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]

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.

 

[Marine sniper]

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.

Hmm, so you FL it just a little, and then neck size it also ?

 

[goodgrouper]

Hmm, so you FL it just a little, and then neck size it also ?

Well, about half of my dies are Redding Competition dies made during the era when they only had bushing sizers in the neck sizers so they sent a Comp seater, a bushing neck sizer, and a body die in their three die set. So with those sets, I have to neck size and bump the shoulders back in two steps. But since then, Redding has thankfully come out with FL bushing sizers. If you use one of those, all you have to do is drop in the right bushing and set the die up to push the shoulder back just enough so that it goes back in your chamber easily and you're done.

 

[Marine sniper]

GG,

These ?

Type S – Bushing Style Dies

 

[milanuk]

Yes. But note that they do make both neck and F/L versions of even the Type 'S' dies. You want the F/L version. Get the correct tools (from Hornady) to measure case headspace, and set the die up so you are only bumping the shoulder a little bit - 0.001-0.002 for a bolt gun is all you need - and you should get the benefits of F/L sizing in easy & reliable chambering w/o having to wrestle the gun between shots, as well as the benefits of neck bushings to precisely control how much neck tension you want.

 

[JeffVN]

For my 7WSM F-Class open rig, I use Redding Full-size, neck bushing dies in my 7WSM and push the shoulder back 0.001-0.0015 everytime I fire them. I used the RCBS Precision mic and 5 to 10 pieces of once-fired brass to give me that measurement when I set up the dies.

I do the same for my .308 and my .260 - each of which get used on the occassion al 600 yard F-Class match.

JeffVN

 

[Marine sniper]

Thanks guys, I will check into those dies

 

[steve4102]

Thanks guys, I will check into those dies

If you are already neck sizing and you need to "Bump" the shoulder back, just purchase a Redding body die. It sizes the body and bumps the should back without causing excessive runout that the bushing dies are noted for. Like this.


MidwayUSA - Redding Body Die 30-06 Springfield