sizing question

[swadiver]

i am fairly new at precision reloading, so i am looking at some opinions on the use of the following dies.

for my .308 and .223, i am using a Lee collet die to neck size and a Redding body die to bump shoulders. right now, i have to do both, since all my brass was fired in my previous rifles.

so, the question is, in a dual operation such as this, is it better to neck size first with the collet die and then bump the shoulders back, or vice versa? or, does the order matter at all?

i would appreciate some input and the logic behind your preferred method.

 

[BoydAllen]

Years back, I did a test using my concentricity gauge to figure out the order for the caliber that I was working with, and it turned out that using the collet die first had the edge. One of the problems that is see on the internet is shooters trying to substitute figuring our what will happen for testing. For anything where there is any doubt about the outcome, my default setting is to test. Over the years that has served me well. Sometimes we guess wrong about how things work, which makes our predictions about what is going to happen less than reliable. Garbage in garbage out. Testing solves that problem. Getting back to the order thing, the difference was not large, but it was there. I suggest that you do your own testing. Perhaps a different caliber will have different results.

 

[Paddyd]

Doesn't any FL die size the neck before the case hits the shoulder inside the die anyway?

 

[dkhunt14]

Doesn't any FL die size the neck before the case hits the shoulder inside the die anyway?

A body die only sizes the body. It doesn't touch the neck. Matt

 

[Paddyd]

A body die only sizes the body. It doesn't touch the neck. Matt

Sorry, missed where he said was using a body die.

 

[dkhunt14]

Sorry, missed where he said was using a body die.

No big deal. That a lot of times is what creates problems. One word or letter missed can change things. I am guilty of miss reading posts myself at times. I reread and say how did I miss that. Matt

 

[swadiver]

Years back, I did a test using my concentricity gauge to figure out the order for the caliber that I was working with, and it turned out that using the collet die first had the edge. One of the problems that is see on the internet is shooters trying to substitute figuring our what will happen for testing. For anything where there is any doubt about the outcome, my default setting is to test. Over the years that has served me well. Sometimes we guess wrong about how things work, which makes our predictions about what is going to happen less than reliable. Garbage in garbage out. Testing solves that problem. Getting back to the order thing, the difference was not large, but it was there. I suggest that you do your own testing. Perhaps a different caliber will have different results.

thanks for the input.

i certainly cannot argue with your basic premise, test for yourself. i am certainly going to do that.

up to this point, since i have switched to the Collet/body die combination, i have seen significant improvement in group size. i have been neck sizing first with the Lee, and then bumping the shoulders. 5 shot groups at 100 yards have been going from being mostly in the mid .3's to .5's to more and more groups in the 1/4" range to low .3's with both rifles. i am very happy with this die combo and will experiment a bit as suggested.