Why neck sizing was popular

[WILCO]

I like neck sizing dedicated brass for a specific rifle.
Full length sized brass is fine for mix and match arms.
End of the day, I was never a voo doo shooter anyways.

[charlie b]

As dverna said, consider your application (and skill level) and adjust accordingly. If you just hunt or shoot for fun this is all overkill. Keep in mind that shooting less than MOA (jacketed) every time is also a higher skill level. Less than 1/2MOA is not easily accomplished.

Set the dies correctly, FL or neck. Keep in mind above comments. Most size dies you buy off the shelf are made to SAAMI standards. Your chamber is as well. You may have a max size chamber and/or min size die. Those instances are where neck sizing can be better.

FWIW, I only neck size my cases for cast loads.

But, if you want to go 'down the rabbit hole' then it can be frustrating.

Many competitors use custom dies matched to their rifle. It is 'relatively' inexpensive if that is your thing. Just send several fired cases to the die maker. An alternative is a FL die with neck bushings. Then you need a way to find which bushing is correct for your rifle and bullet.

Find the article on the Houston Warehouse shooting tests. Bunch of benchrest folks. The key figure did not resize his cases. Custom chamber reamer and brass fit precisely. Note that he chose the barrel length for his favorite load

Last thing is to consider that many of these competitors consider a barrel as a wear item, usually replacing one at least every season. Not a cheap sport to be at the top of the ladder.

[Rapier]

In my opinion, all custom builds should be to the intended use. Same goes for reloading. Extreame example as been to both ends of the spectrum, African DG rifles are not built like a BR rifle, unless you want to get stomped into a mud pie. A 0 tolerance bench rest build is fine for a range where you have tools at hand, because you will need them sooner than later. At FT Stockton, in a World Championship, had a dust devil go down the firing line, those 0 tolerance gun, shooters had a bit of a problem.
The actual reloading process follows the intended use. But the brass preparation prior to loading should be the same.
My match brass has been reloaded well over 20 times and it gets minimal sizing or expansion.

[waksupi]

In my opinion, all custom builds should be to the intended use. Same goes for reloading. Extreame example as been to both ends of the spectrum, African DG rifles are not built like a BR rifle, unless you want to get stomped into a mud pie. A 0 tolerance bench rest build is fine for a range where you have tools at hand, because you will need them sooner than later. At FT Stockton, in a World Championship, had a dust devil go down the firing line, those 0 tolerance gun, shooters had a bit of a problem.
The actual reloading process follows the intended use. But the brass preparation prior to loading should be the same.
My match brass has been reloaded well over 20 times and it gets minimal sizing or expansion.

Absolutely. A match chamber should NEVER be cut into a field rifle, especially for dangerous game.

[gwpercle]

If you ever owned a Military Surplus 303 British Enfield circa WWII manufacture ...
the chamber tolerances got really sloppy towards the end of production .
They were churning out rifles to fight a war and they needed them to function when wet , muddy and dirty ... lots of rifles oversized chambers were sold after WWII .
And firing a case in those oversized chambers lead to a lot of Re-Sizing and wearing out of brass in short order . Neck sizing those same cases got you some extra case life . I still have my 303 No. 4 Mk I , full length and neck sizing dies !
Add some annealing to those cases and you can get a decent case life .
Gary