Neck sizing straight wall cases (.357, .41mag, .44 mag, etc.)

[GavinLee]

Just curious, does anyone neck size their straight wall handgun cases by running the carbide sizer only about 1/3 of the way down on the case as long as the sized case is used in the same gun? You would think that it would work. I was just wondering if it would extend case life. Thanks for any feed back on this.
GavinLee

 

[Nemo288]

The Redding Dual Carbide die does just that.
I use those when ever possible.
So yes.
The fact brass "springs back" a little in size allows you to neck size brass for a particular gun at least for awhile.
This also gives you a couple of advantages:
Centering the cartridge in the chamber and working the brass less.
It also enters you into the elite category of oddball precisioneers.
Welcome!

 

[jaymoore]

It's do-able, but it doesn't help with case life as cases generally fail at the mouth anyway. It also won't likely produce any noticeable accuracy benefit at ranges under 50 yards, and sometimes not at all. Often the sizing is not perfectly concentric to the remainder of the case due to minor misalignments and brass wall thickness variation, so you may actually be reducing bullet alignment with the throats.

I use the technique with a few long range revolvers, but not all.

Worry about other things until you get way out on the fringes of reloading, and not much then!

ETA: The Redding dies noted above are the best option if you want to try it. But even then it may not help, especially with revolvers. Single shots? Much more likely, but you best orient the cases the same way at chambering for maximum benefit. (An oft used "trick" by the BPCR shooters. Have never seen an IHMSA shooter bother orienting cases! Except me, and couldn't tell a difference in limited testing with a TC.)

 

[GavinLee]

Thank you for your replies! They both make a lot of sense. My use is in almost exclusively revolvers and I will probably just continue to fl resize. Thanks again.

 

[fredj338]

No benefit in neck sizing revolver brass. You neck size bottleneck cases to prevent stretch & head sep. A revolver case fails at the case mouth, so you aren't extending the brass life at all.

 

[Nemo288]

But it IS fun when they look at you strangely as you put those slightly "bottleneck" rounds in your revolver.
I also sometimes neck size 445 and 444 for use in lever and break actions.
Doesn't seem to effect the reliability of my particular 444S.
Just part of maintaining my status as "that reloading nut" at the indoor range I frequent.
I am one of the only revolveros and I know I am the only one who brings a chronograph.
It's primarily a pistol place owned by friends of mine.
All the above comments are true. You don't need to do it.
Sometime I think I get carried away with things.

 

[riversalmon]

I had an early Redhawk in 45 colt worked up with a 5.5in barrel, round butted and resighted. When F.L. sized by carbide and loaded with heavy Keith bullets, the cartridges flopped around in the cylinder. This condition made it inconsistent to orient the forward driving band for a straight transition into the 11 deg. forcing cone. I began partial sizing my fired brass just to the bullet base, this solved the inconsistency and yes we shoot a lot out to and beyond 200yds. The difference was immediately apparent. I believe this condition would be avoided by use of standard dies however the cylinder fit would not be as exact.

 

[twodog max]

For most practical use I just do not see much benefit in this attempt. To be really precise you would have to use the same brass in the same charge hole or it still will not fit exactly correct. At least they way I see it working. As far as brass life goes as said before the case mouth is the first to go usually. Seems like a lot of trouble for no gain for most revolver applications. Specialized uses are another matter but I am not personally into that.

 

[robert1804]

The Redding Dual Carbide die does just that.
I use those when ever possible.
So yes.
The fact brass "springs back" a little in size allows you to neck size brass for a particular gun at least for awhile.
This also gives you a couple of advantages:
Centering the cartridge in the chamber and working the brass less.
It also enters you into the elite category of oddball precisioneers.
Welcome!

I'll second this. Redding dual-carbide sizes the neck enough so that with the right expander you can have plenty of tension for plated bullets. The rest of the case is only gently sized. They also size cases with only very light effort, a real bonus for those of us with arthritic joints.

 

[m657]

"Just curious, does anyone neck size their straight wall handgun"

I don't for the following reasons:

1) unable to demonstrate any advantage in my range revolvers (all under 50 yards);

2) my brass remains ~so~ reloadable multiple times there is no juice gained for the extra squeeze such process consumes; some of my 45LC brass is going on 30 years of regular use and innumerable cycles of loads/reloads.

That said, I take care to ~just barely~ flair the mouth absolute least amount possible to facilitate boolit placement. For years I ran over 1000 LC loads/month; a few each match might split---sometimes 2 or 3/sometimes zero--so every every year or so I'd add 100 new brass. After a few 'new brass' loads they would join the general population.

I have never seen any value in such process in my own range use.

 

[zeke]

I had an early Redhawk in 45 colt worked up with a 5.5in barrel, round butted and resighted. When F.L. sized by carbide and loaded with heavy Keith bullets, the cartridges flopped around in the cylinder. This condition made it inconsistent to orient the forward driving band for a straight transition into the 11 deg. forcing cone. I began partial sizing my fired brass just to the bullet base, this solved the inconsistency and yes we shoot a lot out to and beyond 200yds. The difference was immediately apparent. I believe this condition would be avoided by use of standard dies however the cylinder fit would not be as exact.

Used to neck size for Ruger BH 's 45 LC. They were notorious for oversize chambers, undersize chamber throats. Target loads would have carbon most of way down case after firing. The neck sizing helped with accuracy, and keeping the cylinder chamber cleaner.

 

[GavinLee]

Used to neck size for Ruger BH 's 45 LC. They were notorious for oversize chambers, undersize chamber throats. Target loads would have carbon most of way down case after firing. The neck sizing helped with accuracy, and keeping the cylinder chamber cleaner.

I had this same experience with a .45 Colt Redhawk. Mine if I loaded it up a little (even mid range loads) I couldn't get the brass out of the cylinder, and on lighter loads the brass would be all black down the sides. Plus the resizer die was really having to work overtime on these cases. I guess this firearm was what prompted me to start this post. I see that riversalmon has had this same experience with his .45 Colt Redhawk. Brian Pearse had an article that stated that some earlier Redhawks in .45 Colt had cylinders that were badly overboared. He recommended contacting Ruger. I had had this Redhawk since new (about 15 years or so). I contacted Ruger, got a RMA # and sent it in. In a couple of weeks I got an e-mail from them saying that the revolver was "unrepairable" and they were willing to send me a brand new current model Redhawk at no cost, they even paid the shipping. I give Ruger a big "thumbs up" for that kind of product support.
GavinLee

 

[Frank46]

When loading 45/70 with jacketed bullets I set the seater die about about 1/2" so that it does not touch the shell holder the case neck if you will will get sized by about 1/2" Then will used the belling die to give the case a flare easing into the case any 45 rifle bullet I'm loading at that point in time.Doing it this way I get less excessive case sizing and bullets that will seat without scraping off jacket material. Most if not all my rifle cartridges are loaded on a single stage press. Frank.

 

[BLUEDOT37]

I had had this Redhawk since new (about 15 years or so). I contacted Ruger, got a RMA # and sent it in. In a couple of weeks I got an e-mail from them saying that the revolver was "unrepairable" and they were willing to send me a brand new current model Redhawk at no cost, they even paid the shipping. I give Ruger a big "thumbs up" for that kind of product support.

I have a similar story, without the "thumbs up". My new SRH 454 Casull had large throats (~.455"). Ruger said send it back. They also told me it was unrepairable (never got a sensible explaination why the cylinder only couldn't be replaced vs. the whole revolver). Had to wait an additional month before the production line made a run of SRH 454s to replace mine.

Received the replacement at my LGS (new SN#) & the first thing I did when I opened the box (& before I paid the transfer fee) was to measure the throats with my pin gages. Yep, ~.455" throats, just like the old one they said was defective!

Told the dealer to sell it on consignment as new. Lost money on the consignment fee & my shipping cost to Ruger. Ended up buying a 460 S&W Carry with the proceeds though.

What size was the throats/chambers on your replacement?

.

 

[GavinLee]

I have a similar story, without the "thumbs up". My new SRH 454 Casull had large throats (~.455"). Ruger said send it back. They also told me it was unrepairable (never got a sensible explaination why the cylinder only couldn't be replaced vs. the whole revolver). Had to wait an additional month before the production line made a run of SRH 454s to replace mine.

Received the replacement at my LGS (new SN#) & the first thing I did when I opened the box (& before I paid the transfer fee) was to measure the throats with my pin gages. Yep, ~.455" throats, just like the old one they said was defective!

Told the dealer to sell it on consignment as new. Lost money on the consignment fee & my shipping cost to Ruger. Ended up buying a 460 S&W Carry with the proceeds though.

What size was the throats/chambers on your replacement?

.

Actually mine was just a smidge too tight to push a .452 cast bullet through it, but it is a .45 Colt. I had one of the Dave Manson reamers and run it through it. Yeah I was kinda wondering why Ruger didn't just replace the cylinder and be done with it. The old Redhawk had the 5 1/2" barrel and the with new one 4.2". My old cylinder was so bad that I had to use a dowel and a mallet to get the brass out with a load of 18gr. #9 with a 255 gr. cast or I might have kept the old one, but the new one seems fine except having a 8# trigger. When I go to the range and take my Smith pre 29 and M57 and the Redhawk going from pure silky trigger pulls to one you have to squeeze that hard is not much fun.
GavinLee

 

[cowboy4evr]

If you only want to " neck size " your pistol cases , remember the Lee Classic Loader Kits do just that . It's the little reloading kit you can hold in your hand , the one that so many of us started reloading with . I used mine for several years before progressing to a single stage ( again Lee ) press . I started out reloading 38spl .

 

[Mad_Charlie]

I do it for my straight wall cases used in rifles, and revolvers with oversize charge holes, yes I gain better accuracy and chamber sealing and much less **** in the actions of my lever rifles.
.45-70 and .45 Colt.

My Henrys are easy to clean thoroughly, My Winchesters, not so much.

 

[DWalt]

For many years, I have reloaded .45 Colt cases using a .45 ACP carbide die set. I simply resize about a third of the way down. I have never had any problems in doing that, except I need to de-prime all the cases first. I do that using a .45-70 resizing die. It doesn't take long to do. Why buy a die set I don't need? Similarly, I load .32 S&W Long using a .32 ACP die set.

 

[Culina]

If you neck size only, you can squeeze in more powder

 

[Nemo288]

If you neck size only, you can squeeze in more powder

LOL!
Wonder just how much in that neck sized .38?
Conversely the pressure may be lowered a little.
That might be easier to measure the effects of in terms of velocity.
How much powder does 10 fps represent?
Most rounds the difference is going to be within the bounds of error.
After work tonight I will measure the H2O case capacity of a couple of 444 cases sized differently and get back to you on this one.

Interesting concept though.
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