30-06 on Dillon 550B?
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arizona98tj
Member
Assuming you know how to load and have purchased at least one quality reloading manual, I offer the following.....
If the brass you are reloading was already shot in your rifle, then yes, you could neck size it. If it came from another source, then I would full length size it.
If the bullet doesn't have a canalure, there is nothing to crimp in to. If it does, there is no requirement that says you must crimp it. I rarely crimp any rifle catridge even if the bullet has a canalure. You may want to experiment (depends on the bullet) and see if it makes a difference in your gun and the grouping on the target.
Be sure to lube the cases before resizing.....sticking one isn't the end of the world but it will slow things down until you get it free from the die.
If the brass you are reloading was already shot in your rifle, then yes, you could neck size it. If it came from another source, then I would full length size it.
If the bullet doesn't have a canalure, there is nothing to crimp in to. If it does, there is no requirement that says you must crimp it. I rarely crimp any rifle catridge even if the bullet has a canalure. You may want to experiment (depends on the bullet) and see if it makes a difference in your gun and the grouping on the target.
Be sure to lube the cases before resizing.....sticking one isn't the end of the world but it will slow things down until you get it free from the die.
dmazur
Member
I reload .30-06 on a Dillon 550B, so at least I have some experience in doing what you're contemplating... 
I'm far from an expert, but I have played around with this particular problem over the last year or so.
There is an ongoing debate between full-length resizing vs. neck sizing for bolt-actions. Is full length resizing necessary? Generally not. The action has enough mechanical advantage that it can chamber something that would make a semi-auto fail to chamber. However, a lot of shooters are getting better accuracy with full-length resizing, in bolt-actions.
There is another point to the debate which is brass life. Proponents of neck sizing say it makes your brass last longer. Maybe, as long as you're not shooting maximum loads. If you're doing that, brass life tends to be shorter no matter what you do for resizing. The other side to this is, if you resize a couple thousandths smaller than your rifle's headspace, you minimize stretch during firing and this increases brass life, even if you full-length resize.
What do I do? I full-length resize for all my .30-06 rifles. The Garand requires it, and the #1 and bolt-action's accuracy and brass life have not suffered. For the Garand, I crimp lightly and for the other rifles I have this backed off so it does nothing at station #4. I use a cartridge headspace gauge to set up the resizing die and check the results against it. For the Garand, I'm resizing to SAAMI minimum. For the bolt-action and #1, 0.002" to 0.003" less than measured fired cartridge shoulder distance (between the steps on the headspace gauge.)
As I'm not trying to reload once-fired brass from machine guns, I haven't found the need for small base dies with the Garand. However, I do use a Sinclair primer pocket cutter to uniform new Nosler and Winchester brass. This, together with making sure the 550B shellplate is not loose, ensures the "below flush" primer seating depth that I want.
As far as a loading sequence goes, I tumble the brass first, then lube, resize/deprime/reprime and toss in a bin. When I get 100 ready, I clean off excess lube, check length with a COL gauge and toss in two bins (ready / needs to be trimmed.) I then run the overlength ones through a Hornady case trimmer and inside/outside chamfer with a hand tool. Then these go into the "ready" bin.
Working from the ready bin, I insert brass in station 1 of the 550B and index before pulling the lever. (This way I just skip the resizing die and I don't have to remove/reinstall it.) The rest of the loading operation is progressive.
While it isn't absolutely necessary to "break out" lube cleaning and checking for length/trimming, I find this works better for me. There are many variations on reloading bottleneck cartridges on progressive presses, and the 550B is flexible enough to work quite well with almost any routine.
I'm far from an expert, but I have played around with this particular problem over the last year or so.There is an ongoing debate between full-length resizing vs. neck sizing for bolt-actions. Is full length resizing necessary? Generally not. The action has enough mechanical advantage that it can chamber something that would make a semi-auto fail to chamber. However, a lot of shooters are getting better accuracy with full-length resizing, in bolt-actions.
There is another point to the debate which is brass life. Proponents of neck sizing say it makes your brass last longer. Maybe, as long as you're not shooting maximum loads. If you're doing that, brass life tends to be shorter no matter what you do for resizing. The other side to this is, if you resize a couple thousandths smaller than your rifle's headspace, you minimize stretch during firing and this increases brass life, even if you full-length resize.
What do I do? I full-length resize for all my .30-06 rifles. The Garand requires it, and the #1 and bolt-action's accuracy and brass life have not suffered. For the Garand, I crimp lightly and for the other rifles I have this backed off so it does nothing at station #4. I use a cartridge headspace gauge to set up the resizing die and check the results against it. For the Garand, I'm resizing to SAAMI minimum. For the bolt-action and #1, 0.002" to 0.003" less than measured fired cartridge shoulder distance (between the steps on the headspace gauge.)
As I'm not trying to reload once-fired brass from machine guns, I haven't found the need for small base dies with the Garand. However, I do use a Sinclair primer pocket cutter to uniform new Nosler and Winchester brass. This, together with making sure the 550B shellplate is not loose, ensures the "below flush" primer seating depth that I want.
As far as a loading sequence goes, I tumble the brass first, then lube, resize/deprime/reprime and toss in a bin. When I get 100 ready, I clean off excess lube, check length with a COL gauge and toss in two bins (ready / needs to be trimmed.) I then run the overlength ones through a Hornady case trimmer and inside/outside chamfer with a hand tool. Then these go into the "ready" bin.
Working from the ready bin, I insert brass in station 1 of the 550B and index before pulling the lever. (This way I just skip the resizing die and I don't have to remove/reinstall it.) The rest of the loading operation is progressive.
While it isn't absolutely necessary to "break out" lube cleaning and checking for length/trimming, I find this works better for me. There are many variations on reloading bottleneck cartridges on progressive presses, and the 550B is flexible enough to work quite well with almost any routine.
Thanks for the info, I have not heard that people are getting better accuracy in bolt guns from full length resizing,
I seem to have gotten better sizing results from the full length Dillon die than the Lee. I cant seem to adjust the Lee properly.
I seem to have gotten better sizing results from the full length Dillon die than the Lee. I cant seem to adjust the Lee properly.
Deanimator
Member
Since all of my current .30-06 (and .308) shooting is precision shooting at 600 yards, I prefer to do all of my loading on a single stage press. I trickle and weigh every charge, for which a progressive press is not really conducive.
That having been said, I have previously loaded thousands of rounds of .30-06 for my M-1 using a Dillon 550B. Since I was using an M-1, I always full length resized.
One problem which I frequently encountered was crimped primer pockets in surplus .30-06 brass. A friend had a Dillon primer pocket swager which worked very well for removing the crimped.
Make sure you have a case trimmer and properly measure and trim your brass.
That having been said, I have previously loaded thousands of rounds of .30-06 for my M-1 using a Dillon 550B. Since I was using an M-1, I always full length resized.
One problem which I frequently encountered was crimped primer pockets in surplus .30-06 brass. A friend had a Dillon primer pocket swager which worked very well for removing the crimped.
Make sure you have a case trimmer and properly measure and trim your brass.
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loadedround
Member
From my experience after 40 some years of reloading is that when loading for only one rifle in one specific caliber in either a bolt action rifle or a single shot like the Ruger #1 is that neck sizing only gives much better accuracy and does prolong case life. This holds true using a single stage press or a progressive press like the Dillon 550B. Experiment with different loading procedures and soon you will develop one of your own.
dmazur
Member
Here's a link on resizing methods -
http://www.exteriorballistics.com/reloadbasics/resize.cfm
It's a pretty good explanation. Also, here's a link to an article written by David Tubb, including a recommendation for full-length resizing -
http://www.rifleshootermag.com/shooting_tips/accuracy_1001/index.html
It is a topic that is debated. I think both sides of the argument have merit.
http://www.exteriorballistics.com/reloadbasics/resize.cfm
It's a pretty good explanation. Also, here's a link to an article written by David Tubb, including a recommendation for full-length resizing -
http://www.rifleshootermag.com/shooting_tips/accuracy_1001/index.html
It is a topic that is debated. I think both sides of the argument have merit.
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