barely, every time too.

you are both correct neck size or shoulder bump which can be done by carefully adjusting fl. dies with the help of horn. head space gauges or simialer if you neck size only sooner or later the shoulder will get too long to close the bolt on with out way too much effort that wouyld be when you want to "bump" the shoulder

Why is that?? And how do you do it w/o using the set screws?

Even with the same set of brass and the die set the same, it won't necessarily size to the same dimension every time. And I like to bump the shoulders just right, so I adjust to get it that way.

When I get the die set like I want it, I run in a piece of brass, leave the ram at the top of the stroke, and tighten the lock ring against the top of the press.

Pretty much what everyone has noted above on NS vs FL vs PFLR. I'll add that I have never successfully NS or PFLR a 270 and 300 WSM's. For the best performance I FL size those cases each and every time.

HaYen

Hmmmm, don't see why that wouldn't work. That's when having a couple of dummy rounds set up to use to determine the sizing. Have you never had the die "float" up or down while you were reloading?

The die is under upward pressure when I tighten the lock ring. I give it a little kiss with a big wrench. When the ram comes down, the die is tight into the press. Haven't had one move yet.