Why neck sizing was popular

[Wolfdog91]

First five minutes pretty dang interesting from a historical perspective, next two hours should be good . Always wonder why neck sizing was the " accurate thing to do" because the usual explanations never seems to sit right to me, would usually be something about " that's what this competition guys do! Stuff like that never feels like an answer to me, because then it's " ok well why do they do it exactly?
Anyhow

[Tripplebeards]

I just watch a video from Eric Cortina that says to stop neck sizing. I’m sure it had its place with competition single shot shooters at one point a time. I’m a hunter and not a long range bench competition shooter so I never went down that rabbit hole. The farthest I got was a handheld Forrester neck turning tool. I see no difference in accuracy whether I use it or not. The biggest thing I was worried about was taking brass off my case neck and weakening it.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Neck sizing has it's place in reloading for cartridges fired in chambers with out-of-spec headspace. Most commonly encountered, .303 British and .30-40 Krag, but applies to any out-of-spec chamber where the cartridge brass stretches when fired. If full length resized back to factory specs the brass will stretch again on the next firing, and eventually (sooner than later with some cases) you'll experience cracks around the base of the cartridge and eventually complete head separation. Neck sizing only squeezes the neck back to specs where it will firmly hold the new bullet, but leaves the rest of the case below the neck in its fired dimensions and a perfect fit for the poor headspace situation, thus extending the life of the brass. It's kind of a tailor made situation for individual rifles, as often neck sized only reloads won't fit in another chamber made for that cartridge.

DG

[cwtebay]

This is an interesting post to me. I watched Eric C's post and began the head scratching.

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[castmiester]

camming over FL then just necking there after.... some guys don't load and shoot as much as others. Some just to hunt, others for accuracy. Now days price of brass makes me shoulder bump.

[Hannibal]

It's a solution to a mismatch between a sizing die and a chamber to put it simply. Which will eventually create another problem.

If you understand how to set a sizing die to match your chamber then it's not going to help.

If you don't, then you need to research the subject.

[Fitz]

Hannibal you hit it on the head , once you learn to adjust your die for the firearm being loaded for neck sizing or fl sizing is not a concern for me , reloading for many wildcats will teach you how to just bump the shoulder for reliable and accurate shooting ammo. The video was geared toward competition shooters with unlimited fund building rifles for one purpose , a game i do not have the funds to enter but for shooting the rifle that has become our new property NECk sizing or shoulder bumping stilll plays a large part in accuracy and how long your brass will last.

James

[Wolfdog91]

Anyone happen to watch the first five min of the video I posted...I'm just curious

[Wolfdog91]

I gotta say shoulder bumping isn't hard at all. Just getting tone of those Hornady head space comparators and anvils. I always just fire form. Some brass , take that measurement subtract 3 thousands and keep adjusting my die down till I hit my mark. Usually take less then 5 min and maybe three pieces of brass tops

[BK7saum]

It's a solution to a mismatch between a sizing die and a chamber to put it simply. Which will eventually create another problem.

If you understand how to set a sizing die to match your chamber then it's not going to help.



If you don't, then you need to research the subject.

I guess I don't understand this statement.

[castmiester]

It's a solution to a mismatch between a sizing die and a chamber to put it simply. Which will eventually create another problem.

If you understand how to set a sizing die to match your chamber then it's not going to help.

If you don't, then you need to research the subject.

If you have a custom chamber without custom dies is a problem but fire forming and shoulder bump will solve this.

[Wolfdog91]

I guess I don't understand this statement.

Say your brass fire forms to you chamber and measures say 1.758" base to shoulder. And you, just setting. Your die per manufacturer instructions are res sizing it to 1.749" . You've pushed your should back what , 10 thousand? In reality all you need it's 1-3 thousands from the fire form for function. By pushing it back all your doing is over working or brass adding more space which some will argue makes more problems dealing with bullet jump gasses ect.

[M-Tecs]

Say your brass fire forms to you chamber and measures say 1.758" base to shoulder. And you, just setting. Your die per manufacturer instructions are res sizing it to 1.749" . You've pushed your should back what , 10 thousand? In reality all you need it's 1-3 thousands from the fire form for function. By pushing it back all your doing is over working or brass adding more space which some will argue makes more problems dealing with bullet jump gasses ect.

That's simply because a lot of reloaders knowledge of setting dies ends with the basic recommendations from the die manufacturer. Reality is that these basic methods are meant to produce ammo that fits in all SAAMI spec or larger chambers. Others opt to use methods that gives more optimum results.

To date I've taught 60 or 70 people to reload or how to resolve issues they are having. My first question is what their reloading knowledge is. Second question is how they set the FL die. If they say screw it down till it hits the shell holder we start of ground zero because they are one step above clueless.

[BK7saum]

If you have a custom chamber without custom dies is a problem but fire forming and shoulder bump will solve this.

I totally understand sizing, neck sizing, shoulder bump and bump shoulders for bolt gun brass 0
001-0.002" upon sizing.

The statement in bold seems like it should have been "don't" understand instead of how it was written. Read the bold statement, just doesn't make sense to me as written.

[BK7saum]

Say your brass fire forms to you chamber and measures say 1.758" base to shoulder. And you, just setting. Your die per manufacturer instructions are res sizing it to 1.749" . You've pushed your should back what , 10 thousand? In reality all you need it's 1-3 thousands from the fire form for function. By pushing it back all your doing is over working or brass adding more space which some will argue makes more problems dealing with bullet jump gasses ect.

I have 35+ years reloading and FL size my brass using a comparator to establish a 0.001-0.002" shoulder bump.

The exact statement that I bolded doesn't make sense to me as written, that is all I was referring to.

[BK7saum]

There subject being implied is what was confusing, talking about neck sizing not helping, I guess. I was reading it from the perspective of FL sizing with minimal shoulder bump. It just seemed backward to me.

[Hannibal]

So I'm going to have to disagree with some of the posts above. If you understand how to use a comparator such as the model Hornady sells currently, and if you set your sizing die to set the case datum line to case head measurement to read .001" less than the measurement of a fired case then you will never have an issue with chambering a resized case in THIS PARTICULAR RIFLE. If you try to chamber a resized case using this method in another rifle it may or may not work.

This method is used to extend the life span/number of reloadings you can get from brass used in THIS rifle chamber. Neck sizing only is a completely different situation. I personally do not like Neck sizing only because eventually you will run into interference issues.

There are plenty of good articles all over the internet that explain it. Likewise, there are plenty of postings by misinformed individuals that will confuse the snot out of you. Education is vital and can not be overemphasized. Educate yourself and understand EXACTLY what is occurring if you choose to engage in minimal resizing or neck sizing.

[M-Tecs]

Educate yourself and understand EXACTLY what is occurring if you choose to engage in minimal resizing or neck sizing.

That is true of all step and levels of reloading. Life becomes much simpler when you understand the "why" you do it that way. As stated by other posters shoulder bump is only one component of the advantages and disadvantage of neck sizing only.

[jsizemore]

By using a FL die to shoulder bump you still reduce the size of the case body.

When Eric Cortina says he full length resizes he's actually using a shoulder bump die and a bushing to size his brass, there is no resizing of the case body.

If your real careful with using a FL sizer to shoulder bump, just before you get to the point that the die shoulder contacts the case shoulder, you'll find that your headspace has grown because when the case body gets squeezed the brass has to go somewhere and that's up.

[castmiester]

you really don't need a comparator once you have the shoulder where you need it for YOUR rifle and brand lot brass. If you anneal correctly, size enough... which .001 isn't enough, I personally do .004, and let a stripped bolt fall on it's own. Yes neck sizing only will cause interference eventually which requires a shoulder bump.