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How to Reload Unloaded Cases... Neck Tension?
- Thread starter Full Curl
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waveslayer
Well-Known Member
X3....
Under thinking this one I
. Data changes Greatly if you change any single component! Aerodynamics of the bullet can be (is) a huge change, different powders...dramatic, mixing brass...etc....initial question...pull, dump, FL size and if you want to keep the existing primers...I'd load ONE BULLET and shoot it just to verify the primer is good before loading the other 99...just me!
Muledeerhuntingfreak
Well-Known Member
Thanks for that advice I am also in the same situation that is what I was wondering perfect
BTW, if these are factory new cases and never fired most likely they ll be significantly under SAMMI so I d not "bump" the shoulder. All that ll do is compress and stretch and brass even more when you fire it in your chamber. Try chambering the case after pulling the bullet. Will most likely chamber with no or very minimal ( if you have a small chamber) bolt pressure.
Mike Matteson
Well-Known Member
Neck tension and thickness. Some use .002" for tension. Others just size and load not knowing what the I.D. is except it been sized. Not checking as to what the I.D. of the neck is after sizing. I did that for years. Got good groups at around 3/4" or less @ 100yds.
I changed and cut my neck for even thickness and improved the grouping to around 1/2" @ 100yds. that was using RCBS FL and NS dies. Never though about setting tension on my necks. I had unformed tension. What it was I never checked it.
Now I cut all my case necks to about .013" for unformed thickness. I have changed to FL: bushing dies. Using bushing to achieve an I.D. of .002" under the size of the bullet in the necks. I also look for spring back on the necks. The other way is to use a mandrel after sizing and expanding the neck I.D. to whatever tension you are after. I prefer to have even neck thickness, and have a more even tension and release of the bullet each time I fire that round. Annealing come into play on even tension and release of the bullet. Some don't anneal, some anneal only once, some every third time, and others every time. It gets better with the more steps you put into your reloading or that's my feeling. I note that above don't forget to remove the de-capping pin. should use a de-capping die to start with.
I changed and cut my neck for even thickness and improved the grouping to around 1/2" @ 100yds. that was using RCBS FL and NS dies. Never though about setting tension on my necks. I had unformed tension. What it was I never checked it.
Now I cut all my case necks to about .013" for unformed thickness. I have changed to FL: bushing dies. Using bushing to achieve an I.D. of .002" under the size of the bullet in the necks. I also look for spring back on the necks. The other way is to use a mandrel after sizing and expanding the neck I.D. to whatever tension you are after. I prefer to have even neck thickness, and have a more even tension and release of the bullet each time I fire that round. Annealing come into play on even tension and release of the bullet. Some don't anneal, some anneal only once, some every third time, and others every time. It gets better with the more steps you put into your reloading or that's my feeling. I note that above don't forget to remove the de-capping pin. should use a de-capping die to start with.
Ardon
Member
Op says these are Un-fired Cases. My question to him is: Are you reloading these for Target shooting or Hunting? If target, then they definitely need to be shot in your rifle to size them to your gun's chamber before you reload them for paper punching. If hunting, I would do the same, but that's just me. I shoot factory ammo sometimes just to get some brass formed to my chamber. Then I start loading that brass for accuracy.
In either case, If you prefer to shoot these cartridges with your own powder and bullets, you could unload them. skip the neck sizing, reload them with your powder and bullets and use a Lee Precision Crimp die ( Lee 90970 Factory Crimp Die 300 Remington Ultra Magnum 300 RUM (on Ebay for $17.99)) to tighten the necks. This will only work if there is still neck tension left after you unload the original shells (there should be). If not, then you will definitely need to at least neck size them. If the crimp die is set up correctly, you can "uniform" all your loads with the same neck tension and skip sizing the neck before you load your preferred powder and bullets.
Carey Farmer
Well-Known Member
Neck tension generally depends on the annealing and cold-working history of the case necks. Annealing softens the case neck metal, which reduces neck tension. Cold-working hardens the neck metal, which increases neck tension.
If you simply pull the bullets and replace with identical diameter bullets, you should have the same neck tension you had before pulling the bullets.
If you pull the bullets and re-size the necks so that after spring-back the neck diameter is reduced, you will have yielded the neck metal which is the definition of cold-working. That will normally result in increased neck tension.
That said, your other unfired cases (presumable from different lots, even if from the same manufacturer) will probably have annealing / cold-working histories slightly different from the loaded brass, and will probably have slightly different neck tension. So I would keep the loaded brass segregated from your other brass until you've shot, annealed, and resized all the brass.
If you simply pull the bullets and replace with identical diameter bullets, you should have the same neck tension you had before pulling the bullets.
If you pull the bullets and re-size the necks so that after spring-back the neck diameter is reduced, you will have yielded the neck metal which is the definition of cold-working. That will normally result in increased neck tension.
That said, your other unfired cases (presumable from different lots, even if from the same manufacturer) will probably have annealing / cold-working histories slightly different from the loaded brass, and will probably have slightly different neck tension. So I would keep the loaded brass segregated from your other brass until you've shot, annealed, and resized all the brass.
floyd kittrell
Well-Known Member
Andrew Massi
Well-Known Member
Pull bullets, dump powder, run over neck mandrel with dry neck lube, charge seat and shoot.
+1
vancewalker007
Well-Known Member
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I'd pull them toss the powder and re-process the cases as you would and used case to ensure they are functioning as expected. This way you will be sure the necks are correct. Are the primers the same as what your developed loads use? If not understand this can change results sometimes, particularly in the ES/STD velocity area. But, I'd just shoot them all and get them seasoned for your chamber.
I just went through this. When you pull down those cartridges, you will find that most will require trimming and resizing. I full length/neck size all brass. I had 600 to do. I ended up trimming and resizing all of them rather than going through the long process of checking each one. Some may fail inspection due to split necks. If they were annealed prior to the original loading, ok. If not, you may want to do that before resizing. Now that it's done, I'm glad I did all of them. At least I know exactly what I have now. Oh, I also decapped them all. Yes it was a pain in the rear. Stay safe and have fun.
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Since they are new UNFIRED brass/ammo, they still need to be fireformed to your chamber. And since they are loaded by someone else (assuming not factory), I would pull, dump powder as you stated, neck size without decapping pin and load up mid range load to fireform to your rifle's chamber. I would reuse whatever the bullet was for fireforming. I would not worry about neck tension on a fireforming load IMO. Step one for building any accurate load is fireforming brass to your chamber. Let it rip!
