I recently started reloading and i Watched a video of a champion match shooter talk about loading for long range accuracy. The video was probably from the early 90's if I'd have to guess. When he got to neck tension he recommended buffing down the expander ball to a couple thousands under the bullet dia. to achieve neck tension. But then I see the guys from gunwerks using sizing dies with custom neck tension bushings. What's better ?
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- Thread starter Kozump
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Very good question. So you are going to get a lot of different answers from the wealth of experience on this forum and all of them in their on right is not right wrong or indifferent but through experience what they have decided works best for them. I personally use neck dies that use bushings mainly Redding Type S with the expander removed. When you decide on the correct bushing which is basically the diameter of your bullet + your neck wall thickness x 2 subtracted by what the actual amount of neck tension you want typically like .002 or .003. I found that when using factory expander balls once I set the neck tension where I wanted it to be the expander ball would then pull back through on down stroke and change that, so I simply stopped using it. On some calibers with really strong ejectors you will get cases dinged up which is pretty normal. I started using an expander mandrel to take care of those and then run it through my neck die. I am sure you will get some more insight from the other great members here. And welcome to the forum brother.
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MudRunner2005
Well-Known Member
Bushing dies are nice, I have a couple, but most of my dies are expander-ball style dies. I have not had any negative experiences with either. I have heard of folks polishing the expander ball to help it slide easier through the neck, but have not tried it myself.
Also, using Imperial Sizing Wax, by dipping your case mouth into the wax up to the neck/shoulder junction, is what i do, then wipe the excess, and then size my brass.
Thanks for the great info !
Thanks for the help, I also have been using the imperial sizing wax... I like the product so far but have been scared of using it excessively(not sure if that's possible or not yet) so I applied it with a q-tip.
Well in my simple mind and again I am a novice and learning everyday but neck tension has more to do with pressure than muzzle velocity. The more grip force the brass has on the bullet the more energy it takes to move that bullet out of the brass and down the path of least resistance, the barrel. Now where you will run into problems is with brass that has varying neck wall thickness and you are sizing all your brass with one bushing. And I have done this on purpose as a test. And what I found out is those strange flyers that occasionally happen, I mark and inspect that brass when I return home from the range and almost on every occasion it was because that piece of brass varied in neck thickness from the rest in that group fired. Now accuracy is 100% in what the nut behind the trigger thinks is accurate. I may think 1/4 moa is accurate, you may think 1 moa is accurate so some of these vague little things may not make no difference in a 1 moa gun. However, when you are trying to keep groups within 1/2 or better these little anomalies come to light. Now does that increased pressure from bullets with more neck tension matter? Well yeah, you will see them on your chrono and typically in your groups. Those are what open your SD's up from single digits to double digits.
MudRunner2005
Well-Known Member
No, neck tension has more to do with consistency (equal consistent pressure on the bullets) than anything, which is why they say that bushing dies are supposed to produce more consistency and accuracy, but I have read articles about standard dies producing more consistency, as well, and I have had just as good a accuracy with both standard dies and bushing dies. So, my opinion is, that if you have good quality dies, good quality brass and components, and good reloading practices, then it will show, regardless of what kind of dies you are using.
Koz, I've used both type dies. I do polish the ball of the standard dies just enough to move smoothly through the neck.
Good luck
bpcrshooter
Well-Known Member
I took out my expander ball and heated it up (to take out the temper) polished it so i had 3 thou neck tension then heated it back up and quenched it making it hard again been working great. Now i only use one brand of brass in my 7mm. like the others have said the redding dies are they cats meow, I just couldn't afford them at the time and what i have works for me........
