223 questions, full lenght or neck sizing / COL

[Conte]

Only higher end dies give you that option from what I understand.
They will have a micrometre adjustment on the top of them.

Common dies like Lee do not have this adjustment. You set them to touch the shell holder and they will FL your brass back to saami spec dimensions and that's it.
Assuming you wanted the shoulder to be longer then saami spec, you could just seat the die up a bit higher, but, it'd be quite the complicated process to get the exact measurement you wanted, and have it mounted solid enough as to stay there.

If you're new to reloading, you're quite a ways away from needing to dial in your dies to such exacting measurements, and there is support tooling to go along with it, like special tools to measure your brass and your chamber. There is lots you can do to accurize your ammo in the mean time.

 

[Tak]

Other questions for you 223 users, I don't have a measuring tool, but after numerous tries I think I've assessed my max COL to be 2.330 (touching the lands) therefore I was planning on reloading at 2.315 COL. Do those dimensions seem unusual ? I'm using 53 gr VMAX. In my hornady book they say they tested it with a COL of 2.300. I know each gun is different, just trying to see if i'm ball park here

Thanks a lot!

JP

 

[aheppner]

Other questions for you 223 users, I don't have a measuring tool, but after numerous tries I think I've assessed my max COL to be 2.330 (touching the lands) therefore I was planning on reloading at 2.315 COL. Do those dimensions seem unusual ? I'm using 53 gr VMAX. In my hornady book they say they tested it with a COL of 2.300. I know each gun is different, just trying to see if i'm ball park here

Thanks a lot!

JP

Its really hard to say what your coal should be.

Most guys that measure their length from the base of the case to the base of the ogive.
That way it dosn't matter what bullet your using and uneven metplats dont give you bad measurments.

I just got a bullet comparator from sinclair. Simple and cheap. $20
Gives me repeatable measurments and thats all you need

All I know is from the base to the ogive in my gun I'm at the lands at 1.915 inchs . So iv been loading to 1.910 for this load

I usually tell people if your not sure. Does you bolt close smooth with out extra effort? If so your probably not too long.
If you have a magazine then load so they will fit.

 

[Tak]

yep what I did was load a dummy round extra long and then chamber it, and then measure it so it would push the bullet in place. I also put a bit of sooth on the bullet each time to see where it had been pushed to and make sure that it didn't pull out a bit when I ejected the round. I did this numerous time and it was pretty consistent at 2.330 (total lenght) So I'll be going 2.315 just to make sure. There is also plenty of space in the magazine.

Common dies like Lee do not have this adjustment. You set them to touch the shell holder and they will FL your brass back to saami spec dimensions and that's it.
Assuming you wanted the shoulder to be longer then saami spec, you could just seat the die up a bit higher, but, it'd be quite the complicated process to get the exact measurement you wanted, and have it mounted solid enough as to stay there.

I checked a bit more on the internet it's called partial sizing. It will still resize part of your case but just not as much. I set the FL die so it is about a quarter inch away from the shell plate. It actually resizes half the neck, part of the body but not all the way down to the head and bumps the shoulder down a few thousands. Ill try that and see how it works out! For know the rounds still chamber properly in my bolt action though, no issue. It has been fired only once so we will see after one or two more reloadings I guess.

 

[Conte]

What I was talking about is not partial sizing. But yeah, what you're talking about is a trick used to neck size a case without the use of a neck size die.
I've used it before, but not for that application. Actually, I used this method to neck size 30-06 cases using 308 dies, but that's another story.

The benefits are, you get whatever chamber fit benefits you'd get from neck sizing. The downside is you probably still have to lube the case to some capacity.
Can't remember, it's been a few years since I used that method.

Ideally, it's a reloaders trick taken from MacGyvers toolbox, and if you like neck sizing, it's a lot easier and straight forward with a proper neck size die.
That's just my opinion anyway, as the reason I neck size, is to simply cut down on my brass prep time, and avoid having to lube cases.

As far as your OAL query, if it fits in your gun, you should be good. The only thing you have to worry about is changing the OAL might not give you results that agree with your load data, so you have to work up your load as per usual operating procedures.