full length sizing or just neck sizing

[raven223]

hello all, new to the site. i have been doing alot of reading in the past week. thank you all for the information. let me please ask this. if all of the brass i will be using will all be shoot out of the same rifle, which would be the best choice for me to go with? i have all once fired and now full length sized brass. should i concider getting a neck die instead of continuing to full length size? what are the pros and cons of eather sizing methods? if it make any differance i will be shooting a .243.




kevin

 

[jr600yd]

Kevin welcome to the site. Now for your question. It depends on the type of shooting you do. Benchrest, I'll bet most of these guys neck size only for accuracy. Then again they only shoot 3-4 cases at a match. Most competition shooters like NRA across the course, mid-long range will full length size each time to ensure reliable feeding. Since a match maybe in excess of 80 rds they want to make sure they have no feeding problems like a tight case. Hunters will always FL size for the same reason. The argument over which is more accurate for the average shooter has been beat to death but remember you will have to FL size your brass after about 3-4 firings anyway.

Good shooting, Jim

 

[cliffy]

FULL-LENGTH Sizing takes minimally more physical effort to perform over neck-sizing, yet eliminates most loading problems, except for bullet-seating length. I stopped neck-sizing ONLY, long ago. I like to hand a custom-loaded cartridge to a neophite, and say "try this." If that case jammed in his or her rifle, I'd have egg on my face. I don't like egg on my face! Courtesy of "The Spirit" Cliffy

 

[1000yardstare]

Was shooting today with a chap who had someone else reload some .22-250 for him. He was sitting and standing quite a bit and finally came over and said he was having a problem. He couldn`t close the bolt on some of the cases. I took a look and saw partially neck sized cases that had what amounted to a false shoulder on them above the real shoulder. Don`t know where the fired brass came from but the unsized portion of the neck was considerably larger in diameter than the sized portion thus creating a false shoulder. This is an extreme example but it shows what can happen with neck sizing if not careful.

I have been reloading for fifty years and have gone through every variation on the theme. Where I am now is full length bushing dies. Bump the shoulder .001 with every reload and control neck tension with the bushing.

 

[NorCalMikie]

+1. Neck size, bump the shoulder and throw in a body size after a few firings and your brass will last a long time.

 

[Laurie]

I have been reloading for fifty years and have gone through every variation on the theme. Where I am now is full length bushing dies. Bump the shoulder .001 with every reload and control neck tension with the bushing. (1000yardstare)

+ 1 there. Gone through the lot and come back to a sophisticated version of FL sizing. Pricey though!

Neck-sizing will give you good results with many cartridges including .243W providing you are not using maximum loads that can lead to subsequent hard chambering through expanded case dimensions and the shoulder moving forward. The cheap Lee collet die works well with this cartridge, and reduces workload a lot. But not everybody likes this type and I'm sure there will be others who'll warn you to stay well clear of it.

If you use the rifle for hunting I'd strongly recommend full-length sizing to ensure easy chambering and extraction in the field. Be careful about how you adjust the die though so that you don't set the shoulder back more than a thou' or two - many dies sets will push it well back giving the case a slack longitudinal fit in the chamber - bad for brass life leading to early failures from separation (splitting across the lower case body) and bad for accuracy too.

Good handloading and shooting,

Laurie,
York, England

 

[dreever]

One thing to consider. All full length sizing dies are not the same. If I need to really FL size a case such as ones perhaps fired in another rifle I use my RCBS full length sizer. For brass fired in the same rifle I use a Redding body die to bump the shoulder. Even with the Redding cranked down to touch, or even cam over the shell holder it will not size the body anywhere near as much as the RCBS die.
I generally use the Redding body die to bump the shoulder .001-.002 then follow up with a neck bushing die to size my necks the way I want them.

Danny

 

[raven223]

thank everyone. sounds like ill just stick to what i have. ill put the money elsewhere, ( gas to get to the range). i will soon be new to the benchrest game, so im trying to get the things i need, but dont have yet. ill be asking some more questions as i think of them. untill then thanks.

 

[LHSmith]

Actually, the majority of short-range BR competitors full length size every time. Remember however, these are for tighly spec'd chambers and most have a sizing die that mimics the chamber dimensions extremely close....net result = reworking of the brass is at an absolute minimum.
Yes, at one time BR guys usually neck sized, but have since found greater agg's were produced when everything in the equation stayed as constant as possible....and sizing ones cases to the same dimensions does this.

 

[Innovative]

I recently wrote an article about FL vs NK resizing. I think most shooters will agree with the article.

http://www.larrywillis.com/resizing.html

- Innovative

 

[Mark Walker in TX]

Actually, the majority of short-range BR competitors full length size every time. Remember however, these are for tighly spec'd chambers and most have a sizing die that mimics the chamber dimensions extremely close....net result = reworking of the brass is at an absolute minimum.
Yes, at one time BR guys usually neck sized, but have since found greater agg's were produced when everything in the equation stayed as constant as possible....and sizing ones cases to the same dimensions does this.

This post above is $$. ;D