lionhunter Report post Posted June 21, 2009 I am a bit confused about the battle over full-length resizing, and neck only resizing. I have worked up loads in 300 wsm and 300 win mag. I have full legth sized both, and they both shoot good.( 1" or so) Here is my question..... The Nosler book says to full legth size for hunting, and the Hornady book says to neck size only to ensure that the brass last longer..... So what has your experience taught you... Full legth or neck only. What are the advantages to both? Thanks in advance.. Whitey Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GameHauler Report post Posted June 21, 2009 Full length will allow for the round to be used in any gun of that caliber. The case will seat against the rim of the case. Once you fire a round from your gun the case will conform to its chamber so now it will seat against the shoulder which is said to increase accuracy. after neck sizing and reloading a few times you may have to adjust the dies to just bump the shoulder back a touch. I try to neck size only and in the case of owning 2, 7-30 Waters barrels I keep the brass separated. Hope that helps and am sure someone else could explain it some more. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
krp Report post Posted June 21, 2009 there are reasons for doing either. Neck sizing reduces the stretching back and forth of the brass extending it's life, also leaving it formed to your chamber for a custom fit. After 3 to 5 shots it will have expanded to the point you can feel the tightness as you close the bolt. At that point you need to full length or like Mike said just bump the shoulder back with your FL die and trim, that's what I do. I see no difference in accuracy from neck or bump sizing or full length for that matter in hunting loads. My dedicated, in the field hunting loads are always bumped back and cycled to insure reliability, just feel better in my mind. Slide action or lever action guns need to always be FL sized. Kent Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
firstcoueswas80 Report post Posted June 21, 2009 I always full lenght size. I have yet to run into a problem with brass life. Some of my 270 wsm brass is on its 4-5 time, and some 257 wby stuff is on its 3-4 time. Gamehauler hit the nail on the head, you might have to crank the sizing die down 1/4-1/2 of a turn after a few reloads to bump the shoulder back. How you can tell, is you will have one heck of a time closing the bolt on the loaded round. I found that out the hard way with my .270 wsm. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
catclaw Report post Posted June 21, 2009 Neck sizing is not as simple as it sounds. If you buy a regular neck size die from RCBS, Forster, Redding or whomever, I can almost guarantee you that you will have more runnout on your loaded ammo than if it use a properly adjusted full-length die. You should adjust your die so that it just touches your should and does not set it back. If you have a good chamber, you can get many reloads out of a piece of brass this way. If you want to maximize your brass life, you should anneal the necks every 3rd or 4th time you resize them. If you don't have a dial indicator set up to check bullet runnout, you will never know how good your reloading process is. Most all the main manufacturers make one of these. I use a Sinclair tool and have use the RCBS with good luck. If you really want to neck size, then get a bushing die and find the bushing that allows you to resize withOUT using the expander ball. This expander ball is your enemy when it comes to bullet runnout. 300 Winchester chambers are notorious for being oversized and will work brass to death in short order (many of them but not all). I have 300 WBY brass which was fired in a custom chamber, annealed regularly and sized with bushing dies until it became sticky that have been reloaded more than 20 times. I have seen 220 Russian cases with 50 reloads through them. It is easy to get 3 or 4 loads but 10 is much harder. If you are using cheap brass it is not much of a consideration, but some brass is more than $1 a piece; you want those to last as long as possible! IF you neck size, it is imperative that you cycle each and every loaded round through your rifle BEFORE you leave your reloading facility. You want to find the problem there, not in the field. I can remember an elk hunt where I grabbed a box of loaded ammo (165 grain X bullets) and didn't check them first. They were about .005 too long for my magazine. I had to set a few of them on a board and tap the bullets deeper with a rock (sic) That was a good lesson that, so far, I haven't forgotten. I did get an elk and the ammo worked out fine. If the brass had been oversized, I could not have fixed it with a rock! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lionhunter Report post Posted June 21, 2009 Thanks for the info. I have been having pretty good luck with both rifles full length resizing. So, I think I will contunue doing that. I just dropped them both off to have Timney triggers installed and set to 21/2 pounds. That should not hurt any either... Thanks for the info. Whitey Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GameHauler Report post Posted June 21, 2009 We went to all the trouble to post reply's to your question and then you just say thanks, I'll just keep FLing Just kidding, hope the replies took away your confusion and others learned from it. And I even learned from it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lionhunter Report post Posted June 22, 2009 Game Hauler, I think sometimes we (I) ask questions that I already know the answers to. I have two 300 wsm's, and I am getting good results with all mentioned. I think the fact that a full length resize will definately cycle/chamber in all rifles all the time is worth the extra ware and tare on the brass. Thanks again for the info.... Whitey Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
