Neck Sizing, Partial sizing and then Full

[DeadWoodDan]

I would like to clear up some confusion I have on this subject. Essentially when should I and when shouldn't I; now that I seem to be reloading for multiple calibers rifles & pistols, it was always my process when shooting the brass in more than one gun you should always full length resize.

In the hopes of getting more out of my brass I would like to know when and how to do it? The calibers I'm mostly using currently are 30-30, 45-70, 7.62X54R.

So when do you partial size and is this the same as neck sizing?

Thanks for any help
DWD

[BrassMagnet]

Never partial size.
Old military rifles with questionable dimensions are perfect candidates for neck sizing. These would include 7.62x54R and .303 British for sure. Old .45-70 rifles would also be a candidate. A neck size die which is marked .30-06 ought to work for 7.62x54R if the case body will fit far enough into the hole.

[leadman]

I too have multiple guns in the same cartridge. My take on this is if you want to use the brass in all the guns find the gun that has the largest brass. If it will not fit in the other guns minimally size it with whichever method will make it fit all of the guns. You may not get the finest accuracy this way and the brass may become unusable with fewer reloads than if matched to each gun, or it maybe just fine. The benefit is you will have ammo that fits every gun that uses that cartridge.

I have a friend that was complaining of short case life in his gun. He was using range pick up brass and full length sizing it for his first firing. I explained to him he did not have to full length size it if either neck sizing or partial sizing would make the brass fit his chamber. By the look on his face it was clear he had never thought of this but followed what many had written before on the need to full length size the brass. He has no complaints now.

[btroj]

I partial size for many guns. By partial size I mean use a full length size die adjusted so it doesn't push the shoulder back.
There isnt a single right answer. Size in manner appropriate for your needs and to feed the gun what it needs.
Learning how to size for a specific firearm and use is part of becoming a Handloader and not just pulling a handle.

[runfiverun]

pick a rifle and work with it.
let's say start with the X54, see how deep you seat the bullet and only re-size the neck to that point.
this will leave a case that fits your chamber quite closely and a donut on the neck which will help center everything better.
now you can get away with this for a while and then you will at some point have to push the shoulder of the case back to again fit the rifle. [4-10 shots?]
this is when I would do an anneal, a fire-forming of the case, and start the process over again.

[Love Life]

I FL size every time.

[jmort]

What RunFiverRun said. Fire forming and neck sizing makes sense if brass is used in same gun.

[white eagle]

Bottle neck cartridges or cartridges for one specific rifle I only neck size.After a few firings I may have to adjust the die but I want a tight fit in the chamber.Straight walled cartridges I only partial size about the length of the boolit I plan on shooting.So far the plan has worked for multiple cartridges of the same cal.in different guns,mainly pistol and straight walled rifle cals.

[Love Life]

I bump the should back .002.

[GaryN]

I do about the same as Run. Except if I were loading for a semi I would full length. Some lever actions would also work better with a full length resize. Just like in everything else each gun is a law unto itself.

[BrassMagnet]

I have always loaded my ammo to be safe and accurate in any rifle of that caliber.
Now I am starting to play with surplus rifles well known for chamber and barrel dimensions all over the map, i.e. .303 British.
So now I will load most of my ammo to fit any .303 British rifle. Then I will designate a certain amount of ammo for each specific serial number .303 British rifle and neck size only those cases.
What a logistics nightmare!

[rmatchell]

Sounds like you will need more brass Ron

[BrassMagnet]

Sounds like you will need more brass Ron

Yepper!

[runfiverun]

it is a pain to segregate by rifle rather than by caliber but once the box is labeled [shrug]
it just means you need more storage space,,, really.

[btroj]

Or just have one rifle in 303

[BrassMagnet]

Or just have one rifle in 303

Sacrilege!

[Blacksmith]

Ream all chambers to the size of the largest one.

[DeadWoodDan]

I partial size for many guns. By partial size I mean use a full length size die adjusted so it doesn't push the shoulder back.
There isnt a single right answer. Size in manner appropriate for your needs and to feed the gun what it needs.
Learning how to size for a specific firearm and use is part of becoming a Handloader and not just pulling a handle.

I believe this is where I'm at, trying to improve on the basics. The terms are nothing new, just attempting to become a better "Handloader"

Take my Win.Trapper, as soon as I read about the RCBS X die, I wanted it , because I was shooting alot in that rifle/caliber.

Always learning, Always improving.

Thanks
DWD

[tygar]

I have many rifles. Many in the same caliber. I use the same brass for each rifle. It is kept in it's own container with the rifle, weight of brass(brass is usually in .5 gr batches, & times fired & how prepped. e.g. FL, neck, X etc.

Match, LR hunting are NS for about 5 shots, then annealed & used for lesser rifles after FL & trim.

ARs, MIs, MIAs, etc always FL w/X die. Again 5 loadings or less then used for practice/plinking after anneal.

Contrary to some thoughts, 30-30 & others like it can be NS. Just check that it cycles.

Their are a lot of other things that can be done but not needed unless, match, BR etc shooting.

[BK7saum]

For starters, I don't have multiple guns in the same caliber. But if I did I would FL resize to just fit the smaller chamber. For all my single caliber setups, I FL resize every firing to bump the should 0.001" these calibers are newer, current offerings and the resizing dies are a close fit to the chamber. Some of these are jacketed loadings that are at Max pressure. If I neck sized I would still have to FL resize every 3 to 4 firings. It just makes sense to me with these calibers to keep a consistent 0.001" shoulder bump for every firing.

For a dedicated cast boolit offering at lower pressures, a person might get 8 to 10 firings before a full length resize is necessary. I could see where neck sizing that many times would be a good idea, especially if the chamber was a sloppy fit as compared to the size die.

Brad

[HeavyMetal]

A few years ago I scored an early Contender in 22 Hornet, bought it because I was really sure no one could spring a Contneder frame with a Hornet round!

Went on a buying spree and bought a few barrels for it, some have stayed and some have been sold or traded off.

At that time I was looking at die sets for the 30-30 super 14 barrel I had aqquired and spent a few days studying the 30-30 and many articles for reloading same.

The 30-30 is famous for case stretching and I ws curious as to way. A little experimenting with both a Lee deluxe die set and an RCBS showed me that case's actually stretched as the came out of the full length size die most likely from the thin case neck being pulled back over the expander ball.

What to do to stop this and increase accuracy and case life?

After much thinking I decided to do the following:

I puchased a small block of Aluminum from my preferred scrap yard, about 10 inchs long by 3 inchs thick and wide. My only goal here was to have the block long enough to clamp in a vise and leave clearence for using in a power tool.

I then drilled and tapped the block 7/8-14 and installed the FL die from the Lee die set, carefully marking the location of the bleeder hole Lee puts in all of thier bottle neck rifle dies, and clamp the block in a chop saw at work and proceeded to cut the die just at the location of the bleeder hole.

This left me with a die that would "Full Length Size" the 30-30 case from the base of the shoulder to the case head without touching the shoulder or neck of the 30-30 case.

In use I seperate case's by head stamp and then run them through the modified FL die then run them through the Collet neck sizing die and then put them in a tumbler to remove any of the Imperial sizing die wax I use to lube them in the FL die.

Case's so done do not grow in length and have not in the last two years.

Case's so prepared are kept seperate from range pick up or "donated" case's until they are prep'd in the same manner. and future reloading of these case's are just run through the Lee Collet neck sizing die.

When my "special" 30-30 case's become hard to insert into my Contender barrel the will get run into the modified FL die and the process will start over.

So far I have not shot enough of my 30-30 to require this but I have found that this particular barrel is a bit tight chamber wise and case's so loaded do not fit in all 30-30 chambers, which is just fine with me, LOL!

I still FL all straight walled rifle and pistol case's of course but of the four center fire rifle caliber guns I own, 222, 22 Hornet, 22-250 and the 30-30 they all have Lee deluxe die sets so modified and accuracy has been excellent in all case's ( pardon pun please), as has case life.

Just an idea I thought I'd pass along as food for thought.