PLZ Help

[tthompson1974]

I want to start reloading im almost there just need dies and a few other things I just need some advice to go with a sull size die or just the neck and some explanation on the dif thanks

[tthompson1974]

this site is awesome i love it keep it up found all i need to know already but still open to sugs

[JLA]

Necksizing is a means of only sizing the neck of a fired case so that it fits back into the chamber of the weapon it was initially fired from better than it did originally. Necksizing prolongs brass life and increases accuracy. With necksized ammo you can only shoot it in the rifle it wa sinitially fired from due to slight differences in chamber specs from rifle to rifle. It is only suitable to manually operated repeaters and singleshots due to the tighter fit to the chamber.

Full length sizing is exactly that. resizing the full length of the fired brass to bring it back to factory new specs. FL sizing is best suited to Autoloaders, as they can have issues feeding and chambering necksized ammo. FL sized ammo is also necessary if you interchange ammo among different rifles chambered for the same round. FL sized ammo can be accurate as well if the chamber its fired in is on the tight end of the tolerance scale.

You can use an FL die to necksize by backing the die out of the press so that it only sizes part of the neck. I actually prefer doing it this way with old military surplus rifles like the british enfields, due to sloppy chamber specs leaving the fired brass all stretched otu of whack. Necksizing with a FL die will also do a slight resize of the body of the case as well, which can help ammo feed and chamber better than if they were Necksized with a dedicated die.

Necksizer dies can only necksize. there are 2 types fo necksizer dies. one type sizes the neck the same way it would be sized in a FL die and then is pulled over and expander ball on the mandrel to get a final ID on the sized neck. Think of these types as FL dies with the interior of the die relieved so it doesnt size the case, only the neck. The other type, and my favorite is the Collet type. LEE precision collet necksizers to be precise. They squeeze the caseneck against a precision ground mandrel to resize it. This method produces ammo with 0 runout and consequently ammo that generally shots better than ammo from the other type.

[Alpo]

The chamber is larger than the cartridge. Has to be for the cartridge to load.

When you fire, the brass expands to completely fill the chamber. Then it slightly contracts.

When you full-length resize, you squeeze the brass back down to factory spec.

When you neck size, you only squeeze the neck down. The rest of the case is still the same size as the chamber.

This gives you more accuracy, generally, but there are problems.

First, you need a very solid chamber when you fire. That means either a bolt or a single shot. Automatics, levers and pumps have enough give in the action that the case will actually be bigger than the "at rest" action.

Second, it will only fit in THAT gun. You fired it in THAT 1903 Springfield. This other 1903 Springfield might have a slightly smaller chamber, and your neck-sized round won't fit. Same with this Remington 700, or this Savage 110. If you fire it in gun #1 and neck-size it, the odds are it will not chamber in gun #2.

For target ammo it is great, but for hunting ammo you want to make sure that if chambers, no matter what. Full-length resizing will chamber in any gun of that caliber, and will chamber in dirty chambers.

So, if you have only one gun in that caliber, and it is a bolt or a single shot, and you are going to use it primarily for paper-punching, then I'd suggest neck sizing.

If you have multiple guns in that caliber, or you have a lever/pump/auto or you are going to use it for hunting, I'd suggest full length sizing.

[RandyP]

What caliber? What kind of firearm? Pistol, rifle, bolt action, semi auto?