Which sizing die?

[Sevy]

That's a pretty article. Thanks. I ended up buying a neck dye and new guts for my rcbs fl sizing die. I'm gonna try neck sizing and if that doesn't work out out I will definitely give that a try.

 

[Deviant]

My vote is to send 3 pieces of fired brass to Whidden and have them make you a custom FL sizing die. They come with a shoulder bump gauge so you can set it back 2 - 3 thousandths.

 

[Gerard Schultz]

My experience has been that, with a neck sizer, every so often I have to full size again and you start from scratch with your brass. With a custom die and gauges, all is well and good (except that they cost the earth) until you rechamber the rifle or fit a new barrel. With setting up the sizer die as per the website, I have reloaded 12 times for a 375H&H and 17 times for a 7x57 with only annealing and prepping the brass properly, every 5th reload or so. What I like most is that I do not have to spend money

 

[BountyHunter]

Belted cartridges headspace on the belt, but that has no effect on FL sizing. FL sizing means moving the shoulder back a few thous.You can buy a neck sizing die that will
do this or buy a set of Ski Ottos die shims from Sincliair. Simply place one of the smaller shims under the FL
die, run it up and check the shoulder set back. If not enuf, try a thicker shim. Do so until the empty case chambers smoothly.

Wrong NS does will not move the shoulder. That is why tit is called NS. To go back to "factory" specs it will headspace off the belt and have excess headspace. Buy a FL die and headspace by bumping the shoulder .003 and use that for all measurements. Forget the belt and forget damned NS magnums.

 

[MagnumManiac]

Ok here is a stupid question. If I bought a neck die, can I use my old rcbs fl die with the expander and decapping pin removed to bump the shoulder when it comes time.

I haven't read all posts, but if you have damaged your FL die decapping stem/size button, RCBS will replace them for FREE if you contact Customer Service.

Neck sizing a belted case will cause more problems that it solves.
Stick with a FL die and knock the case back until VERY SLIGHT FEEL on bolt closure WITH THE BOLT DISASSEMBLED (NO FIRING PIN).
This will provide enough clearance for chambering easily. If you have a Hornady Headspace Comparitor, you can set it to .002" easy enough.

Cheers.

 

[Sevy]

What kind of problems will it cause? I already bought the new steam for my rcbs die. It was 8 or 9 dollars and shipping will be more than that probably to send it back.

 

[MagnumManiac]

What kind of problems will it cause? I already bought the new steam for my rcbs die. It was 8 or 9 dollars and shipping will be more than that probably to send it back.

Neck sizing of belted cases poses 2 problems, firstly, the case shoulder MAY be tight in the chamber after the first firing, many belted cases DO NOT chamber easily after being fired the first time, let alone after being fired a few times without Partial FL sizing.
Secondly, the resultant expansion of firing and neck sizing will cause different results each time the case is fired, you are far better off for consistency reasons to size your cases the same WAY/DIMENSION each time you load them.

Neck sizing only was relegated to the bad idea basket a long time ago, in benchrest, who started the fad, rarely ever just neck size anymore, if at all.

Cheers.

 

[Wolf76]

I use the Forster bushing bump neck sizing die. Easy to adjust your neck tension and bump the shoulder back. I get .001" of runout or less.
Anneal brass every 3 or 4 firings.
Rcbs were the worst dies I've ever owned and Hornady wasn't much better.
The Lee collet die is a great buy.

 

[Sevy]

I am gonna try the lee neck die and see how it goes. If I end up after one firing not being able to chamber I will go back to FL sizing maybe. I dont know. Always learning. Thanks for all the help.

 

[Gerard Schultz]

Sorry for the hijack Sevy, but the question sort of relates to the thread. Wolf76, your experience contradicts my measurements 100%. What problems did you experience with RCBS and Hornady dies? The only problem I had with RCBS is that two 8x68S sizer dies cracked in a row but I was forming brass from something else and the sizer was working hard.

 

[Wolf76]

Sorry for the hijack Sevy, but the question sort of relates to the thread. Wolf76, your experience contradicts my measurements 100%. What problems did you experience with RCBS and Hornady dies? The only problem I had with RCBS is that two 8x68S sizer dies cracked in a row but I was forming brass from something else and the sizer was working hard.

Both Hornady and rcbs produced cartridges with high levels of runout. Simply switching my dies to Forster, cured the problem. For clarity, I changed nothing else but the dies. I took back a set of rcbs dies that were giving me .005" runout. That's junk. Hornady is usually .003 and Forster is .001 or less. Which one would you use?

 

[Gerard Schultz]

Wolf76, were you measuring the cartridge runout?

 

[Wolf76]

Wolf76, were you measuring the cartridge runout?

Yes, and I'm an experienced handloader. My hunting guns shoot .5 MOA or better and that's not by accident.
Think about it this way. When you buy glass for your guns, why are people willing to pay more for Leupold, March, S&B, Zeiss, Swarovski, etc when Nikon, Bushnell, simmons, tasco have the identical specs for much less. Look at the price of whidden, Redding, Forster compared to Lee, Hornady, rcbs. If all things were equal, the first three would go out of business.
The lone exception IMO is the Lee collet die.
This is just my 2 cents.

 

[Gerard Schultz]

Thank you!