Is this gonna be safe?

[Jody Simcox]

I only started loading several months ago for 3 hunting rifles. When I had fired 100 rounds from my son's 270 win, I began resizing some brass and quickly decided to have the neck of my Forster FL sizer honed out .004" (as per their recommendation). Mailed sizing dies for 3 different guns, even though I had not done any resizing with the other 2. OD of a loaded round in my 270wsm measured .307", so requested honed to .303". Forster called yesterday and told me that die came from older (or newer?) stock, and already measured .305". Is this gonna be safe for a hunting rifle?

 

[T-shooter]

Should be but it will depend on the condition of the brass. You should have at least .002" interference fit when seating the bullet. Some brass is more springy and may end up being too loose. Just resize a few and take careful measurements. The bullet has to be tight enough that recoil doesn't move it since you'll probably be using a (internal) magazine.

 

[Jody Simcox]

Nosler brass... now once-fired.

 

['Freak]

Fired round straight from the chamber, neck OD plus .001”, is a fair guesstimate of that chamber’s neck ID.

Fresh out a die having had its neck expander removed, resized neck OD minus .001” is a fair guesstimate of that die’s neck ID.

Loaded round neck OD minus a bullet diameter, then divide by two, is an average of the neck wall thickness at the two points 180° opposite one another where the neck OD measurement was taken.

Loaded neck OD minus that neck’s OD after all sizing and just before seating a bullet, is its “neck tension”.

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[onelastshot]

This site is an incredible asset for its members. There is a number of members that belong here that are truly experts in the field of firearms, terrific gunsmiths that are always willing to offer their expertise daily to assist fellow members with their problems. To be able to find an expert to offer their advise free of charge to fellow members is exceptional. I greatly appreciate the professionals that have offered me technical advise numerous times when I've had firearms issues or reloading issues.

 

[Webster]

I only started loading several months ago for 3 hunting rifles. When I had fired 100 rounds from my son's 270 win, I began resizing some brass and quickly decided to have the neck of my Forster FL sizer honed out .004" (as per their recommendation). Mailed sizing dies for 3 different guns, even though I had not done any resizing with the other 2. OD of a loaded round in my 270wsm measured .307", so requested honed to .303". Forster called yesterday and told me that die came from older (or newer?) stock, and already measured .305". Is this gonna be safe for a hunting rifle?

For a hunting rifle some guys tap the loaded round on a bench top and see if the bullet gets pushed in. Not scientific but it insures you have decent grip.

 

[Zero333]

0.002" is perfect.

Don't overthink it.

If you want more bullet hold I suggest a Lee Factory Crimp Die.

I only crimp for 308win that's gonna be fired in a semi-auto rifle. Otherwise right around 0.002" is more than enough to hold a bullet from being set back in a magazine from the recoil of a super mighty monstrous ultra whooping magnum.