Brass fired a few times, how tight is too tight ?

[Marine sniper]

I know that the CW is to FL size brass once it gets sticky enough to cause some resitance when closing the bolt after neck sizing it, but how tight is too tight ? What is the big deal if you have to use 3-5 pounds or pressure to get the bolt to close ? What are the draw backs to just loading it up and shooting it, it fits the chamber just right !

Of course the brass is the correct length, just tight....

John

[Gene]

The biggest drawback is that it takes longer to feed a fresh cartridge and its distracting. This can be poison if you are hunting or participating in a match. Much better to just bump the shoulders back occasionally.

[steve4102]

It is also possible that accuracy may start to drop off the tighter you get. It's not all that common, but it does happen. I have a Rem700 30-06 that just hates a crush fit.

[boomtube]

Working with bolt resistance is a problem for you to decide. None of us can tell you that you should FL size when the closing resistance gets to (X) ft. pounds of leverage.

I have never found accruacy to be high when bolt resistance is high.

[Marine sniper]

My only concearn is accuracy..... I will have to keep an eye on it

[goodgrouper]

Originally Posted by Marine sniper

I know that the CW is to FL size brass once it gets sticky enough to cause some resitance when closing the bolt after neck sizing it, but how tight is too tight ? What is the big deal if you have to use 3-5 pounds or pressure to get the bolt to close ? What are the draw backs to just loading it up and shooting it, it fits the chamber just right !

Of course the brass is the correct length, just tight....

John

Actually, the biggest drawback of brass that fits too tight is the damage it can do to your locking lugs. It inflicts excess wear and tear and over time can actually lengthen your headspace!

For a bigger cartridge, I like to push the shoulders back on the brass about .001 to .002" ever sizing. This will allow quick and easy chambering without work hardening your brass too much.

Brass that is too long in the trim length is a whole different thing. It can cause horrible accuracy and big pressure spikes. Brass that is tight in the headspace usually still shoot great, but brass that is too long in trim is usually the culprit of bad accuracy and headspace tightness usually gets blamed instead.

[älg]

I always full size, bumping shoulder 0,001 or 0,0015.- can´t see precission loss while hunting.