I used a Redding Competition Neck sizing die, and only neck size on my 300 Gold Match brass. How many reloads can I get with the brass, on average? I am prob on my 3rd-4th reload, and just want to know what signs to look for.

BTW, tested out a new load today....72.5Gr of Rl22, and some 210Gr Berger Match bullets. Seated the bullet .010 off the lands...results speak for themselves!

Remington PSS 300 Win Mag

Depends (almost entirely) on the pressure level you load at. My reduced pressure 7mag loads are over 10 reloads without f/l sizing -- I've also shot loads during load development where each case had to be resized (not a good idea). FWIW, Dutch.

Has that rifle been tuned by a "gunsmith" or did you do it yourself?

Case life can mean neck splits or head separations too. That load is right up there so the head separation issue depends a on how tight your chamber is. Neck splits can be a function of how much the die works the neck and the properties of your lot of brass. Some last for a dozen shots and other cases might go for a hundred or more.

Many belted magnums suffer from the fundimental design error where the headspace is on the belt and the chamber and case dimensions to the shoulder are much looser than rimless cases.

This is why all fired cases should be checked with a feeler wire inside to look for insipiant head separations. Just use a 8" length of coat hanger wire with a tiny hook bent and sharpened on the end.

The ones that cause the most problems are belted cases and guns with rear locking lugs but not every belted gun is a problem. This varies a lot due to the fundimental design error in belted cases.

I have a .300 Win Mag in a Ruger #1 and the chamber is so nice and tight that the webs are not damaged. I FL size this anyway as it's a hunting rifle and that's good practice for that use. Another rifle in a M-70 but a .300 H&H is good for only six to a dozen shots and that with not as hot a load. This case with it's 8 degree shoulder does not headspace well on the shoulder. Now I am making .300 H&H cases out of .375 H&H Rem brass. This is the best option as the headspace can be set from the start and the Rem brass that I have has a much stronger, thicker web than WW cases.

Thanks for the info.....I have never full length sized them,only neck size. Also, I run light tension on the necks, so I don't think it works the metal too much. But I will keep my eyes open for it!

BTW, the rifle hasn't been tuned at all. I am actually going to send it to SG&Y rifles pretty soon. They built me a .300 jarret...and its so accurate its boring

Chris

I partial size (headspace on the shoulder) and shoot my .300 Win mag cases until :
1. primer pocket enlarges ;
2. bullets seat too easily (I know I could anneal to restore neck tension but then I'm not short on brass, so it's not worth the hassle).
Both may start in individual cases after >10 firings but I never met separation (I routinely probe to check after each firing) or split necks.

I had a Parker Hale 300 that had so much room in front of the shoulder that I could not load them more than 3 times. Now it is a 416 Taylor .

Hey OSK, Congratulations on some excellent shooting.

I've messed with about 2 dozen of the "V"-series Remingtons and they all had a SAAMI Minimum chamber. I've not shot a PSS though and don't know if it is the same way or not.

At some point, you may need to do something other than Neck Sizing in order to be able to close the bolt. Once you reach that point, I'd encourage you to Partial-Full Length Resize instead of doing what many refer to as "bumping the shoulder back". Once you bump the shoulder back, the case will have a "loose" fit in the Chamber which can degrade your accuracy and set-up the potential for Casehead Separations.

By the way, there is absolutely NO Inherent Design Problem with Belted Cases.

Long l-o-n-g ago, I could shoot groups like that. Enjoy them while you can. They become wider with age!

I'll certainly agree with Hot Core that there are NO inherent design defects with belted cases.

There are defective belted magnum CHAMBERS, (usually these are cut crooked at the factory), and you can have "defective" down-home handloaders who don't know as much as they think they do, but as far as basic, fundamental design is concerned, belted cases are no more problematic than non-belted cases. Current, transparent propaganda to the contrary be damned!

If you have a rifle that has a square receiver face, a square bolt face, a squarely-indexed barrel that is parallel to the receiver and bolt, plus a chamber that's been properly-cut, you will have absolutely no problems with belted cases whatsoever, all other considerations being equal, and case life will be long. Such chambers allow and make feasible a greater number of stress-free reloads in cases that are neck-sized only.

This is one more advantage offered by well-built custom rifles over thrown-together, mass-produced rifles that almost always have out-of-square receievers, bolts, and chambers.

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