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cpwomack
Optics Journeyman Joined: January/29/2009 Location: Chattanooga Status: Offline Points: 550 |
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Posted: December/08/2009 at 07:50 |
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Everyone here recommended that I read up on reloading as much as possible before I start reloading, which was great advice as I have some questions already and have not even made it through one book already. I purchased the ABCs of Reloading and my father is reading it and a guy from work gave me Lee's "Modern Reloading, 2nd Edition" which I am reading. When discussing full length resizing and neck sizing the author lays out some instances when you should full length resize and only resize the neck. The author states that when reloading hunting ammunition you should always full length resize but does not give a reason. Can anyone here tell me why? If you are reloading brass that was fired from your bolt action hunting rifle and will only be fired from the same rifle, would you need to full length resize?
Thanks for any insight you guts can provide.
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Dale Clifford
Optics Jedi Knight Joined: July/04/2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 5087 |
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fl increases the probability of positive cycling.
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pyro6999
Optics Retard OT TITAN Joined: December/22/2006 Location: North Dakota Status: Offline Points: 22034 |
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not only that, but say you have a son or daughter (or more) and say you shoot a 30-06 and they shoot the 30-06 also. if you full length all of you brass it should guarantee that your ammo would still work properly in some else's gun. i full length everything i own, only because im to cheap to buy neck dies. the issue with full length sizing though is it stretches the cases a little bit every time you resize them, so every time you reload a case you need to measure it to make sure it doesnt need to be trimmed. |
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They call me "Boots"
375H&H Mag: Yeah, it kills stuff "extra dead" 343 we will never forget God Bless Chris Ledoux "good ride cowboy" |
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magshooter1
Optics Professional Joined: August/27/2008 Location: El Dorado, AR Status: Offline Points: 827 |
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Some people are educated BEYOND their intelligence.
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Trays 7940
Optics Master Joined: August/09/2009 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 1149 |
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Listen, it isnt worth making a box and then finding out they won't chamber. Does this sound like the voice of experience?
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Roy Finn
MODERATOR Steiner Junkie Joined: April/05/2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 4856 |
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Well, yes and no. I dedicate brass to a single rifle and neck size only. When I reload a batch, I run them through the action to make sure they cycle properly. Very, very rare, for me anyway, to come across a single loaded round that didn't chamber. Now I will add that I reload for bolt rifles only, so if you are reloading for a auto loader, it's probably best to FL resize. When you FL resize, you are working the brass more so than need be, IMO anyway. That shortens case life.
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lucytuma
Optics Jedi Knight Joined: November/25/2007 Location: Wisconsin Status: Offline Points: 5389 |
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I personally full length resize, the ammo will always be usefull for your or someone elses rifle.
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"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not." - Thomas Jefferson
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cpwomack
Optics Journeyman Joined: January/29/2009 Location: Chattanooga Status: Offline Points: 550 |
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Thanks for the responses, I went back and read that section again and it makes more sense now. It does say that fire formed brass is more accurate it you will be shooting it out of the same rifle only. It will be a while before I even purchase any equipment, but I want to learn as much as I can before I start.
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pyro6999
Optics Retard OT TITAN Joined: December/22/2006 Location: North Dakota Status: Offline Points: 22034 |
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once you actually start doing it, stuff will make more sense as you go. i know some of the stuff in those manuals sounds confusing, but when your doing it, its no big deal.
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They call me "Boots"
375H&H Mag: Yeah, it kills stuff "extra dead" 343 we will never forget God Bless Chris Ledoux "good ride cowboy" |
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RONK
Optics Master Extraordinaire Joined: April/05/2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 3199 |
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I'm sure you realize this Hunter, but for the benefit of the new reloaders here, it might be mentioned that just because you have only full-length size dies does NOT mean that you must fully size your cases. It is possible and practical in many instances to back off your full-length size die so that brass sized in it chambers in a particular rifle, holds the bullet snugly; yet is not fully sized. As mentioned, this will give you a bit more brass life and possibly better accuracy than full-length sizing.
It is not exactly the same a using a dedicated neck-sizing die, but it works pretty well...
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jonoMT
Optics Master Extraordinaire Joined: November/13/2008 Location: Montana Status: Offline Points: 4853 |
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Okay, here's one reason to FL-resize every time and several reasons not to:
FL-resize to SAAMI specs if you are loading for a semi-auto. You should never mess with this. Now, the reasons not to: 1) First of all, it's increasingly hard to save money anymore reloading so the justification for devoting all that time and expense is to get better-than-factory ammo tailored to your rifle. There are probably some rifles that work great with an FL-resized load. However, for most, the better the fit to the chamber and the less brass expansion, the better the accuracy. 2) It works the brass excessively, reducing its life. 3) You can partial FL-resize. And in fact really should avoid neck-sizing dies since they don't set the case back at all. You want some resizing of the entire case (well, at least the upper half). The key is to minimize it. Partial FL-resizing back .001-.002" will do it. 4) Brass should be segregated by rifle and kept that way. You gain in the accuracy department by using fire-formed brass and it will be particular to that chamber. You can always re-purpose the brass for other rifles by resizing back to SAAMI specs. But why not just make sure that everybody has the ammo they need. And if you have chronically forgetful members of your hunting party, make sure they only own a .30-06 so they can buy ammo anywhere. As for chambering problems, a partially FL-resized round that has a bullet seated far enough so that it isn't jammed into the lands (and in a case with enough neck tension) should never be a problem. It is your responsibility to check that the cases chamber properly after resizing and that the bolt isn't too hard to work and can eject the cartridge. Then after seating a bullet in a round, double-check that it still chambers (and repeat this with a few more rounds as you go). Do this BEFORE venturing into the field. I use a Redding competition seater die and for hunting rounds use a smaller diameter bushing so that the neck tension is high enough to keep bullets from moving in the cartridge while in the magazine. |
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Reaction time is a factor...
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