How far down do you neck size your brass and why?
What size is your bushing and why?
Do you use competition dies and why?

for opinions...

I use competition dies so I can utilize bushings.

I want to minimize the extent of downsizing as much as possible, also in order to avoid loss of concentricity on the upstroke.

I determin the proper size of the bushing by selecting the one which will give me the least tension on the sizing button without it being completely free of contact with the brass.

I only use Redding Comp Dies..... I have a Redding Neck Sizer Die Bushing .245 Diameter made from Titanium Nitride... So far it's working and giving me great groups, I was just wondering what size you used... maybe .246? and if you use a bigger bushing would that help or hurt accuracy or will I never see a difference?

I use Wilson, Neil Jones and Redding neck tools with bushings. I also have a number of sizing dies and trim dies that I have measured and use in the same manner as bushings. They are basically like free bushings and fit a variety of larger bore rifles.
For most applications I like .002 sizing where the ammo will be fired single shot.
I have used .001 sizing with a bench rest rifle where the ammo was carefully handled.
For a magazine rifle I use .003 sizing but I am not convinced that feeding such ammo does not damage it in some rifle.

Some benchresters are using soft seating where the case neck is just a finger press fit on the bullet. They let the chamber finish the seating process when they chamber the round.

I use the bushing dies to avoid sizing the case neck any more than necessary. The neck lasts longer and there is less forming of the brass to push the neck off center.

I prefer to size one caliber down on the neck but the Wilson hand tools limit this to about 3/16.

Are you saying subtract .003 from the neck once the bullet is put in the case and that's the bushing you buy? Right now I'm doing .001 then which is .245 and so far it seems to be pretty tight, I haven't tried it in my AR yet as I'm using ammo loaded on a Dillon in there, I so far have only use the Neck Bushing Die on the Cooper. My next load testing will be done on my AR....

So should I only be nick sizing about half way down my necks instead of the whole thing? I'm going all the way down to the begginning of the shoulder...

For my 6X47 benchrest rifle I have the necks turned to .263. A .2625 bushing is too light so I switched to a .261 bushing.

Most everything else I like to use .002 or .003.
Short boat tailed bullets sometimes need extra grip in magazine rifles.

I would not recommend anything to you for the autoloading rifle

For .223:


I like .246" Titanium coated bushing for Redding "S" dies.

I like a .245" factory honed neck full length sizer die from Forster.

I like the stock .223 Lee Collet die mandrel, but I polish the nose of the collet and the mouth of the cup.


I only size 3/4 of the neck.
To do that with the Lee Collet, I put a washer around the case.

Benchrest competitors may seem to have more advanced reloading techniques than me, but that doesn't mean most people would be better off imitating them than me. I am happy with every 1/2" group I get, and I do it the easy way. Benchrest competitors handload in a living hell, in slow motion.

I first use a .250 bushing on fired brass, then go to a .245 inch bushing and sometimes a .244 if I want more neck tension.

For benchrest rifles, I like .0015. Hunting rifles, I'm currently setting them up about .002, or a little tighter, but never over .004.
I have Wislons, Neil Jones, and a custom sizer. Neil Jones uses different bushings than the Wilson's, or the Custom Made sizer I have for my 7mm Mag.