A friend ask me a question the other day and I couldn't give him a knowledgable answer to it.
To be honest,I just didn't know for sure.
When do you ream the case neck? Before or after resizing?
Thanks in advance,
MM

Before.

I made that mistake on one case when I was being mentored. Tossed that one in the trash.

You should be able to slide a bullet into a fired case with very little resistance. If it is tight, then the neck is getting to thick.

If you run the fired case through the sizing die, the neck is reduced in size enough to get a good solid grip on the bullet. If you ream it now, you won't have much metal left in the neck.

At least that's what I was taught....

Rick.

Another view of inside neck reaming is to do it after sizing with the proper reamers. In wildcat cartridges where the neck of the new case is on what was the body of the old case, reamer dies are available to be used when the neck is sized and still in the die in order to support the brass while it's reamed. This provides a more exact dimension because the case at the point of metal removal is supported.

Forster also provides custom reamers to be used in their "mini-lathe", their neck trimmer, which can be used after sizing to eliminate donuts at the junction of the neck and shoulder. However, in that system the base of the neck is not backed up by a solid die body therefore allowing a bit of give which can affect the final dimension. The standard reamers sold by Forster are for reaming before sizing. I have some of their custom reamers which I've had them size .002" or .003" undersized to more easily enable reaming donuts from bases of necks in cartridges which are prone to them after they are sized. They work well.

The only thing I can add to the above is that Wilsons cautions users of their neck reamers not to ream necks of cases that have been fired with light or reduced loads as the case neck may not have expanded fully,again you'll remove too much brass.
How'd that nickle brass size for you? Been meaning to get back to you on that,been trying to catch up on everything that slid during hunting season.I'm messing with some of the Barnes X bullets,I'll let you know how they work out as soon as I get a chance to test fire them.
Jeff

MM,
Unless you have a tight neck chamber a standard Forrester reamer will not even touch the case because it is blown out so far. A custom reamer will be needed.

Once you ream, you will have less neck tension with a standard sizer die being used. You will likely need a bushing die to get your .002 to .003" interferance fit afterward. A standard .311" reamer may work, I had one for a 7.62x39 but I never tried it in the 308win. the .308" stamped reamer measures .3115" accross if that helps.

Thanks for the replies guys!
JSR-Got that nickel casing thing whipped!
I am going to do some experimenting with it though, but I need to get a hold of some more.I don't want to go out and pay 25+ a box just to get more. So if you have any that you're not going to reload for the reasons you told me about awhile back, I'll take it off your hands . I'm willing to pay shipping and throw in a few bucks for your trouble.