Re: Reloading 201: Other thoughts
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: boltgunluvr</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I'm convinced, from experience, that neck sizing is the way to go for bolt guns and a firm believer in the Lee collet neck sizing dies. Yes, one must FL size every now and then for chambering and extraction. </div></div>
I appreciate your experience, but........ this and Reloading 101 are geared to new reloaders and are based on what I do and the results that I have seen.
From Reloading 101:
<span style="font-weight: bold">First let me say that I Full Length (FL) resize ALL my brass EVERY time. I have never understood the concept of neck sizing brass. Nor do I agree with the idea that I am working the brass too much by full length sizing each time.
Here is why: If you only size the neck of the brass, the body will continue to grow as the brass springs back less and less after each firing. It makes sense to me that if the outside is growing, the inside (case volume) must be getting larger also. That means that the volume is increasing, which ultimately means you are getting less pressure each time you reload. Your velocities will get lower (or at least will be changing) after each reload. This does not lend itself to consistency in my eyes. Add to that is given that you will have to run your case through a FL die (or body die) after about 5 reloads anyway because it won’t fit into your chamber anymore. Full Length sizing it at that time means that you just squoze it back down to the minimum dimension all in one shot and have really worked the brass. More Consistent? Easier on brass? I can’t see it.
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Consistency on the bench nets consistency on the target and I'd just as soon not add any more steps to the process. The net gains/losses I have seen with neck vs FL both properly set up are negligible down range. The knowledge that the round will go in and come out EVERY TIME is priceless.
There is some merit to the idea of using a Lee type collet die or a bushing die to allow the brass to expand to match the chamber AND THEN setting up your FL dies to minimize the squeeze and bump. That however does require an additional cost of those dies that you will only use 3 - 5 times for the life of the barrel.
As always YRMV, IMHO, etc....
Cheers,
Doc
