Resizing

[JakeGraves]

You can still neck size with an FL die as long as you dont screw it down to contact the shoulder. I typically bump shoulder .001" with bushing FL die in bolt gun and push it back .004" minimum on my AR's.
Make sure you dont have a sizing button pulling back through the neck because they will introduce run out.

[Diamond S]

Again, thanks for all the comments, I do have the hornady (9th addition) reloading manual and it at best just touches on this subject. Yes it explains the pros and cons of NS and FL, but to me it stops there. I will be looking up youtube videos and researching all I can to learn more. My problem is I am a visual learner, I have to put my hands on it in order to learn it most of the time. It did touch on what JakeGraves said about using a FL die to size the neck, but didn't go in to much detail. I guess for me it will just be a learn as you go type thing even with all of yalls help, it sux being an old dog trying to learn new tricks. Still open to all comments and suggestions and will gladly accept any and all help that is offered.

[Johnybenchrest]

Bump shoulder back = good . Head space = good. Brass needs to expand thus headspace. Why would you have headspace if you didn't use it?

[Diamond S]

Exactly Johnybenchrest! now if I just knew enough about reloading to tell if you were jacking with me or just making conversation about reloading.

[Artos]

I can wrap my head around stuff better if I can touch & feel as well...best bet is to get with a trusted experienced reloader. Good luck.

[Diamond S]

Artos, that is what I am hoping for. I am truly clueless on this, so I am hoping to get good info here to help me along. I have put 19 rounds of factory ammo down the tube and so far I am impressed with the gun, now I want to make it my own by working up a load that we both like. I really like to 140 grain Amax factory loads.

[Artos]

It's a fun hobby & really rewarding shooting what you rolled...try not to get too wound up getting it figured out & enjoy the ride. Feel free to pm me & we can exchange #'s & will be glad to share my progression & thoughts. We all want to achieve the same ends ,but all have our own little quirks and feelings on issues. There is no real right or wrong, you just need to go with the advice that gives you confidence.

I started reloading in the deep end with tight neck, custom benchrest 6ppc's and the such...when I started, they all mostly neck sized only but I started noticing different pressures when closing the bolt. When the competitors who started winning & shared their methods of FL resizing every time, I paid attn. Not to say other who still necked weren't in the game, I just like the FL method & being able to tell all my cases were the 'same' after sizing.

It's important to remember that brass doesn't stretch the same per case...that is why you can have excessive bolt force when closing the bolt if neck sizing only.

[dustoffer]

I use the Hornady headspace comparator and bump the shoulder back .002 on my hunting ammo. It's much easier to get the die set up to bump the shoulder if you use a headspace gauge to set up the die.

This is my procedure---with the exception that I only resize 1/2 of the length of the neck. The resized portion holds the bullet, and the un-resized portion centers the cartridge in the heck of the chamber starting the bullet straight down the bore.

[kck]

It's a fun hobby & really rewarding shooting what you rolled...try not to get too wound up getting it figured out & enjoy the ride. Feel free to pm me & we can exchange #'s & will be glad to share my progression & thoughts. We all want to achieve the same ends ,but all have our own little quirks and feelings on issues. There is no real right or wrong, you just need to go with the advice that gives you confidence.

I started reloading in the deep end with tight neck, custom benchrest 6ppc's and the such...when I started, they all mostly neck sized only but I started noticing different pressures when closing the bolt. When the competitors who started winning & shared their methods of FL resizing every time, I paid attn. Not to say other who still necked weren't in the game, I just like the FL method & being able to tell all my cases were the 'same' after sizing.

It's important to remember that brass doesn't stretch the same per case...that is why you can have excessive bolt force when closing the bolt if neck sizing only.

Well said sir! I full length size and bump shoulders a couple thou each time and anneal every 3-4 firings depending on how my seating feels (I do turn my necks in initial brass prep as well). The fellas I started absorbing info from were the old school short range 6 br and 6 ppc fellas (shooting for hole size in an old airplane hangar) going for 1 hole and only neck sized until f/l sizing was absolutely needed but were quick to inform me on pressure spikes/hard clambering issues. In my humble opinion, sizing necks only is fine for the first firing or so as the brass should have enough spring-back to chamber efficiently but can cause chambering issues in a hunting environment. I, however, have had great luck F/L sizing brass every time and like knowing every round will chamber without issue and, in theory, should keep pressures pretty consistent.

[Diamond S]

Artos, Thanks for the detailed explanation, That really did help explain a lot to me. I may take you up on the Pm and phone call after my dies come in ( it is hard to find 6.5 creedmoor supplies ) so I have to order everything.

[Slick8]

Exactly Johnybenchrest! now if I just knew enough about reloading to tell if you were jacking with me or just making conversation about reloading.

He's not, he's a pro builder and I don't believe he'd mess with you over something so serious and potentially dangerous.

While I do Neck size only, they make a good point about head space.

I'm actually learning that many competition shooters full length size each round...

Merry Christmas, I'm enjoying a cup a joe before the storm...

[Diamond S]

No worries Slick8, I am not easily offended. There are good arguments on both sides, that is why I am getting so confused about this. I am just going to have to take all of this info, and some more from research and as mentioned before, just have fun with it.

[gumbl3]

The long and the short of it is that ammo is manufactured to a specification and the chamber are also cut to a specification. There is always a little wiggle room in there so that manufacturers can batch make ammo and it will always chamber in a .308 no matter what brand of rifle. There's always the exception but as a general rule any factory ammo and any factory chamber should be GTG.

When you fire a round the case expands to completely seal in the chamber and then shrinks ever so slightly due to the properties of the brass. Now you have a piece of brass that's formed exactly to your chamber so by only neck sizing you're using brass that exactly fits your chamber and your putting less stress on the brass in general during the resize process. You can't do that forever because it will eventually expand to the point where you can't close the bolt and and it has to be FL resized so the shoulder is pushed back. If you have some good quality brass you can measure the thickness and order bushings to set the exact tension of the neck that holds the bullet so it's one more variable of the finished product you can control. The downside is it can by a PITA because different lots of brass require different bushings and over time can change. Also a .308 round you made by neck sizing for gun A might not fit in gun B because of above.

If you're loading to get the upmost accuracy out of a specific bolt gun it's worth the investment and time.

If you're loading for several guns or an autoloader FL is the way to go.

I agree with above, get the Redding 3 die set and never look back, you won't want to use anything else after you use those and their C.S. is top notch.

[dustoffer]

The long and the short of it is that ammo is manufactured to a specification and the chamber are also cut to a specification. There is always a little wiggle room in there so that manufacturers can batch make ammo and it will always chamber in a .308 no matter what brand of rifle. There's always the exception but as a general rule any factory ammo and any factory chamber should be GTG.

If you're loading for several guns or an autoloader FL is the way to go.

I agree with above, get the Redding 3 die set and never look back, you won't want to use anything else after you use those and their C.S. is top notch.

Think what happens during the chambering process--if you start with a brand new chamber reamer you are going to get the smallest dimension chamber, and then as the reamer wears down (gets smaller) you will get larger chambers and that is why the chambers of rifles from the same manufacturer can vary so much depending on whether they were chambered with a new reamer (smaller chamber) or a used reamer (larger chamber).

[Diamond S]

Ok so do you guys use a OAL gauge ( I think that is what it is called ) to help get your press set up?