Or full length is the question , opinions please , thanks

I FL size everything. Haven’t found the downside myself.

Neck size with a Lee Collet, bump shoulders as necessary with a Redding body die.

That assumes it is not for multiple rifles or an auto of some sort, those can change the equation.

I full length with minimal shoulder bump like this

I had a bad experience with a neck die. It induced .007 run out in every case. Now I use a LCD and FL when required. As stated above, this is assuming for bolt actions and the brass is unique to the rifle.

When I can get by with it, I like partial FLS. There’s not one answer for all situations, sad to say. After getting by for my minimal .30/06 efforts for decades with a Lee tool and a RCBS Competition seater, a new rifle forced me to buy a regular set of dies. Not a bad thing actually as I can now leave the RCBS seater set for .308 instead of winding it up and down.

I neck size until I start to feel some resistant when chambering a round then I full length resize - usually after 2-3 reloads. I find it slows the need for case trimming as well as decreasing the chance of a case head separation.

I have a Redding 30-06 neck sizing die which I have used for many years in my Model 70 .06. I have never a had failure to chamber using it. About every 4th firing, I partial FLS to set the shoulder back when they do get stiff and anneal. These are all hunting rounds. For my .308 and 6.5 Swede, I partial FLS as Pappy348 posted. I see no sense in FLS and working the brass when not required.

Same method here.

I used to neck size some brass, but got too much runout. I went to partial FL sizing and never looked back. Do Not over work your brass. You are taking a lot of life out of your brass. Only FL size enough for your rifle. Good shooting

Conventional neck dies are often a source of runout.

This was one of my first revelations when I got a concentricity gauge.

Got a bunch of Redding neck sizers that I need to sell . . .

Just set up the new Lee sizer. Instructions say to thread it in until it touches the shellholder, then another 1/4-1/3 turn. I did the first part, then set the ring. Cases fired in “something else” that wouldn’t come close to entering the chamber now go in with just the slightest resistance when turning down the bolt. Not quite as precise as the turn and try method, but close enough for a start. After firing I’ll check if they’ll work with just the sizing from the Lee loader, which works the brass even less, having no expander. Bought an arbor press for that, no more hammering!

Cortina knows a thing or two. I was shocked when he says nobody neck sizes any more in his circles. His videos are informative. The precision involved in F-Class shooting is mind blowing.

Yeah ! I’ve been watching some of his videos .

^^ THIS ^^ i stop neck sizing years ago waste of time for accuracy

My question for Cortina and all the guys who advocate FL sizing would be "whose dies are you using, and do you set for partial FL sizing?"

my regimen exactly..

The less I work the brass the longer it lasts me... I anneal almost every time...

Test fitting into the chamber, before pulling out the body die...

if it needs it or is tight, then I use the body die to bump the shoulder and the rest of it back down to specs.

some of my loads, only require that every 4th or 5th reload.

He shot a 1.3" group on video at 1000yds. His videos are fantastic and be sure to check out the one with his mentor "Speedy" Gonzales talking about the wharehouse range and shooting .0 groups. They throw away a 1/4" rifles lol. Very entertaining for us loonies, and River you can email him and ask. He answers questions on his blog.

That's exactly what he is doing, about a .002" shoulder bump to allow perfect function. Dave7mm might chime in, him and his crew do a bunch of LR shooting with pretty high end guns and I am not positive but I don't believe he's a neck sizer either.

This. Has been working for me for years, except I will bump shoulders with a body die instead of FL size.

+1

No hunting ammo should be loaded in used cases.

New top quality and uniformed as per this book.

OR Premium factory ammo if your rifle likes it.

Guess I’ve been doing it all wrong for the last 40-odd years.

Oh well…..🤷‍♂️

There's nothing wrong with that book.....but you're full of schidt.

Bullshit

LOL, stxhunter says UpThePole is Larry Root's new sock puppet. I believe him.

I've had my suspicions along that line.

Well up the butthole, are all the game animals I shot over the last 50 years gonna rise from the dead because I didn't use new brass? Lol what idiot....mb

Never had an ammo failure when hunting by following Zediker's advice to the letter.

See no reason to believe name calling "men" rather than him.

Do as you wish but he's forgotten more than you "experts" will ever know.

"follow the yellow brick road"

So, tell us about all the failures you have with your reloads Larry.
Maybe we can help you out.

I'm not calling any names, I'm just calling bullshit on the assertion.

That’s funny MB. I must be cheap, I’m still shooting the same 60 RWS 300 Win cases I formed in 2016 when I had the second Mashburn built. If they have less than 15 firings on them I’d buy the beer. I anneal each time, minimally size them and they just keep hammering along. Definitely getting my moneys worth from them…

They’ll be up on the mountain this fall as well. I don’t believe they’ll turn to dust or disintegrate anytime soon.

Once fired brass is proven. New isn't.

Properly processed fired brass often makes straighter cartridges than new does.

It's all I do. Only downside is if one has duplicate rifles, ones cartridges will more than likely not fit in both.

Neck size only.




P

I necksize to save time and case life for casual range ammo. For anything serious I use full-length resizing dies to fit the chamber.

i always check my handloaded used brass ammo in the rifle so ammo fits properly , i use plenty used brass in my rifles ,matter facted i am more worried i might loose that piece of brass than anything. my son knows my 1st question after he has shot an animal : did you save the brass for me ?

used rifle brass that i have reworked , weighed and use in my own rifle will out preform new factory ammo . factory ammo is made to preform decent in many different brand and types of rifles for the average person that does not understand or use handloaded ammo. but let me say this also my friends will do anything for me to get some of my handloaded ammo for this fall and in past falls.

How do you know the full length sized case fits the chamber?

About the only cartridge I neck size only is my 223AI . Since I fireform from a lot of different manufacturers brass, it is already fireformed to the chamber. I just need to set the neck tension properly so I don't overwork the brass . I always try a few random cases during the process to make sure they still fit the chamber before loading a bunch of ammo. Even with neck sizing only you will probably eventually have to full length resize to keep the case to chamber dimensions for reliability.

Uhhhhhhh . . . stick it in the chamber (was this a trick question?)

PFL size. Next question please.

Good post mathman.


Then you size your ammo for the smallest/tightest chamber. Bump the shoulder back .002 for that rifle and all the ammo will fit your other rifles without worry. This stuff really isn't that hard, nor does it take a rocket engineer to load ammo successfully. At one time I was loading for 6 30-06 rifles and this was the method I used. I still have some brass from back in those days and it is still good stuff. Now, if one of those chambers is out of spec or oversized, it's time to have that rifle rebarreled, or send it down the road. Not that it is a bad rifle, but that it will be the reason your brass is getting overworked. Now try developing a good load that works very well in 6 different rifles that shoot the same cartridge and get back to me. You may need mathman's help deciphering the law of averages..

Absolutely. Bushing neck dies work much better, but I prefer the Type S Bushing FL dies.

In some circumstances the inexpensive Lee collet die works better than a bushing die.

Example: Common WW 308 Winchester brass with .012" neck walls fired in a factory chamber with a .344" neck.

Someone needs to further explain to me how fireformed, rifle specific, neck sized brass (Lee collett) can cause runout problems? The collet neck sizing die sizes the whole neck, unlike the
bushing neck sizing die, and doesn't require case lube. Increase in run out hasn't been my experience at all, over about a 10 year period. About every 5th firing I bump back shoulders with a body die, but always check to see how post prepped brass chambers before loading. Never had any accuracy issues, ever. Guess I'm missing something.

Doesn’t a piece of brass that’s been fired in a particular chamber fit that particular chamber better than a piece of brass that’s been resized to fit a SAAMI spec chamber?




P

In this context I believe full length sizing to fit the chamber means adjusting the die to provide for just a bit of shoulder clearance, say .002" for example.

You'll also see comments like "I neck size until they're a little snug so then I use a body die (or FL die) to squeeze them a bit so they chamber smoothly again." What this indicates is from firing to firing the fit of neck sized brass to the chamber does evolve.

The reason Cortina and those guys FL size is so the brass fits the chamber the same way every firing. In the super accuracy/precision realm consistency is the name of the game.

JG, I don't think they are talking about Lee Collets, rather conventional neck sizers like this:


https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1012087763?pid=623908

FL size properly to feed & function in any rifle

+1

Lee collets......

are great........

If used in the same bolt gun

That explains a good part of it (for me), but I'd bet a dollar to a donut they're using some pretty pricey custom dies too.

My own method is the Lee Collet die used with Redding body dies and Forster seaters. One of the main attractions to using that method was to escape the necessity of lubing cases during every reload, but after using these dies for a while I got to where I go ahead and run everything into the body die each time I use the cases whether they really need it or not (because I'm too lazy to check them and keep track of number of firings among other things, mainly). So much for avoiding lubing cases.

I'd say I am accomplishing the same thing they are in terms of sum result, except I'm not spending hundreds of dollars on precision dies. Since I like to use run-of-the-mill sporter weight rifles for the most part and don't expect to ever take a shot over four hundred yards anyway, I doubt that spending beaucoup bucks on Whidden or even finer dies would be worthwhile. But then again, I haven't tried it.

+2

I have one Whidden FL die...maybe one day I'll see the need for more. It's nice because A) they don't squeeze the body diameter more than necessary and B) you get to specify exactly what finished neck diameter you want. The one I have leaves the case neck at .0015-.002 under bullet diameter with no expander button installed in the die and (99% of the time) don't need to be hit with a mandrel or LCD. It is very obvious when you use them that you are moving less brass.

Big time saver, for me anyway. The cases come out straight but not straighter than any other method.

I can believe that. I'm sure no one pays the price for those expecting anything less that perfection.

Do you see problems with neck thickness when you use different brands of brass? I would think if you're going to lay down the cash for dies like those, you probably try to stick with Lapua and other top tier brass.

I measure the fired case, and push the shoulder back .002" to .003"

I've played around with neck sizing and have seen no increase in accuracy or case life when using a conventional die. I do use a bushing die when I'm loading for a few of my rifles that have tight neck chambers that require neck turning. I use a body die on those cases every 3rd time to help them chamber easier.