Stop neck sizing your brass!!!

We are all arriving at the same place, just in a different bus.
I have a confession to make, I neck size only for the first two firings. I don't bother with load development until the third firing, (sometimes that may not be enough). I need everything as stabile as I can get it so I can sleep at night. The most stabile I can get my brass from years of notes and small experiments is FL size with a small shoulder bump and anneal after three firings.
I don't even start serious load development on a new barrel until I get velocity stabile. Usually 250 rounds will do. So my earlier argument about only FL sizing was a lie! I didn't even realize I was lying until I sat down with some twice fired brass this morning and started my routine. Lol

Sometimes I summarize my steps and not give full details.


Carry on

I never got into neck sizing after watching a more advanced reloader than myself (at the time) bring some new loads to the range. He couldn't shoot half of them because the ammo wouldn't chamber. Wasted a day. I have tried to chamber once fired brass and it doesn't happen without some serious effort on the bolt.

gohring3006 said:

We are all arriving at the same place, just in a different bus.
I have a confession to make, I neck size only for the first two firings. I don't bother with load development until the third firing, (sometimes that may not be enough). I need everything as stabile as I can get it so I can sleep at night. The most stabile I can get my brass from years of notes and small experiments is FL size with a small shoulder bump and anneal after three firings.
I don't even start serious load development on a new barrel until I get velocity stabile. Usually 250 rounds will do. So my earlier argument about only FL sizing was a lie! I didn't even realize I was lying until I sat down with some twice fired brass this morning and started my routine. Lol

Sometimes I summarize my steps and not give full details.


Carry on

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Have a little bit if a side question for you. When setting your FL die to bump the shoulder do you leave the die set so it's not making contact with the shell holder? If you do how do you keep it consistent?
I tried this with my setup but I would get +- .002 variance when sizing which drove me nuts. Then I got Redding competition shell holders and set the die to make firm contact, this made them all very consistent but with the tallest shell holder (+.010) I'm still bumping the shoulder back .003 from fired size.

Lonewolf74 said:

Have a little bit if a side question for you. When setting your FL die to bump the shoulder do you leave the die set so it's not making contact with the shell holder? If you do how do you keep it consistent?
I tried this with my setup but I would get +- .002 variance when sizing which drove me nuts. Then I got Redding competition shell holders and set the die to make firm contact, this made them all very consistent but with the tallest shell holder (+.010) I'm still bumping the shoulder back .003 from fired size.

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That's a great question.
I use the Redding Competition shell holder kit for my bushing dies. I use a Lee Collet die and a Redding body die for several as well. The Redding body die allows for shell holder contact.
There are a few more things to consider when going for consistent set back.
Like, if you have several of the same size shell holders, pick one and put the rest up out of sight, and use it for every tool that requires a shell holder.
Marking your press where your die it tight so you return there every time. I often think about using a tourque wrench to set the die in the press. But I'm not there yet. Lol. (Mainly because I don't have a "consistent" enough tourque wrench.lol)
Another thing is your measuring method. You can see .001 or more difference in your length just by pushing harder.
I guess what I'm saying is, you're only as good as your tools and methods utilized. You have to be consistent across the board or nothing will be consistent. I'm the first to admit, I still struggle with it.

I've never neck sized...never bumped the shoulder back .002 and have only used a collet die once...so I don't have an opinion on what's most accurate.

The only thing I've got from this thread so far....

Is if you wear pink under wear...never tell anyone on this forum that you do!

Seriously I've loaded for many years and always followed the directions on the dies instructions. I had heard about neck sizing and bumping the shoulder back, but MOA of dead deer is all your looking for its fine.

Just getting into percision shooting I have to find what works or makes the most since to me. Logic is where my brain heads in everything I do, so IMO the most logical thing is bumping the shoulder back.

Just loaded my first batch bumped back .001 in my 6.5-284 home made rifle and I can tell you it shoots way better than I can. When I do my part it is shooting under an inch at 300yrds. Back in the day under an inch at 100yds was high 5's all around.

So I have to thank everyone here for all the this I've learned from this site!



Especially the part about the pink under wear!

Those three things in the middle has caused me sleepless nights and some deep thoughts.

I just thought of another problem i experienced several times in my MOA of deer loading days.
I would set my die up, size 40-50 cases and when I took the die out of the press, it was backed out slightly, meaning it was much easier to loosen up than when I first set it up.
I think hard shell holder contact will cause vibrations that help the die back out slightly.

Rhovee said:

He couldn't shoot half of them because the ammo wouldn't chamber. Wasted a day. I have tried to chamber once fired brass and it doesn't happen without some serious effort on the bolt.

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Something wrong with either the load or gun. The load is too hot or the chamber is not round or both. When I neck sized I could go seven before I full length sized. But the loads were just below max and the chamber was round.

Not everyone runs low pressure loads, if I was running 50,000 I'd probably neck size for a couple also but running at the capability of the chambering will cause nothing but issues.

gohring3006 said:

View attachment 91516
Those three things in the middle has caused me sleepless nights and some deep thoughts.

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I see you have a Co-ax press as well as RCBS. Do you find the Co-ax to be more consistent while sizing? And while bullet seating for that matter?

gohring3006 said:

I just thought of another problem i experienced several times in my MOA of deer loading days.
I would set my die up, size 40-50 cases and when I took the die out of the press, it was backed out slightly, meaning it was much easier to loosen up than when I first set it up.
I think hard shell holder contact will cause vibrations that help the die back out slightly.

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So do you now set the die to make lighter contact with the shell holder?

I do get very consistent brass and shoulder set back but only if I set the die to make firm contact with the shell holder.

Lonewolf74 said:

So do you now set the die to make lighter contact with the shell holder?

I do get very consistent brass and shoulder set back but only if I set the die to make firm contact with the shell holder.

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No, I just make sure I check the die tightness often.

Lonewolf74 said:

I see you have a Co-ax press as well as RCBS. Do you find the Co-ax to be more consistent while sizing? And while bullet seating for that matter?

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I actually just use my CO-AX for seating now.
I do like how it seats bullets. It seems to be more forgiving, easier to get consistent results. But as far as being more consistent, I don't think so, just easier to get there.

gohring3006 said:

It doesn't take me much thought to see the faults in neck sizing only. There's a lot to my thought process, but I only see consistency with neck sized brass, if you marked the case head and indexed it in the exact same place each and every time in the chamber. Think about that next time you load your mag.

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Just to be clear, I'm not a hunter. I'm too old with bad feet to be walking around more than 10 minutes. So sitting at a bench shooting a couple of boxes of reloads is heaven for me.
For me, accuracy wasn't the reason I neck size only. Brass longevity was the main reason, although I believe I benefit with a gain in accuracy also. I use only Lapua brass in my 22-250 Savage LRPV single shot BR rifle. To date I'm on my 14th reload with absolutely no signs of brass failure & I expect I'll get at least 50 plus reloads per case. From extensive research, I discovered a fair number of competition shooters get up to 100 reloads per case or more.
I have a 22-250 with a .250" tight-necked chamber. The wall thickness of my brass neck turned to .012", which gives me a total clearance of .002" around the neck. I suspect my brass is worked 10% of what's normal for full-length resizing. I use only a bump-neck die which sizes the brass approx. .002"-.003" total. I have never resized the body of the case & I've never had any problems chambering or ejecting a case. I use a bump-neck die bushing which gives me a maximum .001" to .002" interference fit on the bullet.
I never have to worry about recoil causing a problem with the bullet moving in any direction other than out the bore, simply because it's a single-shot rifle. My Forster die is labeled as a bushing die.