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

When should you size for neck & full ? What are your opinions?

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

Neck size for a slight crush on closing for the bolt rifles, both hunting and target.

Gunner

I F/L size all brass for hunting rifles, to insure best feeding.
I neck size for target rifles where most of the rounds are loaded singly.

Or PFLR (Partial Full Length Resizing) Uses a FL die, but the process only "bumps" the shoulder back and depending on what works best, only slightly squeezes the body.

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Casey

A Forster Bushing/Bump Die gives you the best of both. It allows you to resize the neck or a portion of the neck, and at the same time bump the shoulder back. I've done 5 reloads of the same cases this way and no hint of needing a full resize. It also allows you to do away with the expander ball and stop working your brass so much. Will let it go longer until it needs to be annealed or the brass splits.

I strictly do bolt actions.. and I neck size every time I can, and allow the bolt to close smoothly... easier on brass stretching out its life.. and also more accurate loads..

I use a body die where ever possible when the shoulder needs bumped back..

I also anneal brass after every 4th shot..

I use a F/L die and do the PFLR thing. I do not bump the shoulders back and, in fact, only resize about 75-80 percent of the neck. After a couple of firings, this forms a small doughnut around the neck at the junction with the shoulder. I feel that helps to align the cartridge in the chamber. After several reloadings, I usually need to F/L resize the brass and start over.
My hunting ammo is usually 1X and I cycle every round through the rifle to ensure that it will work flawlessly before I go hunting.

I neck size for all of my arms. Don't own any semiautos though.

Neck size with Lee Collet Dies whenever possible.

Bump the shoulder back a tiny bit with a FL die when required.

i used to neck size everything(talking bolt actions) but after a few loading things get a bit tight and bolt gets harder to close i didn't mind but the wife ate my ass about it! so now any more i shoulder bump all hunting ammo. but still neck size match stuff for about 3-4 loadings than shoulder bump,trim start over

I do the same thing, and the "doughnut" becomes the false shoulder thats being asked about on the other thread.
BD

Fully size the neck......

Thank me later.....

I don't know about a false shoulder but I think of it as support to better center the cartridge in the chamber as the doughnut actually fits in the neck portion of the chamber.

Have you ever checked the runout between the sized and unsized portions of the neck?

I do the partial full-length sizing for bolts also. I have a .050" shim that I use to set the die. That helps me with consistency in subsequent loadings.

Levers, pumps, and autos get full length sizing, trying for .0015" room at the shoulder to minimize stretch and allow smooth feeding.

I agree wholeheartedly, it is a better support. The reason I consider it a "false shoulder" is because it is essentially shouldering in the lead of the neck and not resting on its actual shoulder. To my knowledge there isn't a way to create a second shoulder on the existing shoulder proper nor am I aware of any cartridges that have twin shoulders or a sizing die made to do so. The sizing die either doesn't contact the actual shoulder or it does and may subsequently bump the shoulder back.
Depending on your viewpoint another possible benefit to the sizing method you describe is the cartridge isn't resting on the bottom of chamber when discharged. I've heard that brass doesn't expand equally around its entirety when resting on the chamber bottom and might cause brass to be slightly out of round after having been fired. I can't substantiate that but, someone else might be able to and weigh in on this also.
It's food for thought.

I have never checked the runout on the unsized portion of the neck but recently I resized 50 .223 cases using my method and of the 50, I only had 7 that exceeded .002 on the sized portion of the neck. The most distorted one measured .007".
As Blackdog sez,I would think that regardless of the runout of the doughnut, it would be a better deal as it helps to reduce cartridge cant in the chamber.
Also, since the doughnut helps to center the cartridge, it has the same effect as the Bench Resters jamming their bullet into the lands with none of the perils regarding pressure or pulled bullets.

FYI, I reloaded those .223 cartridges using a Lee Press.

PFL, sizing just enough neck to consistently hold the bullet and only bumping the shoulder enough to chamber with a little resistance.

PFL as well when using brass in the same gun. FL when sizing brass to a new gun. Learned my lesson after having to pull 100 7mm mag bullets to bump the shoulder back a couple thousandths after doing an "almost" FL resizing and the bolt not closing.

Stillbeeman,
Regarding chamber/cartridge canting, I've thought about experimenting with this by taking a few new brass cases, running a larger expanding ball through, PFL the cases, load and shoot and comparing the runout of these to once fired factory loaded brass. I can see where there may be a benefit to this experiment if you are loading new cases for a belted round. I have had rifle chambers that were a bit generous in dimension in a belted round and the factory loaded case expanded significantly.
I've also been wondering that if the new brass case is sized and loaded as mentioned, centered on an axis to the bore and is able to expand equally around its entire width, that it might possibly reduce the case body splitting caused by metal fatigue and may also have an increased case life compared to cases that were factory loaded to begin with and then resized several times.
Again, more food for thought.