fl sizing vs neck sizing

[Shynloco]

...Full sizing properly will produce more uniform reloads with improved chambering and will not reduce case life.

That is the best reason to FL resize each time which I also do anymore. It's a proven practice and is what competitors and serious shooters do. For hunting, Neck sizing is fine and gets the job done. But FL resizing with a MINUMUM bump (.001-.002) of the shoulders gives you best consistency for each overall casing and doesn't harm case life.

Alex

 

[dkhunt14]

That is the best reason to FL resize each time which I also do anymore. It's a proven practice and is what competitors and serious shooters do. For hunting, Neck sizing is fine and gets the job done. But FL resizing with a MINUMUM bump (.001-.002) of the shoulders gives you best consistency for each overall casing and doesn't harm case life.

Alex

In hunting, if I was hunting something that can eat me or run me over, my cases would be full length sized so they could chamber and extract reliably. Matt

 

[SheepDog]

That is the best reason to FL resize each time which I also do anymore. It's a proven practice and is what competitors and serious shooters do. For hunting, Neck sizing is fine and gets the job done. But FL resizing with a MINUMUM bump (.001-.002) of the shoulders gives you best consistency for each overall casing and doesn't harm case life.

Alex

You mean it doesn't harm case life if you have a minimum or close chamber.
In my 3006 if I full length size I get splits in the body after 3 to 4 reloads.
I have never gotten better than 2 inch groups with factory ammo while my partially neck sized reloads give me sub MOA groups and I get well over twenty loads with a piece of brass.

 

[SheepDog]

In hunting, if I was hunting something that can eat me or run me over, my cases would be full length sized so they could chamber and extract reliably. Matt

I used to check each case for fit before I went hunting. I quit doing that because I have never had a problem chambering or extracting a case.

 

[LHSmith]

You mean it doesn't harm case life if you have a minimum or close chamber.
In my 3006 if I full length size I get splits in the body after 3 to 4 reloads.
I have never gotten better than 2 inch groups with factory ammo while my partially neck sized reloads give me sub MOA groups and I get well over twenty loads with a piece of brass.

At the cost of sending the bullet out at 30/30 veolcities. if it works for you -go for it.

 

[LHSmith]

I used to check each case for fit before I went hunting. I quit doing that because I have never had a problem chambering or extracting a case.

You either don't reload a whole lot or load at or near load manual starting loads. I learned long ago in reloading to never assume the cartridge comes out of the die exactly the same as the last one.

 

[SheepDog]

At the cost of sending the bullet out at 30/30 veolcities. if it works for you -go for it.

The velocities I get with my 165 grain loads is 2800 plus a bit. I don't get any where near that velocity from my 30-30 even with 150 grain bullets. I don't see where you are coming from here.

 

[SheepDog]

You either don't reload a whole lot or load at or near load manual starting loads. I learned long ago in reloading to never assume the cartridge comes out of the die exactly the same as the last one.

I load enough for a weekly trip to the range. I've only been reloading since I was 18. That was 48 years ago. Most of my loads are around 95 to 97% of maximum listed loads. If it comes out of the chamber easily it will go back in even easier unless you distort the case when neck sizing.

I've been doing this a long time because it is what works for me. I'm not telling you - or anyone - that they should do it. In reloading we test to find out what works best for us and then keep doing it.

 

[LHSmith]

The velocities I get with my 165 grain loads is 2800 plus a bit. I don't get any where near that velocity from my 30-30 even with 150 grain bullets. I don't see where you are coming from here.

Simply that without FLS every time, you cannot load in the mid to maximum pressure regions where I have always found the best accuracy especially when coping with conditions is critical.....IME.

 

[BoydAllen]

The need to FL size is directly linked to load pressure.

 

[jdj71]

The need to FL size is directly linked to load pressure.

Can you expand on the reasoning or physics behind that statement please? Thanks JD

 

[SheepDog]

With my expanded cases I have more room for powder so I could theoretically load more powder at lower pressures. I still stick to the ranges of powder charge listed in the book. I start low and work up to an accurate load. I have never needed to go beyond the listed maximums to get reliable accuracy.

Do you mean load pressure or load pressure curve? Load pressure is dependent on overall case/chamber volume and the distance the bullet is from the lands. The pressure curve slows down as the volume changes over time. You may slow the pressure rise by having the cartridge expand in the chamber and speed it up by having the bullet in or close to the lands. My case volume doesn't change much because the case fits the chamber. but I am well off the lands so there are no pressure spikes. It all depends on the rifle and how you use it. My way has always worked for me. I tried your way and didn't get the accuracy I was looking for or the case life I expected. As long as your way works for you It is OK by me. It just amounts to different ways to get what you want from your gun. It doesn't have to be done just one way.

 

[BoydAllen]

Can you expand on the reasoning or physics behind that statement please? Thanks JD

Look, anyone who loads hot will learn this without a theoretical explanation. If you load hot, it will happen. If you have never experienced this, do an experiment. This is very basic stuff. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with loading to moderate pressures. If you are getting the results that you want, then keep doing what you are doing. In the past, I have seen shooters win matches using neck sized cases, but over time, as better FL dies became available, there has been a shift to FL sizing. Competition shooters want to win, and because of that they use equipment that their experience tells them is more likely to produce the best results. FL sizing has become virtually universal in the world of short range benchrest, because of the advantages that it offers. Many shooters only have experience with one piece dies that size cases more than is desirable for best results or case life. As a result they think that the issues that they have when FL sizing are universal for that process. They are not. A die that is properly matched to the chamber will hardly move the brass at all from its fired condition. These are the dies that competition shooters use, not the one piece brass mashers that are so common.

 

[Knotwild]

This is a simple question and I will preface it by saying that I am just a recreational shooter who is trying to get better at things.

Wouldn't the case design have an effect on whether to FL or NK size? I have a .243 Ackley by Jarrett and neck sizing always worked great even with the heavier loads. I couldn't seem to wear out a common Federal .243 case. I think it has the 40 degree shoulder - I haven't played with it in a while.

 

[BoydAllen]

While case design is a factor, if you load as hot as many do, including benchrest competitors, the heads of your cases will expand to the point where you will have an unacceptably tight situation. Some years back, when a friend built a .243 AI, he thought that he could get by with a home made (He has a lathe) bump die and a Lee collet die. (He likes to run to max safe velocity for this caliber, determined by actual testing, rather than from a manual.) I told him that after a while his cases would get tight near the head, and he would have to deal with that somehow. They did. Since I knew that he was more than a bit Scotch, when it came to buying more expensive dies, I found him an old RCBS .45 ACP die to use as a ring die, to size the base of his cases. It worked perfectly, and he is still using it as part of a three step sizing process. If what you are doing works for you, keep doing it.

 

[Knotwild]

While case design is a factor, if you load as hot as many do, including benchrest competitors, the heads of your cases will expand to the point where you will have an unacceptably tight situation. Some years back, when a friend built a .243 AI, he thought that he could get by with a home made (He has a lathe) bump die and a Lee collet die. (He likes to run to max safe velocity for this caliber, determined by actual testing, rather than from a manual.) I told him that after a while his cases would get tight near the head, and he would have to deal with that somehow. They did. Since I knew that he was more than a bit Scotch, when it came to buying more expensive dies, I found him an old RCBS .45 ACP die to use as a ring die, to size the base of his cases. It worked perfectly, and he is still using it as part of a three step sizing process. If what you are doing works for you, keep doing it.

Thanks, I was just curious. What everyone is saying makes sense, and as I said, I hope to learn some new tricks.

 

[boltgunluvr]

My " four count" method is to NS three times then FL. Then the cycle repeats. OR you could say FL once and NS three times. Of course, the occasional trimming enters the equation every now and then, but none of my rifles like hot rounds so trimming is minimal because stretching is minimal.