Is neck sizing important and for me?

[crimsoncomet]

Hey guys. I was curious to see if you all think I should start neck sizing? I have mostly loaded for semi-auto rifles, so neck sizing was never a thought for me. Just yesterday, I picked up a remington 700 LTR in 308. 42 rounds exactly through it. The gun will be used for bench shooting and hunting. I have a set of FL RCBS dies that will be used for my FAL.

So:
-Should I go ahead and buy a neck sizing die, or just FL size everything?
-If so, I was planing to buy the redding S die and need to know what bushings to order for it?
-Do i need a body die? I will be using lapua and winchester brass.

Also, there is no need to worry about the rounds being used in another chamber and not fitting. The lapua is not going through the FAL. haha.
Thanks in advance guys!

 

[howlnmad]

For a bolt action gun, neck sizing is advantagous. It will prolong the life of your brass and should help with accuracy. Just remember, you will need to F/L size every 4th or 5th cycle. You can adjust a F/L sizing die to just neck size aswell. I'm not that big into the Redding dies so someone else will have to help with that. You may want to look into annealing as this will also aide in extended brass life.

 

[crimsoncomet]

Thank you for the reply. What brand do you prefer?

 

[howlnmad]

What brand dies do I prefer? That's a hard one to answer. It depends on what I'm working on. I've got Lyman, Hornady, Forster, RCBS and Lee. If I was forced to narrow it down, I guess I'd go with Hornady and RCBS. But that's just me. I'm not a BR shooter or anything like that but I do load for long range accuracy.

 

[fguffey]

The versatile full length sizer die, does not seem fair, my full length sizer die is a full length sizer die, a partial full length sizer die with partial neck sizing capabilities, it is a neck sizer with chamber case support and has the ability to size cases for chambers with different length from the face of the bolt to the shoulder of the chamber, or but another way the versatile sizer die can be used to off set the effect the chamber has on head space.

Do I think you should go from full length sizing straight to neck sizing? NO! I believe you should get your moneys worth out of the die you have, again, as to 5 firings? and then starting over, that can not be done, when you started you started with a case that was new and never fired, after firing 5 times the case becomes a case that has been fired 5 tomes with the potential to whip your press, something like a case with an attitude', so just because the box the dies come in read 'FULL LENGTH SIZER' nothing will happen to you if you if you use the die to avoid full length sizing, again I size cases for different purposes, I size cases that are .012 thousands shorter than a minimum length, full length size case, new over the counter commercial case, that is .017 thousands shorter than a go-gage length chamber to infinity beyond a field reject gage, or a practical .016 thousands longer than a minimum length case from the head of the case to it's shoulder, to understand the advantage/disadvantage of a full length sizer and neck sizer die would be to understand time.

I have neck sizer dies, they come in handy when forming wildcat type cases for chambers I do not have dies for, I make every attempt to find the dies first then build, that includes improved type chambers.

Before purchasing a neck sizer die I would suggest purchasing a feeler gage first, the companion tool to the press the feeler gage turns the full length sizer die into THE VERSATILE full length sizer die.

F. Guffey

 

[243winxb]

A Redding bushing neck die along with a body die will work fine. Not using an expanded saves the neck cracking and over working the brass. For 243 win., i use the Redding FL sizing Type-S Bushing die. For a bushing size, measure a loaded round, get a bushing .002" smaller. You will end up buying maybe 3 bushings. Neck wall thickness is different between brands of brass. Outside neck turning resolves this, but not always needed for top accuracy. Here is some good reading> http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=557060

 

[crimsoncomet]

Thanks guys. Very helpful info. I will prob load a few up with my FL sizer and see how it goes. So if I bought the S die, do i size with or without the expander ball? I have one S die in 6.5 grendel and i love it. But i have always sized with the expander ball.

One more thing. Do you think i will really achieve better accuracy (if i do my part at the reloading bench and the range) with the redding S die or should I save a few bucks and get a standard neck sizing die? This isn't a BR rifle, but i know they are very decent rifles.

 

[fguffey]

Practice, practice, practice, as you can tell it is not a matter of easing into reloading it is hit it from a standing stop to a dead run and that is not good especially with the bushing dies and name dropping with absolutely no qualified cautions. If you are asking about 'what to purchase' purchase the full length sizer die, after practice and you are more failure with the nomenclature and definition of terms, and more qualified to spend your money wisely.

There are some that practice, practice practice, problem they practice it wrong, and get it wrong every time, I believe in correct practice, practice it correctly you get it correct. If you purchase the bushing dies from "REDDING" and practice it wrong you will get 'DONUTS' which is a description by those that practice it wrong, and it is not a donut, a donut created when using a bushing die is a mistake....not a donut.

F. Guffey

 

[crimsoncomet]

Thanks FGUFFEY. I will be using the rcbs FL die. I may splurge on a nice seater die. Any suggestions? I have a forster ultra that i really like. Seems they are all sold out everywhere i look. What do you think of the RCBS competition seater?

 

[243winxb]

do i size with or without the expander ball?

No expander is best. If seating a flat base bullet into brass that has a large variation in neck wall thickness, u may need to use an expander or chamfer the case mouth a lot.

Do you think i will really achieve better accuracy (if i do my part at the reloading bench and the range) with the redding S die or should I save a few bucks and get a standard neck sizing die?

Only way to know for sure is your own testing.I feel everything should be the same on each loading, this is why i FL resize ever time. The Redding i use, makes for more accurate ammo, along with using Bench Rest prep of the Brass.

 

[ranger335v]

"-Should I go ahead and buy a neck sizing die',

No. For a factory rifle, neck sizing MAY be as accurate as FL sizing (if it's done correctly) but very rarely is it better. Nor, of itself, does neck sizing make a lot of difference in case life. (Annealing does.)


"or just FL size everything? "

FL size. And your present dies will likely do as well as you can expect. A factory Rem 700 in .308 is a very good hunting rifle but a serious BR rig it ain't and no amount of money spent on tools or components or labor in reloading is going to make it so.


"-If so, I was planing to buy the redding S die and need to know what bushings to order for it?"

The bushing diameter would be determined by the thickness of your case necks. That varies a bit and we have no way of knowing what you might end up with. But, why spend big money for nice toys that will be virtually worthless to your ammo anyway? Bushing dies were designed for use in custom rifles with chambers cut so tight the necks had to be turned thinner before they could even chamber. With turning, it suddenly became possible to neck size so precisely there would be no need to use a typical ball expander and the neck inside diameter would still be consistant. NONE of that applies to loose chambered factory rifles and already sloppy/thin factory brass cases.


"-Do i need a body die?"

Well...no, and very few people have one. But, IF you really, really want to play with neck sizing, I'd suggest you try a Lee Collet Neck sizer AND a body die to use instead of a FL die. That very good Lee neck die makes all necks the same size internally and there's no need to fiddle with bushings to make bullets fit properly.



"I will be using lapua and winchester brass."

Well, you probably want to experiment with that excellant and costly Lapua brass so go ahead and do it, but I can almost promise you that your accuracy won't see any difference from the WW (or Rem).

 

[Patriot Prepper]

Your post seemed to answer several of my own questions. I was going to purchase the Redding competition or S dies. I also wanted to neck size. Right now I partial neck size by using an RCBS full body die and backing off a bit.

I also wanted to get the Redding micrometer seating dies so I can be more accurate with the seating depth.

I have been reloading for about a year for a .308 and just wanted improve accuracy. Reloading to improve accuracy can get some what confusing and complicated. My mentor is currently suffering health issues and I am now on my own.