Is this gonna be safe?

[Jspeed1440]

I started loading my own for 3 hunting rifles just a few months ago. When I shot 100 rounds of 270 Win, it was time to start resizing brass. When I FL resized the Nosler 270 brass, I decided I was sizing the neck more than I wanted to, so I chose to send the die back to Forster to have the neck honed out- they suggested .004" less than OD of the neck of a loaded round. At this time, I decided to mail all three of my FL sizing dies (243 Win and 270 WSM), even though I had not tried any resizing with those two. OD of the neck of a loaded round in the WSM measured .307" so I asked that it be honed to .303". Forster called and told me that my die had come from old (or new?) stock and already measured .305"-- just .002" below a loaded round OD. Should I be concerned? Is this gonna be safe for a hunting round? Thanks for any thoughts you may have.

 

[243winxb]

If the loaded round measurement of .307" was taken using a micrometer, on the case with the thinnest neck wall thickness of the lot, there should be enough neck tension.

Measure the expander diameter. It should be about .0015" to .002" smaller then bullet diameter. I would want to feel fiction as the expander is pulled thru the lubed neck. On all cases.

Load the magazine fully, fire, except fot the last remaining round. Has the OAL gotten longer? If yes, more neck tension is needed.

Make sure the full diameter of the bullets shank is in contact with the neck.

Measure neck diameter before and after seating a bullet. Seating should expand the neck a minimum of .002"

 

[Jspeed1440]

Good stuff- thank you. I measured about 20 cases with calipers and almost all measured .307". I was using the Sinclair neck turning mandrel (.002" less than bullet diameter, but I honestly haven't measured it.) Also never measured neck OD prior to seating- will pay attention to those things now. LOTS of friction both pushing and pulling the expander ... that's when I decided to get necks honed-thanks again

 

[mdi]

Perhaps I'm too simple, but I would just make sure the case had enough neck tension, and was under the chamber neck diameter. I wouldn't worry about loaded neck OD as long as there is neck tension and enough room in the chamber for the neck to expand a bit under pressure...