Body size, then neck size...?

[JNewell]

Is this workflow cockeyed? I have a pile of .243 cases from three different rifles. Some need only neck sizing, most need FL sizing.

I'm thinking that what I will do is run the ones that need FL sizing through the body of a Forster benchrest FL die (no decap/expand), then run all of them (both the FL-sized cases and the cases that only need neck sizing) through a Lee collet die (which I've had very good luck with) and use it to decap and size the necks...then trim and proceed as usual.

Other than comments about whether this is the most efficient use of my time, is there anything mechanically wrong with this approach?

 

[Sunray]

Every chamber is slightly different and you need 'em all the same to start with for your rifle. You can't use neck sized cases in your rifle that were sized for another rifle. If you want to use the same brass in more than one rifle, you'll have to full length resize every time. If you just have a bunch of scrounged brass you intend to use in one rifle, full length resize 'em all first. Then you can neck size them for use in your bolt action rifle after you've fired them once in your rifle. If your rifle is a semi-auto, you have to full length re-size every time for reliable feeding.
To resize 'em relatively quickly, put in the FL sizer die. De-prime at the same time. Have a bin of unprocessed cases on one side of the press and an empty bin on the other. Use one hand to move 'em into the shell holder. Resize 'em and take 'em out with the other hand. Once they're all full length resized, load as per normal.

 

[JNewell]

Guess I wasn't clear that the reason that some only need neck sizing is because they were fired in the rifle I'm currently loading for. I did find the fly in the ointment. The Forster die used w/o the decapping pin sizes the neck but does not expand it, so the mandrel in the collet die won't go in. Which means that it's probably most efficient to process the cases in two separate batches, doing normal FL sizing on the cases that weren't fired in the rifle of current interest, and doing neck sizing on the cases that were.

 

[Art Eatman]

Yup. The chamber in my own .243 is on the small side of righteous, and I'm an inveterate brass scrounger. So, FL on the strays and neck size on my own...

, Art