Resizing brass?

[iammarkjones]

I have new brass that I have loaded and fired. I will only fire these rounds in the same weapon a 45-70 that they were already fired from. Is resizing the case a must? This may be an absurd question but the only way to find out is to ask. Thanks for any advice you can offer.

[jsizemore]

Take one of your boolits and see if it will slide in the neck of an unsized case. Pause for the...AAHHH!!!

At the very least, you need to neck size.

Adjust your full length sizing die so you size the minimum amount. Turn your sizing die down till it touchs the shellholder, back off a half turn, size a fired case, and try it in your gun. Turn down the die in small increments till the breech, bolt or lever closes easily with little to no resistence.

When in doubt, full length size.

Good Luck

[mooman76]

You may or not get away with not resizing every time but you probably will have to at some poit like every other or third time depending on how hard you push your loads. You will just have to try and see.

[azcruiser]

Take your fired case put a bullet into it if it falls in you need to resize it so it holds the bullet. Ir
you using the same gun you shouldn't have to full length resize the case just neck size it , Put your empty case in your press move the handle down so the case goes up now turn your sizing die down by hand until you can feel it starting to encounter the case. Now just turn it do enough
that the mouth of the case keeps the bullet from going into.Then bell your case like before and you should be good to go

[jonk]

Depends.

I shoot a fair amount of large bore old military rifles from the black powder era. I don't always use black powder, but when I do, I find that dropping the powder charge, compressing, seating a wad on top if not using a hollow base bullet, and thumb pressing the bullet down is just fine. Of course the cases must be kept upright. When chambering the bullet is pressed against the powder/wad by the rifling and all is good to go.

That probably wouldn't work as well with smokeless. Even if you had a bulky powder or used a filler so you could do the same, a certain amount of neck tension is required to burn properly, unless using fast pistol powders.

[qajaq59]

Is resizing the case a must? Yes......

[chris in va]

At the very least, you need to neck size.

Isn't the 45-70 a straightwall case?

[beagle]

I neck size my .45/70 cases to the depth that the bullet is seated to. Then, expand, load and seat the bullet. I'm shooting a M95 Marlin and maybe could get by without sizing but I'd rather not have bullets telescoping on me. Gives you some surprises sometimes.

Of the dozen or so levers I have, the only cases that get FL resized every time are for the .357 and .44 Mags. I shoot them in my Ruger BHs so that won't work sometimes when I change from pistol to rifle or vice versa./beagle

[fredj338]

IMO, yes. It insures the round goes back inot the chamber & the bullet is held w/enough tension to not fall out or in the case. Could you get by, probably, but why?

[qajaq59]

Sometimes I think we can give a little too much information to a loader that is just starting out. It would be better to just go by the standard rules of loading that will be the same as those he finds in his manuals. Just my 2c

[jimmeyjack]

I dont know why but only Neck sizing reduced the groups of my 25-20 from 2'' to 1'' at 50yds. I then tryed seating the boolits just shy of the rifling and they go in 1 hole[smilie=w:, but thats for another thread

[Larry Gibson]

Isn't the 45-70 a straightwall case?

No. it is a tapered case.

If the rifle is a single shot you can get away with not sizing as a couple posts mention. However, if the rifle is a repeater (lever ation or bolt action) then the case must be either NS'd or FL sized to hold the bullets during recoil and in feeding. With most 45-70 loads NSing is sufficint and best for accuracy and case longevity.

Larry Gibson

[splattersmith]

Yes......

Many BPCR shooters do NOT resize.