How to Make Super Accurate Ammo ~ Part II Sizing Brass 

I enjoy listening to somebody who knows what they are talking about.

I started using the Lee collet die for sizing brass that had been previously crimped. The standard FL does didn’t seem to take out all of the crimp, i think due to spring back. The Lee did do that quite well. Now I use a FL neck bushing die from Wilson and use the Lee as a final neck size just for uniformity. Very consistent neck tension and improved the extreme velocity spread.

I've found that Norma makes some very fine brass as well, if I recall they were making Nosler's brass for them as well until recently and their brass is typically a bit cheaper than the Nosler offering also. I've been watching your videos for years, most of them many times over and I've enjoyed each and every one, glad to hear you're feeling less under the weather today and I'll pray that your recovery continues.

I love the absence of hooplah and bullshit on this channel. It's quite refreshing. What you need to know, and nothing you don't. I appreciate and value the time you sacrifice to make these videos. Much appreciated.

I started reloading back in the early 1990's and followed the method used by a friend who hunted both varmints and deer. At that time RCBS was recommended and we FLS the new brass initially, but the method after first fire forming was to place a nickel between the shell holder and the die. This neck sized the brass and I had great accuracy in the .243 and .308 I loaded for. As the years went by, I discovered the Lee products, and now I load using the collet dies. I love the simplicity of the product, and I find them to be as accurate as what I loaded in the past. I know some recommend a setup process to bump .002, but the collet dies meet my needs. You are spot on, and I hope a lot of new reloaders find your channel.

You sound much better. That classic radio voice back in action

You did not mention that the case needs to be fired in the rifle before you reload for final product. That’s what I do anyway. Thanks. I’m looking forward to the rest of this series.

Great series Sir. I really learn a lot form your experience that you share with us. Straight to the point. Greetings from South Africa.

I full length size for accuracy, if you only neck size the rest of the case still expands upon firing. To keep your brass dimensions all equal you have to full length size! Having consistent brass is the foundation for a accurate cartridge.

I sort big batches of brass for hunting cartridges. They are specific to the individual rifle. Load development tweaking is also done. I settled on Federal brass. Works well for me and I am not going to pay Lapua prices. All brass gets full length sized and trimmed and chamfer and deburred. Once that is done then the Lee neck sizer is done. I do not vary the primer choice. I have had very good results with CCI primers. All brass goes into its own box by weight and gun. I have two 30-06 rifles. One shoots 150gr bullets better (Win 70), so it does the moderate distance deer hunting. The other gun (Rem 700) shoots a 165gr bullet exceptionally well. It is used for bigger game. I spent a heck of a lot of time developing my loads and figuring out which bullets the gun likes, hates, and the weight it prefers. All of my load development is carefully typed up and in my load data binder by rifle, and I also keep a copy of loads that did not work too well so I know what I did in the past. (you will get older, so write everything down and organize it well to keep you straight). I am 65 and have been reloading since I was a teenager. My son says I am OCD, he may be right, but it works for me. Lastly, each charge gets weighed on a digital scale.

I'm set up for shotgun, rifle, and pistol reloading but mostly work with straight wall pistol cases. I own reloading dies for every caliber firearm I own, but freely admit most of them have never been used. I keep them on hand in case factory ammo becomes scarce or nonexistent. On the rare occasion when I do reload rifle cases I normally only do neck resizing to save wear on the brass. This is the technique I was taught many years ago by gunsmiths and competitive shooters. Like you, I pair these cases with the rifle that fired the brass. When I have multiple rifles in the same caliber I stick with factory ammo or full length resize the brass. I see some comments by other posters who disagree with you about neck resizing. I'm not qualified to judge their opinions, but I know what has worked for me. I'm not a bench rest shooter. If the rifle prints under an inch I am thrilled. If it prints a 1/2" I am ecstatic. I can't get any happier than that, so smaller groups mean little to me.

Glad you are feeling better. God bless.

I've never used a neck sizing die when reforming my cases. You're right ... I realize that withdrawing the case from the full length resizing die over the button places eratic tension on the interior dimention of the case. I have used L.E. Wilson neck reamers .001 inch smaller than the caliber to remove any high points on the cases. But, I will invest in a neck sizer. Thank you for all of your videos . I've watched them all and have agreed with everything you have said and in addition learned so very much new!!!

Excellent as always! Thanks for sharing your expertise!

Awesome start to the series

Glad you are feeling better sir! God bless

Good to see that you’re feeling better. Informative video. Thank you

I'm so pleased you are making this series, in my opinion you are an excellent teacher!

So glad to hear you are doing better,God Bless!

Absolutely the best…love your teaching and appreciate the time you put into this. Good bless👍

Glad you're feeling better ! Thanks for the video.

I'm excited to see all the upcoming videos on this topic. Thanks for sharing your knowledge, and God bless back!

"Launch platform" Love the description in the name of it.

I love the Lee collet neck sizing dies. I’ve used them when working up a load, and I get home from the range with 20 fired cases. I’ll run them up in the neck sizing die, put a new primer in, throw some powder, seat a bullet, and head back out to confirm a charge. I’ve done testing, where I’ve gone through all the steps of FL sizing, chamfer/debur, tumble the brass, clean the primer pockets, then load them up, vs just taking a fired case, neck sizing, then loading it up. Almost identical results. Makes me wonder why I do so much brass prep sometimes!

Glad to see your doing better. Best to you and family. How about the crazy weather this year? Love your drone sessions looking forwards to some more

Warms my heart to hear praise for not one, but two Finnish companies, Lapua and Sako. 🇫🇮

Thanks I appreciate your teaching style and down to earth presentation. I am currently loading some rimmed rifle cartridges namely .303 British and .762 x 54r. so especially with the .303 B will be neck sizing only per specific rifle. I finally got some large rifle primers which I have been waiting on for months. (God blesses the patient!) Thanks again😀

I really enjoy your videos. I always learn so much.

I load a lot of ammo for other people and to simplify things, I use a Redding Body die and the Lee Neck Collet die. Finishing up with, of course, the Lee Factory Crimp die. Life is good. One thing I advise people not to do is FL size brand new brass. You will not touch that case in any meaningful way. All you are doing is needlessly working the neck up and down. With new brass, I simply push the case over a mandrel and chamfer. With the neck collet die, it has been shown to even out inconsistent neck wall thickness by rotating the case 120° , and again, ultimately sizing the case 3 times. It sort of "irons out the bumps". Thanks for the vid.

Good description of the Lee die. Thanks.

No need for a neck sizing die. Just learn to set your FL die to PFL size and you can produce some very accurate ammo. And no, it does not mess up the brass. Set the die so you have a shoulder set back of .002" and you are golden. Also, be sure to check your loaded rounds with a concentricity gauge to be sure you have your dies set properly. No need for any fancy dies or extra steps. No need to make it any more complicated than necessary. And yes, the ammo I produce is extremely precise/accurate. 10 shot groups into less than 1/2" at 100 yards for example. I like your videos, but it's proof that many of us do things differently when it comes to handloading.

Hi GunBlue, sorry but almost every benchrest shooter for the last 15 years use a bushing die and sizing Mandrel. Neck sizing only is not the way any USA competitive shooter does it anymore. I love your vids and shoot .222 Tikka and the .270 Webley and Scott Empire Rifle I bought after seeing your review a couple of years ago is still awesome. Hope all is well and Benny and the crew are all good. All the best to you sir.

You are correct! I like the idea of the Redding S type dies. Best of both worlds !🌎

Show should be called The Kitchen Reloader. 😊

Another great and informative video.

Now that is a person you can learn from. WISDOM and EXPERIENCE 👍👍👍👍

The value of life knowledge with book knowledge can not be understated in videos like these, and I will binge the series at length. Admittedly, you got my attention with the muffuletta apron, as my departed native 'Nawlins grandmother made a very special handmade treat for us in my childhood. The bread is really the super secret to a great muffuletta, and for that, you need the right kind of water. Sounds a bit ridiculous, but the mineral content of the water really makes the difference. 😉

Love the Lee collet and factory crimp dies.

Wow, this is so cool

I always full length size and I use the Lee Collet die for fixing the bent neck mostly it works wonders.

Alpha, Lapua , & Peterson are top Teir brass manufacturers these days.

One must bear in mind that every ammunition manufacturers cartridges must fit reliably in every rifle manufacturers chamber, so by design there must be a lot of "slop" built in. Accuracy then plays second fiddle to reliability. Neck sizing eliminates some (or most) of that slop. It stands to reason that a fire formed case will best fit your individual chamber. Don't know if that logic applies to the tighter match chambers of custom built PRS rifles, but I'd sure love to get reliably sub MOA groups from my off the shelf hunting rig. I'm not looking to ring steel at 1000 yds., but to take game confidently out to 300.

I love this man

I use the Lee neck sizer in combination with the Redding body die for a bump back of .003 and this works for my hunting rounds because I want my hunting rounds to be as accurate as I can get them with full functionality as I have learned over the 40 years or so of my hand loads it's two steps versus 1 step with the full sizer and this is a big deal at 300 yards and out, just my two cents worth for hunting ammunition. Have very good hunting. GOD bless. GOD bless the great USA 🇺🇸 !

....I use the same die in an RCBS single press but I resize them twice, once then twist 120° and size again. Produces really concentric and consistent neck tension and amazing groups (1/2 MoA or less)...

Awesome! Good info !👍🏽

Just went back and watched your previous series on reloading for the second time.

Interesting. I've picked up on the fact that you seem very keen on neck sizing only with this video and many other videos in the past, but that's not been the current standard for a long time: Roughly using A Full length Resizing bushing die enacting a minimal full length resize, aka .002" shoulder bump. This stresses the case and neck minimally. A separate Expander mandrel as the last step depending on if neck turned or not. We all know eventually the case will have to be full length resized regardless. The fit theoretically isn't as good as neck sized only, but this doesn't seem to inhibit the competitive types. But this isn't new per say as many set their full length dies in the past to just barely size the case enough to where the bolt closes without a hitch. The neck expander in standard FLR dies are prone to concentricity and neck tension errors. But I do agree with you on the Lee Collet die. That is a fantastic piece of design, and so cheap! I FLR my AR with the Lee expander removed then use the collet die. Neck tension is very consistent with my gauge to check.

I use the same press and dies, like watching myself.. I have all my calibers set up on a separate turret as you do, the press has been flawless for the 15 years or so that I've owned it. I use RCBS and others too but the Lee neck sizing and crimping dies are very hard to beat and they're inexpensive.

Thank you sir

Thank you.

I might be the strangest subscriber of all. I don't own a gun. I haven't owned a gun in 30+ years. I just like geeky technical stuff; and, this is some good geeky technical stuff. 😆

I had Covid at Christmas 2019 long before the vaccine and have ea background that makes me believe in natural immunity so I rejected the vaccine. I have not had anything since. Not so much as a common cold! Probably the longest period in my 72 years! That stated I just discovered your series and it should prove very useful to me as I plan to do some long range starting in the spring, thanks!

I like your channel and have been subscribed for some time now. Normally you put good videos on You Tube and I have suggested people watch your channel. Bought my first reloading tools back in 1974. I have several reloading manuals / books / magazines, and about the only cartridge that should be neck-sized only is the tried & true, .303 British cartridge. Almost all other cartridges should be full length re-sized.

If you're looking for good quality American made brass, I would suggest Peterson. Their brass is close, if not equivalent to Lapua. Excellent customer service from what I have heard (never needed it myself). They also offer some cartridge variations not offered by Lapua, which is why I went with them originally.

I use Redding full length bushing dies and a separate Sinclair carbide mandrel. Lapua brass, VV powder, Federal primers and Berger bullets gives very good ammunition. Many ways to skin the cat 😉

Not just Lapua, Norma and Sako as you told. Sako and Lapua is the same stuff. All the brass made of the Nordic contries have the same standard and quality!

Alpha Brass is absolutely amazing

I just ordered this die , I own a lot of Lee dies they are in my opinion some of the best thank you 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

I've always regarded brass as disposable. Still do. I remember when people just tossed fired cases. I reuse good cases. For hunting, feeding and ejection are paramount. I remember old uncles' rounds jumping out of his magazine.

SAC took this and made it better - they have a neck/shoulder bushing - so thats all one piece and you get uniformity at the neck shoulder junction as well as using a collet to hold a mandrel or a mandrel/decapping pin. They have different mandrel sizes as well as bushing sizes for different brand brass or those who turn necks. I believe it also sizes the base of the case a little more so that doesnt grow over time. Area419 is doing the same thing. Regardless, it amazes me how ahead of the curve Lee was and how they still make sensible things for a fraction of the price.

Thanks

Glad your feeling better 🔫🔫

Gunblue, would you please comment on the military’s adoption of the new 6.8 X 51 rifle cartridge? Your thoughts on the cartridge and the new weapons that will use them would be super interesting! Thanks for all you have given us of the years.

I like starline brass too, it's good stuff and not expensive. O would say the same for PPU, it's even cheaper.

I don't neck only resize for various reasons, but that collet style die is cool as heck.

Erik cortina adjusts the shoulder bump to tune the fit of the cartridge in the chamber I believe

I use Sinclair mandrels and really love how they perform.

I neck size only for my Winchester M94 30/30 and it works great.

Thanks Mr. Gun Blue! Recently I've observed some difficult extraction on a few cases (as you mention at 17:10) that had been neck sized several times in succession, and I'm thinking it may be prudent to full length size perhaps every 3rd or 4th reload on a case.

Hello Mr. Gunblue490, would you please consider telling us your thoughts on surplus brass(Lake City) and range pickup brass? Theres info that Lake City is consistent in regards to internal volume comparable to top brands. Glad to see you are on the mend, thank the Lord. Best wishes

Thank you Mr GB and I'm glad that cold left town. This was very helpful. One thing I'd wonder -- and I don't mean to interrupt this series with the question -- is the process significantly different if loading for semi-auto AR pattern rifles, versus bolt-action rifles? I've heard COAL is the big factor for semi-auto but I don't want to assume that's the end of things.

You seem very happy these days Mr Blue.

GunBlue is awesome

Great video! Glad your doing better! What die did you use in this video???

I usually rotate the bass once or twice and raise the ram again, - I think that was in the instructions ? -

Nosler makes good brass also.

I believe my target rifle will benefit from the Lee neck sizer and reduce case length sizing 😊

Thanks Neighbor!

I use, when ever possible, Lee collet die. I reload 15 caliber. I use 6.5 creedmoor collet die with little work on it for 6.5x47 Lapua.

🙏

Great video , I have that neck sizing die , just never tried it , how do you determine the depth of the die in your press ?

Could you get the same results with a lee classic loader does it only neck size?

👍

You have to move brass past where you want it to end up because it springs back. If you size around a mandrel, the neck will be larger than the mandrel.

Full length size with bushing and a mandrel

Sorry new reloader here, how many times can you neck size before you have to finally FL ?

Hello South Tyrol, I find your videos very instructive and would like to thank you for them. I have recorded and implemented many of your tips, especially about the m14. Now I have a question about the cases. I fill each pod with water and measure the weight. Of course I get different weights. For example, in the cal 30 06 I have Federal cases from 67.70gr to 68.30gr H2O. Now my question: What difference in weight of the case volume is possible with the same load of powder while maintaining the same precision? 0.1gr, 0.2gr, or 0.5gr? I hope I explained myself correctly and the Google translation is understandable!

I'm really not for sure they make that model of primer tool any longer. I know they have newer models from Lee. Frankford arsenal has a hand unit that's fully adjustable for depth setting if you need.

On a 300 Savage round being shot from a model 99, can you get away with not full length sizing the case?

Cold stink! But The Almighty is the Great Physician 👍

So now I am totally confused; for hunting, do you recommend a complete full length.? I normally bump the shoulder back .002” and then size the neck with the Lee Collette Neck sizing die IF the cartridges will be only used in one bolt action rifle.

Are there any drawbacks to not using the expander. I don"t use it and after 10 reloadings the cases are the same length as new. What am I missing?

Eric Cortina, another prolific contributor and seemingly professional competitive shooter, has surveyed other competitive shooters as to whether to neck size or full resize and the consensuses has been that they, by a wide margin, that they fully resize. Is it because, as you have stated that in that competitive environment they must fully resize or they haven't noticed a significant difference between the two sizing methods?

Did I hear you correctly, no neck sizing for hunting purposes only full sizing?

Since I've already gathered a bunch of once fired cases, can I just discard the ones that weigh 2.5 grains over the standard, and still obtain consistent super accuracy? Is there an acceptable range of deviation (within the same case manufacturer) of case weights in the .223 and .308 factory cases?

Do you use the same sizing process for fired brass? Does that Lee sizing die bump the shoulder back?

So sir what is you recommend about die of 223. Remington 2die or Lee 4die with neck size?

18:06 I'm confused by this statement about the brass lasting longer. If there is little work hardening in the neck, then why do the annealers only heat the shoulder and neck of a case?

Who are you talking about with absolute uniformity for brass??? Are you saying Lapua? I'd love to know who you are referring to.