.308 Neck Sizing

[GunDog44]

Hello All !

Usually when neck sizing a spent case I can feel the neck sizing collet entering the neck on the down stroke, and during the upstroke I can usually feel the colet draging through the neck as the case exits the die.
Today I was neck sizing some .308 Win cases (Third loading through the die) and there was very little to no drag on the up-stroke as the case exited the die. It felt very lose.
I thought I may have a worn die, but there not that old, probably about 600 rounds through it. Any Idea's ??
Is this normal ? have you experienced this ? I would appreciate any comments on this percieved issue.

Thanks

 

[Sunray]

It's not the die. It is possible that the sizing die has come loose though. Any noticable wobbling when you sized them? Try putting a bullet into the neck and see how it fits. If it goes in easily with finger pressure to a depth that's almost where it would be when seating, the neck hasn't been sized properly.
The other possiblity is that the necks have become work hardened enough not to have been adequately resized. It's not likely after only four firings, but annealing the necks wouldn't hurt. Put the cases into a pan of water up to just below the shoulder and heat them with a regular propane torch until the brass changes colour and tip them over.

 

[GunDog44]

Thanks Sunray,

I tried both the FL die and the Neck size and both felt the same. Just odd that there's no friction (drag) as the collet enters and exits the neck.

 

[Sunray]

Hi. You really don't need a special neck sizing die. A FL die can be adjusted to neck size only. You have a neck sizer die, so it doesn't matter. However, I'd still try putting a bullet into the case mouth by hand and see what happens.

 

[halvey]

Hi. You really don't need a special neck sizing die. A FL die can be adjusted to neck size only.

Not really. If that were the case, Benchrest shooters would just use your method, but they don't.

 

[db_tanker]

Halvey IS correct about that...if you crank out your FL die about a half to 3/4 turn, you will still get the body of the brass, just above the rim, sized down...

annealing the brass will probably help on this, as sunray suggests.


But the key thing here is that Gundog isn't getting the same "feel" that he has the previous 2 times, I am guessing by his post...

What manufacture of brass is this? Certain manufacturers have diffrent brass characteristics...such as Federal being somewhat soft, etc etc... And are you using light, Mid-range or heavy loads? The light and mid-range loads might not be generating enough to expand the brass to fill the chamber like a factory load will...

D