Lesson learned

[Fla_dogman]

Hello from N Fla, new to the board and thought I would start off with a brain fart I had. I had been using a collet neck sizing die for my .243 and changed to a full sizing die when a friend gave me a pile of he old brass. Here's the problem. I set up the new die on my brass, so when I cycled the rounds the they worked fine. But after loading several of the new used brass they didn't cycle. So I became best friends with my bullet puller and started over. Where's my sign?[emoji38]

 

[Blindstitch]

Did you trim the brass?

 

[Fla_dogman]

Not the second time I did mic it and it was good it didn't size the lower portion.

 

[Blindstitch]

Ok so you have a full length die but didn't size full length?

 

[Fla_dogman]

I have both, neck sizing and now a full length die

 

[Fla_dogman]

The collet die is used only for 1/rifle only w

 

[Fla_dogman]

Full length die is used for multiple rifles or brass from another rifle.

 

[Blindstitch]

I guess i'm missing something. Has anything changed besides the die? Is the length the same as the previous loaded ammo you were using. And were you cycling the ammo in only one gun?

 

[Fla_dogman]

I used casings from my rifle to set up the full length die so they didn't require a complete resizing to cycle so I didn't have the die set low enough to resize the case fully so when I used casings fired from another rifle which requires a full resize to cycle they didn't work. So screwing the die in further the problem was fixed, unfortunately I discovered the issue after 50 rounds

 

[Blindstitch]

Sounds like proper die setting solved everything. Funny how a fraction of a fraction of an inch makes all the difference.

 

[Fla_dogman]

Yes funny now not so much when I discovered it LOL. But you're right the slightest bit off and they won't work

 

[Snyper]

It's best to check the brass in the gun before sizing too many, and always before seating projectiles

 

[Mauser69]

FL Dies Also Do Neck Sizing Only

Just to clarify for some - lots of relatively new reloaders these days seem to think you need some special die for just neck resizing - 'tain't so. FL dies do perfect neck sizing only when adjusted just a little high - seems like the OP already knows that now, but many do not. Back in the 70s the die instructions and loading manuals all discussed this.

I'm not sure why companies decided they needed to start making special neck sizing dies, but IMO it seems like just a way to sucker more money out of new reloaders. There may be some special needs they meet, but most of us do not and never will need them.

 

[849ACSO]

Agreed. I bought one neck sizing die once. It didn't size the neck enough for decent neck tension. As I did before, now I use full length dies screwed out to only size the neck. Some of them size a portion of the case that way, but not enough to call it FL.