Sharing reloading tool tricks

[1hole]

Can you skip the case lube if you just neck-size rifle brass?

Sure, you can. But you shouldn't.

Jamming dry brass into a polished steel hole is certain to produce brass galling onto the steel. Microscopic bits of brass will be as firmly attached as if it were welded and the bits grow over time and the case necks will soon begin to look like the sizer is scratched; that's not good. A tad of case lube on the necks will prevent galling and lubing is much less a PITA than removing galling from sizer dies.

[1hole]

For best rifle accuracy I do my sizing with a body/shoulder die and then size the necks with Lee's "Collet Neck Die"; that combo gives me the straightest possible necks with the least possible fuss. The "problem" is the cost of buying several dedicated (and overpriced) body dies can get high in a hurry. My solution, at least with a few calibers, is to use an FL die of a larger neck diameter within the same family as a body die.

A .35 Whelen FL die works fine as a body and shoulder bump die for .30-06; .30-06 works for .280 Rem and .270 Win; .270 works for .25-06. Then a .358 Win FL die works for .308; .308 works for 7mm-08; 7mm-08 for .260 Rem; .260 Rem for .243 Win. A .250 Savage FL works fine for the .22-250. And there are a few others that will work well, including a few Magnums.

An alternative is to get a used FL sizer for cheep and drill out the neck about 10-15 thou larger than original. Sizers are case hardened more than a woodpecker's pecker and that means we must use a carbide drill bit; I use cheep (Walmart, etc.) concrete bits and grind each one down as necessary. For that I use a drill press with the case firmly held in a padded vise. I quickly learned to drill "up" (drill from the bottom of the die) to avoid ending up with rough burrs at the new neck:shoulder junction.

Ref. shell holders by brand:

I have some 30+ shell holders from various brands; quite a few are mixed duplicates for the same head size. I've measured them all from head to shelf and each one is within the normal SAAMI specification of .125", +0", -.003". I use them indiscriminately by brand and, in some 50+ years of handloading have never had any difficulty. But ...

Knowing that brass work hardens from use and therefore the spring back changes a tad with each firing I've never bought into "set it and forget it" sizer adjustments for bottle neck cases. I use accurate fired vs. sized case comparator tools (RCBS' "Precision Case Mic" and/or Hornady's dial caliper mounted shoulder device) and adjust my shoulders where I want them each time they're loaded.