Neck sizing Vs. Full sizing brass

Any negatives to neck sizing brass for the same rifle?

Is there a negative to weakening the shoulder or thinning the brass wall any more so, than using a full sizing die?

God Bless,
David B.

I tend to lean to neck sizing if the brass is to be shot in the same rifle I use lee collet dies for this
Seems to lend itself to a lil better accuracy and the brass see to last a lil longer as it ain't being worked as much as full length sizing
I would only do this if it's gone be fired in a bolt gun or single shot , semi auto stuff gets full length sized every time

Answer is..no negatives.

Correct answer

Ummm, I hate to be contrarian, but sometimes I can't keep my mouth shut.

First, neck sizing done correctly will improve accuracy. But the right dies are important. The Lee collet dies mentioned above can work as good as dies costing 5 times as much. I've only tried the collet dies once, and I had issues. After seating a bullet, the neck tension was so weak I could pull bullet out with my fingers. Not good. Kept adjusting the die per instructions trying to get more neck tension and it finally broke the die. Said fuggit and went back to my FL sizer.

Redding makes several different types of neck dies, some have worked and some have sucked in my experience. Their standard, plain Jane neck sizer die is a POS IMHO. Tried it with one of my cartridges and it induced terrible run out / concentricity issues. The FL sixer does a better job, when adjusted properly.

Their Type S and competition neck sizers with bushing is where they start to get good. With good brass and the expander ball removed, it will size necks straight. The interchangeable bushings allow you to fine tune neck tension and these dies also allow you to adjust how much of the neck is sized. I use a competition neck sizer for my 308 and only size about 2/3 of the neck. Using this sizer and a Forster micrometer seating die definitively improved accuracy on a rifle that was already very accurate.

One more note. Bad brass is just that. Bad. No matter what dies, press and technique you use, you can't fix chitty brass. If the brass thickness is not even around the neck, the only way to fix it is neck turning. Life is too short to waste time turning brass necks for a hunting rifle.

Bumping the shoulders back 0.002” with a full length sizer ain’t hurting nothing.

You a contrarian? Noooo Way! You know I kid Wes. In a hunting rifle I'd never turn a neck. I've neck turned 22's and 6ppc and it sucked course I was helping out a benchrester and those people are born OCDC but they can shoot some. Not that I'm an expert or something but crimp quality along with neck tension makes sense how a round sits in a chamber. But what do I know? I still think cast lead bullets are best in .38 special so I ain't "modern".

I neck size for a 308 bolt gun, and for my super 30 bolt gun. Everything else gets the old FL sizer. I notice a little tighter group at distance neck sizing vs full length sizing on those two rifles, other bolt guns I have it doesnt seem to make a difference. I agree that concentricity and neck tension are your best friend when wanting quality hand loads. Give it a try both ways, you may not notice much difference in your rifle, with a tight chamber you may not even see a difference in brass life. Good luck..

Jason

Worrying about runout is a waste of time.

The secret to lee collet die is order mandrel from lee to your diameter

Far as hunting ammo and only wanting to save brass life and add a little accuracy standard neck dies or lee collet work great for that.
Neck sizing can get very very involved chasing minimum run out.if your ocd it can get expensive and time consuming quick.
Check out high road forum under some of their neck sizing threads lots of very knowledgeable guys on there

Anyone ever shot neck sized cases, and then not been able to open the bolt after shooting?

What about the primer pocket expanding on neck sized brass before the primer pocket expands on full sized brass?


God Bless,
David B.

That sounds like a pressure issue not related to neck sizing.

^^^^^ What he said!!!

Boff your rifle is telling you to railroad crossing. (Stop Look Listen)

I haven't experienced anything with a rifle recently, just asking what each of you have experienced, as I'm not sure about the validity of something said by someone else.


I've always "heard" neck sizing prolongs brass life.
Recently, I heard otherwise.

God Bless,
David B.

Sticky bolt lift and loose primer pockets are a sure sign of excessive pressure. I've loosened a few primer pockets in my time.

Jus sayin.

I cant see how working the whole case or just the neck would affect the primer pocket since neither one touch it? Any idea if said rifle has a really loose chamber? How much effort is needed to full length size the brass after firing? AU is dead on, if the round chambered and locked in easily and after firing was tight it has to be load related. And all primer pockets arent created equal. Was it the same kind of brass? Seen some troubles with folks reaming MIL cases a little much and causing trouble also.

Jason

Nope only positives from neck sizing.loose primer pockets would be over pressure or bad brass.neck sized brass will chamber tighter after a few sizings but never been a issue but you can always make a dummy round to start and if to tight bump your case body size down slightly then gtg again.neck sizing definitely prolongs case life especially from a catastrophic eruption Which would be lower third of case not just a simple case neck split

There is a guy on you tube called the real gunsmith and he did a video on neck sizing and how to set up the die very much worth watching all of his stuff is

I like his videos quite a bit. He is old school, but when he says something he has personal experience.

Yep I've watched quite a few of his videos. Panhandle precision has some great videos on the matter as well.

I run all my brass through a case mic. For instance i know that the chamber is tight on my 270. Any case that is above 0 will not chamber, so I have to full length resize those. New 270 cases will be -5 or less. Rounds that will not chamber in my 270 will fit my sons Tikka no problem. The chamber is just larger on his rifle and you will have to work the brass more if you full length resize every time.