Neck or full length resizing?

Sauerkraut

Active Member
Is it worthwhile getting a neck sizing die? I have been full length resizing up to now and been thoroughly pleased with the results but I've read that you can improve accuracy further if you neck size only. I know that fire formed cases can only be used in the same gun that they were formed in, which is fine for me. I've also heard that neck sizing is better for the cases because the brass is worked less.

What are the pros and cons of neck sizing and what are people generally doing?

Any advice would be much appreciated.....
 
Depending on whose make of dies you can, in fact, neck size using a standard set of FL dies. In fact many of us, long in the tooth, used to do it that way if we didn't have a set of neck sizing dies. Or just wanted to see if it made any difference!

Here's how. Oh and you'll need a lighted candle. Use the candle to put a deposit of soot on the neck and shoulders of a fired case. Then back off your FL sizing die about 1/4" of a inch. That's 6mm or so for the metric folk. Bring the lock ring down to settle the die, in its new position, and take your case.

Now run the case through the press as normal as if you were carrying out a standard sizing operation. Now examine how much of that soot on the neck has been wiped off. Keep bringing the FL die down until the line of removed soot is just level with where the case neck meets the case shoulders. If the soot is disturbed on the shoulders (that soot on the shoulders won't wipe off the shoulders but just now look shiny instead of its previous velvet matte) you've brought the die down too far.

In fact some say that that, just setting the shoulder back a hair's breadth, is even better than just neck sizing as it gives some slack space in a dirty or grimy chamber on the rifle it was originally fired in. But not quite as much re-working the case as would a usual full length size.

Well done! You've just used a FL die set to neck resize your fired case. No trick as many companies such as RCBS for example used to say how to in the instructions that came with their standard die sets. And obviously once you've then locked the lock ring you don't have to bother with the candle and soot on the other cases.

Hope it helps. Try the neck size and also the partial FL size as it was called.
 
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