im shooting 308 and 223 and everyone talks about neck sizing for longer case life. i have a speer reloading manuel but it doesnt say how. can i use my full length dies?

Ofcourse you can; turn the die 180 degree open. There are also neck sitzing dies. The best ones for longer case life are LEE Collet dies. No need grease and no back and fort mangleing to case neck. No alcohol, only when you reload.

I prefer buying the neck sizing die, instead of backing off the FL die. Just my preference though.

I haven't used the LEE collet die, probably should try. I usually just buy a 3 die set from redding that include the neck sizer.

Read the instructions that came with the dies, it explains it, unscrew the die from touching the shell holder 1/2- 3/4 turn.

Personally, I prefer the Lee Collet Die as THE neck sizer for anything less than full bore BR stuff, certainly don't think we can do any better than the Lee for factory sporters. I like it much better than any conventonal neck dies, including the recently popular "bushing" neck dies. The difference is in how straight the finished necks are.

No seater die, no matter the cost, can seat bullets straight if the case necks are bent! Lee's collet die makes straight necks, period.

Neck sizing may or may not improve either accuracy or case life but it's worth trying for both.

Attempts to "neck size" with a FL die is usually less than satisfactory, that's why neck dies sell so well!

I agree with a lot of what was posted above. I use both the Lee collet neck sizer and the Forster combination neck sizer and body bump die. With the Lee die, you can apply too much crimp on the neck and/or create wildly varying neck tension which causes more harm to accuracy than neck sizing does good. A little practice and patience will go a long way with that die and it can be set up to apply just enough crimp to the neck to keep the bullet in place and if you adjust it so that the ram reaches the end of travel just at that point, you can be pretty well assured that all your necks get the same tension. At some point you will have to FL size your cases again or buy a body bump die to reset headspace.

The Forster die performs both operations, so after the initial FL sizing performed when the case is new, or newly annealed, you never have to FL size again or worry about headspace. It's not all that expensive when bought in the kit with 3 bushings. I check all my match cases for concentricity before priming and have not had any misaligned cases using any Forster die including this one.

The only time I had any problems in that area using a bushing die was with a Redding FL bushing die. Like many, I blamed the expander for pulling the neck out of line on the return ram stroke, but after talking to the Redding techs (very helpful folks) I found I was trying to squeeze the outside of the neck too much in one operation. This had to do with the way I trim neck wall thickness and set neck tension. Once I started reducing the outside neck diameter in two operations rather than one, I had no more problems.

Anyone who has concentricity problems with a bushing die should contact the maker and see if the problem cannot be fixed, rather than buy a new die. I'd guess that at least half the match shooters I know are using some type of bushing die for those cartridges they neck size these days.

When you back off a full size die 1/2 turn or so you are still !!!! nearly full length re-sizeing. The only real diferance is you dont bump the shoulder. The case full lenght diamater is being changed back to nearly the original O.D.

To correctly kneck size you must use a kneck size die. ((insert your brand)) Lee Collet is mine...... TIP.....sand the mandrel for .002 undersize.

When you unscrew the die you are not kneck sizeing.....mearly you are partial full sizeing.

quote:

When you back off a full size die 1/2 turn or so you are still !!!! nearly full length re-sizeing.

The amount of partial resizing you are doing varies considerably with the amount of taper the case body has. A .243 has relatively little taper and is still nearly full length resized except it pushes the should forward and can make it harder to chamber. A .22-250 is not partial sized in the body quite so much because of the taper of the case body. As you back up the die the taper cases there to more clearance with the die body.

If you back up the die 3/4 turn or so you will size about 3/4 of the neck and no part of the case body will be sized.

most people dont neck size for case life. they neck size for better accurace. if you neck size only, you might want to shoot that case in your gun only. becaues it is fire formed to your chamber, and it might not chamber in someone elses. alot of compition shooters neck size only. i do not neck size my hunting rounds.

I like "one hole groups"-guns. So I use neck sitzing way. Also I have some custom made barrels tight chamber for my guns. I cant to reload cases many times then also.( .308: 50-55-, .30-06 and .22-250: 40-50 times).
When I reloud use LEE de Luxe die sets. There are full sitzing- and neck sitzing die too.
There is ones shooted Sako and Lapua .308 also .30-06 cases in shooting places here in my country. You can only pick upp. Then I use full sitzinz dies by fist time reloading. Then also I trimm then too. For .22Hornet, .222-, .223-, .22-250Rem and 9,3x57Mauser I shall to buy new cases. I use then Winchester or Remington cases, because they are much cheaper than Finn made Sako and Lapua.
For 9,3x57Mauser, I make from 8mmMauser cases. Only wehn I am reloading.

quote:

Originally posted by trashcanman:
...can i use my full length dies?

Yes, but by backing the sizer out so as not to resize the case body, you're not resizing the whole length of the case neck.

The least expensive way to resize only the case neck is with the Lee collet die. It's also the quickest to use, as you don't lube anything and doesn't use an inside expander plug like a full length die to distort the case neck\shoulder when pulling it out.

So, leave your full length die adjusted as you normally have. Buy a Lee collet die, use it most of the time and when chambering gets too hard, run you batch of cases through the full length sizer to set back the shoulder a bit. Your cases will last longer.

Learning how to properly anneal your case necks when they get work hardened helps with their longevity, too.

[/QUOTE]

Yes, but by backing the sizer out so as not to resize the case body, you're not resizing the whole length of the case neck.

[/QUOTE]

Yes,,, and there is nothing wrong not resizeing the whole length of the case neck, and can be an advantage

I just position a feeler gauge blade between the shell holder and the sizeing die.
Experiment with different gauge thickneses until you find the thickness that allows the shoulder to just touch, plus +.003".
I also found washers of appropriate thickness to do the same.

I have found the best way to neck size only is to use a Wilson Die and arbor press followed by using the Wilson inline seating die.

I forgot to include this URL for people who have trouble getting concentric necks when using bushing type dies.

http://www.redding-reloading.c...tricity_bushdies.htm

Which is good info for sizing with any die. Sometimes you need a little reminder..............

I neck size for accuracy only.

The fastest and most accurate method I've found is to use neck sizing dies, rather than trying to adjust a full-length sizing die to do the same job.

Oddly, the Hornady neck sizing dies are the most accurate I've used.
I'm surprised, because although they do make decent equipment, they are not who springs to mind as being best in the accuracy department.

Garrett

Hey trashcanman,Wilson is the magic word.

quote:

Originally posted by shootaway:
Hey trashcanman,Wilson is the magic word.

They used to make good tennis shoes.