How do the best shooters in the World resize their brass for maximum accuracy?

[robg]

i full length size ,i want my loads to work in every firearm in that calibre.i dont think i shoot well enough to notice any difference to neck sizing.

[HangFireW8]

FL vs PFL vs NK argument is a canard.

What matters is consistant bullet pull, runout and chamber self-centering.

If you can control that to the gun's best liking, then you can achieve optimal accuracy for the case sizing variable.

Case life is a separate subject.

[Old Caster]

I won the 2010 F class match shooting at the Benchrest club near St. Louis with a factory Kimber tactical .308. When I started one of the Benchrest guys gave me a bunch of heads ups and he said he didn't know if some of them helped or not but didn't want to take a chance if it didn't and proving the difference would take too much time and bullets.

With a lot of experimenting I found that 155 grain Bergers were the best which surprised me because first I used every brand of 168 grain bullets I could find and while the Bergers were way better at 600 yards but not noticeably better at 100 and I thought even a little bit worse .

I used a Wilson die and press. The dies have changeable sizes for just sizing the neck and I chose .002 smaller than a case fired in my rifle and didn't try anything else because it worked so well. I used suggested Lapua cases because they didn't need the necks turned. My mic told me these were all very close to the same. Most of the Br guys used Winchester and turned the necks I think because they were a lot cheaper.

When loading a case it was put in a die and the die was put under the press and pushed down and then I primed with a simple Lee hand tool with Federal match primers. I had to use a shoulder size tool about every 10 shots because it would start to get tight in the chamber.

The powder was always weighed and I dropped them with a powder measure and then finished with a home made powder dripper. Powder was installed through a small hole that was inserted into a funnel and then buzzed with a device made from a hair dryer to make the powder fall through at the same rate every time so it would have the same height when compressed. I made different size holes for different powders and wanted about 10 seconds to full.

The bullets are then seated with a die where the die is pushed down with the same press and it is so precision that the directions that came with the die said to never remove the shaft in the die to keep it from wearing out and being a perfect fit and was adjustable according to bullet depth about .0005. I did at first load some on my 550 with a full length sizing die and they were not even close to being as accurate.

One more step which I think was of utmost importance was annealing the case neck down a little into the shoulder every time they were shot. Sometimes I didn't anneal them every time and paid for it with less accuracy. This is of utmost importance because it makes the neck tension as close to identical every time that is possible. Doing all this kept my groups sub moa just about all the time, sometimes even moving a few inches to correct for the wind.
All of the guys with BR guns with special rests did not do as well even though they wouldn't have counted anyway because at that time it had to be shot from a bi-pod with .223 or .308 caliber and they were all using calibers with modified case lengths.

I would say that experimentation and using the best dies available is what makes you shoot the best. Annealing is next and turning necks if you don't use quality cases and from there it also depends on which powder and bullet works best for you, plus how much neck tension, OAL and load.

[Iowa Fox]

I found for my jacketed purposes a Redding body die and the Lee collet neck sizing die work very well. A lot of the 1000 yard guys are using the same combo Simple to use and the dies don't cost an arm and a leg. I have full length Redding s dies but the body and collet die do a better job for me. I just had a new Brux barrel spun up in a new chambering for me so I ordered a new collet die and Redding body die. On the very first piece of brass I could feel something was hoaky. Sure enough I found they shortened the collet. One of the great features of the collet neck sizer is that if you gave the case about 4 squeezes rotating the case it would uniform neck wall thickness. That"s out the window now with their new die. I contacted them twice about making me a collet to the original length or leave one long and I will finish it. I'm willing to pay the price as a custom but they have arched their back no way. I can't find a used old style anyplace. Collets are a 9 dollar part at the dealers but they are all short new style. I'm thinking about sending lathsmith a message to see if its something he might consider making.

If your using a old style collet die keep them greased up well because they are going to be like the round tray priming tools. You'll very get another one.

[metricmonkeywrench]

Ummm.... one case at a time?

[1hole]

Long ago, far away and in a different life, I got interested in some gunsmithing, including cutting chambers. I don't know if it's still true but back then reamers from Brownell's came as "roughing" and "finishing"; both types were fine tools.

Roughing reamers were intended to cut most of a new chamber but a tad smaller than what the finish reamers would cut. Some bright guys bought barrels several inches longer than would be needed on the rifle, then the cut-off bits could be rough reamed into very snug fitting custom FL (and/or neck) sizers for use in arbor presses.

IIRC, THAT was how the now popular FL sizing to 2 thou undersize in every dimension was done back then; it sure wasn't just adjusting standard FL dies to set the shoulders back 2 thou!

[1hole]

My guess is that they don’t use factory rifles or Lee dies.

You can bet on that. And they don't use RCBS, Hornady, etc. dies either.

Unchambered custom barrels alone often cost more than most factory rifles. Then the barrels will need expensive things to fit into - custom actions, triggers, scope mounts/rings/glass. Precise assembly and stock work are also required and that can be a tad costly too. Few shooters - if any - are going to use any brand of off-the-shelf SAMMI specification dies to reload for such rifles.

But fortunately, when we're reloading for our off-the-shelf firearms, all of our off-the-shelf die brands do quite well for people who know what they're doing. That's why they have all happily lasted for so long in the local gun store and mail order market.

[mikequaintance]

Well I am no target shooter but that video was a surprise to me I thought all those guys neck sized .
Learned something new.
Thanks for posting it.

I know a half dozen IBSC competors and all of them necksize. While I don't compete myself, I have been necksizing for 30 years and have not seen any reason to change that.

Sent from my moto g(7) power using Tapatalk

[Shawlerbrook]

For hunting accuracy and absolute chambering and extraction, full length resizing only. Only looking for minute of deer accuracy here.

[dverna]

For hunting accuracy and absolute chambering and extraction, full length resizing only. Only looking for minute of deer accuracy here.

My "needs" lie somewhere between MOD (Minute of Deer) and MOB (Minute of Bug). My "wants" are MOB. I have never shot at 600+ yards and it looks like I never will.

It is fascinating to see what the "real" shooters are doing to achieve optimum accuracy. Interestingly, there are different opinions and ways to achieve accuracy levels that I suspect would be wasted on 98% of us....by that I mean if I were to shoot a 1/4 MOA gun/ammo I am not good enough to do it. Crafting ammunition capable of that performance and investing in a suitable platform is beyond my abilities as a shooter and I am not too shabby a rifle shot for a hillbilly.

I admire those who can quantify that doing X reduces groups by .2" from doing Y. I would have to shoot a lot of groups to make that evaluation. I have never wrung a hunting rifle out to that degree. Once I get to about 1.25 MOA I stop the search. I have been able to get there without hours of case prep and using factory FL dies. Good enough is good enough. My limit is 400 yards for the .308's and that will get the job done on deer.

For the .223 varmint guns, I go for 3/4 MOA and call it good. That gives me 2" at 250 yards and a miss on a varmint is not the end of world. BTW, wind is more of an issue for me than accuracy of the ammo. I would rather have one load that does 3/4 MOA in both guns than two loads that do .5 MOA in each. KISS

[Three44s]

My old school Lee Collet dies serve me very well.

My gig is coyotes but my goal is minute of squirrel. A coyote is duck soup with a fly shooter and I know I screwed up when I miss.

My FL dies are there when cases start to tighten up and the big game rifles/cartridges get FL’ed for that hunting but for load development it’s still the collet die if I have one in that cartridge.

For the 300 RUM I have acquired a used custom Lee Collet die and the touted Redding Body Die. I have not tried those yet. My nephew is set to break them in for his 300 RUM before I will likely get to them.

To say that all competitors FL and therefore should we mere mortals is confusing and not relevant when they are shooting rifles and working their brass with dies we will only read about, if that.

I don’t drive a Mazzaratty, it’s Ford, Chevy and Dodge for me?

My Rems and Savages running .2” to .4+” stoked with handloads crafted with the Lee Collet dies is just dandy by me!

Three44s

[MostlyLeverGuns]

I've been using Redding Competition shellholders to build in the .002 full-length sizing fit for a very long time. Hunting ammunition is always run through the rifle for function before taking it to the field. I do use a Lee Collet Die or the Redding Bushing dies (both full-length and neck-size) for .308 and .223. For moderate loads, cases that chamber easily after firing, I do neck-size using a backed out full-length die. All my loading involves a separate neck expansion step. I anneal frequently, every one to three firings, but I do have a fancy neck annealer. A little extra care turns my 'brush gun' Savage 99's into good 300 yard plus hunting rifles. Case life in my Savage 99 308's is about 10 firings with 45 grains RL15 and 165 gr Partition, Much more with 18grs 5744 and 190 boolit. My full-length sizing has been with RCBS, Lee and Redding full-length bushing die with not noticable accuracy difference, MOA at 200 yards on the good days(no wind).