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I'm fixin to start neck sizing brass for .270 and have some questions. The Rem. brass was bought new/unprimed. I full length resized it, loaded and fired it once. 1)Approx. how many neck sized reloads can you get before it needs to be full length sized. 2)Will the bolt get increasingly harder to close with each successive reload? 3) How critical is case length or how will I determine when to trim cases? 4) Any tips on the initial setup of the RCBS necksizing die? Any advice is appreciated, Thanks | ||
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1. As far as I know, there is no reason to ever full length resize again, as long as you are doing all your shooting with one bolt action rifle. 2. No. 3. Case length is as critical as ever, but with neck sizing, brass growth is typically much less than with full length sizing. Measure each batch after sizing to determine if trimming is necessary. I automatically trim every time, but a lot of people will go 3-5 reloads before trimming, depending on your chamber dimensions. 4. I use the Lee collet die, so can't help you with the RCBS setup. | |||
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I'm going to disagree a bit with the earlier response. There is no real need to full size again, HOWEVER, after about 3 or 4 reloads the bolt will get progressively harder to close. If you don't mind that you can just keep going on that way until it becomes inconvenient to you. If you finally object to the problem, you can partially full size the case setting the shoulder back just enough to ease chambering. That's usually about .001"-.002" of setback. As for setting up the die, follow the manufacturers' instructions. [ 09-06-2003, 00:26: Message edited by: Bob338 ] | |||
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I have never had to do a full-length sizing after the initial prep and firing of the case. | |||
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quote:Agreed. I try my best no to full length size, but resign myself to having to do it at least every three or four loadings. For critical hunting ammo, every time, I can't worry about brass longevity or minute of angle and be fighting a tight bolt in a second shot situation. While frequency of F/L sizing is greatly dependent on the intensity of the load, eventually, I think you'll have to do some form of F/L or body sizing. The lighter you keep your loads, the more the brass will spring back after firing and therefore require less resizing. One or two serious maximum loads, you'll be resizing anyway. I have neck dies for most of my calibers, some are bushing style neck dies, but I also have full length sets that gather no moss. Another alternative, especially if you don't want to fool with your neck fit, is to use a body die. I have calibers I neck turn and I really don't want a F/L die or expander ball to alter the case neck, so I use Redding body die. quote:Yup, usually the best plan, but in my experience, following directions will take the case to minimum dimensions. I would suggest trying the following method to set the sizing die for your .270. Get a .30-06 case and run it into your .270 die a little at a time, until it will chamber with light resistance. A secondary shoulder will form on the neck, marking the exact location of the neck/shoulder junction. This is your minimum setting to reduce excess working of your brass. Another fraction of a turn would ensure relatively easy chambering. | |||
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eshell~ I think he was talking about the neck die, not the FL die. But I certainly agree regarding the FL die. Doing it your way is referred by some as "partial full sizing". Others will say that is the ONLY proper method of full sizing. [ 09-06-2003, 05:48: Message edited by: Bob338 ] | |||
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Thanks for all the help and good info. Now I have one more question. What is a K & M expander iron? I read a thread a while back where it was mentioned and said to be better than RCBS and the other common brands. I looked in the Graf catalog but could not find anything about one. | |||
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quote:K&M Expander Iron, can be bought from http://www.precisionreloading.com/Default.htm It will make you throw rocks at your expander ball!! Check out the case mouth reamer. K&M makes fine reloading equipment, and Precision Reloading are easy to work with as well...Good luck..sakofan.. [ 09-07-2003, 14:33: Message edited by: sakofan ] | |||
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Thanks Sakofan, Please excuse my ignorance, but, does this K&M expander, screw into the press in place of a die? If so, do you remove the expander from the resizing die? Aww heck, I guess what it boils down to is that I don't exactly follow on how this thing is to be used. Help please? | |||
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quote:Felcher...The Expanderiron just screws down in place of the die. It does require an extra step. I pulled my expander button out of my dies, but left the decapping pin intact. So,I resize, as usual. The decapping pin does it's thing. And when everything is resized, and decapped, you screw the Expanderiron in place and reform your case mouths. I'm consistantly getting rounds with .002 of bullet run out or less. The bullet, after chamfering with the K&M chamfering tool, just slides down in the case, nice and smooth. With less neck tension, and considerably less run out. As I blame most of my run out issue's on the expander ball. I have Forster dies, and they have a decent expander, but it pales in comparison to K&M's tool. The extra step that I mentioned using with the Expanderiron, I used before I had the Expanderiron. I always did my intial resizing without the expander button anyway..sakofan.. | |||
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Seems everybody missed the Redding Body Die, which does not resize the cartridge, just moves the shoulder back the necessary .001-.003 or so necessary to have the bolt close easily. Gives me 15-20 reloads on my PPC brass (at 3400 fps) before discarding them for cracked necks. Runout is not an issue since Neil Jones dies don't institute that problem. ![[Eek!]](images/icons/shocked.gif){kind=icon} | |||
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I shoot a Ruger #1 in 25-06, necksize only with a lee collet die. No bolt to cam cases into the chamber, never had a need to F/L size. Loads are at or near max, around 58 grs of VV N165 behind 100 gr Sierra Matchking. I believe my brass has about 10 loads, no problems just yet. I do check the brass for length regularily though, but no problems up to now. A collet die is maybe the best neck sizing die there is - works brass very little, and doesn't tend to lengthen it, like when pulling that expander button through... The only cases I lost had split necks. My experience is that shooting doesn't lengthen the brass, but reloading does. FWIW, I try to get a collet die for every caliber I have - only the .30-20 has a normal necksizing die. | |||
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I use the Wilson bushing, neck sizing knock out die. It's terrific. Runout is minimal. The Redding "S" neck sizing die is also good, but not as concentric as the Wilson. The expander ball has caused too much heartache for far too long. That's for sure. Best wishes. Cal - Montreal | |||
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I'm afraid the Redding Body die has the same internal dimensions as their regular F/L die, with the exception of the neck. If you happen to be using a standard bench rest PPC chamber, a standard Redding body die will not size the body. That is because the dimensions of the benchrest chamber match the Redding Small Base Body die. So, you ended up using a body die as a "bump die". Folks like Neil Jones make an actual bump die that only moves the shoulder, though I don't know which chamberings they offer. FWIW, Dutch. | |||
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One thing I'm leery of, and that's backing off a full length sizing die and using it for neck sizing. I do most of my shooting at the bench and insist on concentric ammo. I don't feel you really get it by backing off that full length die. The case support isn't there. Maybe I've just become spoiled by the Redding and Wilson bushing dies. Best wishes. Cal - Montreal | |||
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