303 british neck sizing question

[mrrch]

Newbie here, first post.
Do i need to resize the neck at all if my cast bullets seat well? When i resize the case with my Lee Classic loader the neck ends up too small and it shaves the bullets down leading to alot of tumbling when fired (too small for the bore). I do flare the case neck slightly with needle nose pliers after sizing. All the brass is being used in the same rifle. Casting 185 grain bullets with a Lee mold and sizing and gas checking with a .314 Lee sizing die(more for installing the gas checks than resizing)

[John Allen]

You need to get a M die from lyman or one of the new ones from NOE to flare the neck and also expand.

[mrrch]

The bullets drop in into the once fired cases with minimal effort so I don't need to expand it.

[mrrch]

With my once fired brass do I have to resize if the bullets fit well without resizing?

[Love Life]

Try it out and see.

Are you saying that you are seating your bullets with thumb pressure on a fired case? Do they slide into the case neck freely? Is there a risk of the bullet "falling" into the case? I would recommend some neck tension if it's not a bench gun, and I would assume that when chambering a rd with loosy goosey bullets that it would push the bullet deeper.

[mrrch]

Not so loose that it drops in but I would have concerns about chambering it from the magazine. I will experiment with some empty brass and bullets tonight and post up my findings.

[Love Life]

I would go with some neck tension. Neck tension isn't just about holding the bullet in place.

[runfiverun]

no you don't have to.
in fact if you can get the boolits diameter to work with your brass where it just pops open and releases the boolit but retains it with .001 or .0015 neck tension, you have just about the perfect scenario.
I have had 2 rifles where I just reloaded the fired case without ever running it through a die.

[W.R.Buchanan]

If the case neck ID is smaller than the boolit then you can use it that way, however it would be a good idea to crimp it in place in the crimp groove on the boolit with the Lee Loader so that it won't be pushed back into the case while chambering.

If your boolits are coming out .314 then a neck ID of .310-311 should be real nice.

Crimping the boolit in place after seating is a good thing for Cast Boolits as it helps with ignition by holding the boolit in place for a little while longer than would happen without the crimp.

Randy

[longbow]

I am going with sizing to a larger inside neck diameter.

I was using my RCBS dies and just running in far enough to neck size but I found than the RCBS dies size to a very optimistic 0.311" or so and I am using a 0.315" sized boolit for my fat bored (which seems standard) Enfields. The brass was so tight it was resizing the boolits at seating. So, I made a larger expander button and saw accuracy improve dramatically, but that extra sizing down then back up was working the brass a lot so I bought a Lee collet sizer then made a mandrel to give me 0.313" inside the neck after sizing. That worked wonders so now my brass is being sized to suit the gun/boolit and my brass is not being overworked. IIRC Larry Gibson pointed out that you actually don't even need a mandrel in the Lee collet sizers. Just remove the mandrel then adjust until the final size is where you want it. Of course that was after I mandrel the mandrel. Oh well, it was just a bit of extra work.

I believe some neck tension is a good thing but then I do not normally crimp so a little neck tension is required.

I regularly anneal, which will also help with consistency in neck tension, and neck size.

as runfiverun says, if things are about "perfect" you just might get away without sizing but for most of us at least neck sizing is required.

Also, I use the Lee Universal flaring tool and have no problems at all with it. Works very well for me and I use a minimum of neck flare.

Longbow

[mrrch]

122130

[mrrch]

Everybody likes pictures
So the once fired cases have a neck size of .314
The neck resized (with Lee classic loader) case is .304
Resizing with a washer between the rim and sizing die is .308
My bullets measure .3135 once sized
I chamfer the case neck slightly and seated the bullets as seen in the picture
Nice and snug
What do you guys think?
C.O.L. is 2.96"

[EDG]

If you shoot them single shot they may be ok.
Fed from the magazine they may get the bullets knocked crooked.

The top of your Lee tool is screwed into the die body. If you can unscrew it 2 or 3 turns it will reduce the sizing.
I think the threads have some sealant so you might have to heat the die a little. The neck sizer on the hand tool is tapered inside so if you back it up it will size less.

Finally you could just put a spacer (washer) under the die base that is about 1/16 thick to limit sizing. The case will not go as far into the tapered neck sizer.

If it does not size enough use a thinner washer. If it still sizes too much use a thicker spacer. You might play around and eye ball it. Just tap the case in a little and pull it out and check. Eventually you might be able to do it by sight and feel with no washer.

If you can find a precision hardened 5/16 dowel pin they will measure .3127. They are manufactured for a .0002 press fit.
You could tap the tapered end into the cases and then pull it back out with soft jaws in a vise. Slow but effective.
If you have a tapered pin punch or center punch you could flare your sized cases too.

[screwcutter]

FWIW the Classic LEE Loader die, only adjusts for seating depth. I use it for my 303 also, and user the RCBS expander modified for use in LEE Universal flaring tool.

[wallenba]

Some powders will perform best with a crimp to insure good ignition. Second to that is the recoil issue if loading the magazine and not hand feeding. Lyman 'M' die as stated is the best way to go.

[303Guy]

If your fired case necks are .314 with annealed necks, it's just possible that with more work hardening they might have more spring-back and won't need sizing.

[mrrch]

I have a few rounds loaded with 3031 and 4350 to try this weekend (varying load charges that I don't remember but have written down at home)
In searching for load data I am being overwhelmed by all the differences. I will shoot what I have loaded then go from there.

[mrrch]

Much better accuracy today with the full size bullets. The 3031 seemed to shoot better with a lighter powder load (32.8 grains)
I'll load up some more probably lighter with some with dacron filler as well.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Lots of variables here. Just write down what works and what doesn't Randy

[mrrch]

Yes indeed
everything is logged for future reference
excited to load some more and get shooting again on the weekend

[mrrch]

123841
25-26 grains seems to be the sweet spot
i read somwhere that 25 grains of 3031 was a good load
Loaded some rounds at that so i can zero in my scope

[MT Chambers]

The loads seem to shoot good but I'd get a 3 die set from Redding which includes a neck sizer and a full length sizer, the Lyman M-die is good kit as well. If you really want to try dif. neck tensions a bushing type die is best.

[W.R.Buchanan]

MT Chambers; he is loading with a Lee Classic Loader. Don't think he has a press,,,, Yet.

I wonder if anyone has bored out a Lee Tool to accept bushings? Sounds like it would work.

Randy