Precision Rifle Reloading: Headspace, Full-length Sizing, & Shoulder Bump 

I'm going to make a bold statement, I move that we declare panhandle precision the patron saint of precision reloading.

What a GREAT teacher! I watch these videos over and over again and always pick up something I missed or didn't fully understand. I don't know why you left YT but I'm sure we'd all love to see you back reviewing new products you're using and recommending. PLEASE come back!

Your son is lucky to have you teaching him all this valuable knowledge. It's tough having teach myself all this stuff as an adult. Glad people like you are sharing your knowledge and experience with the rest of us.

My Dad had a "violent" case head separation happen 60 years ago. His friend wanted him to shoot his engraved fancy bolt rifle from Europe. Problem was, it was an unusual caliber so he had a Montanan gunsmith load some rounds. When Dad pulled the trigger, the gun blew up, ruining his hearing in the right ear and sprayed small brass frags (and presumed powder) into his right eye. He wasn't blinded when he healed, but he went to talk to the gunsmith. Turns out he took .303 brass and cut the rim off and sized the brass to fit. Trouble was he didn't realize that the brass in those days (in the .303) was folded to make the rim so when he trimmed the rim off he critically weakened the base of the brass. This story has very little to do with this reloading video (which is excellent!) but Dad's message was "Never shoot somebody else's hand loads!" . So I never have.

I have been hand-loading for 30+ years never really looked into "bumping" the shoulder, just following the instructions of the dies to full length resize. Once in a while I would get a cartridge that seemed to be tighter going into the chamber than another cartidge, never really understood why. I have over the years had different rifles in same chambering and I assumed "full length" resizing meant it should fit every rifle, perhaps not. Nor did I segregate one lot of brass for each like chambered rifle. Now I have a rabbit hole to explore! Wow, thank you so much.

You do a good job at braking down the steps and explaining things for the new reloaders. because of that I share your content when ever I’m asked about reloading for your own rifle.

This is the most comprehensive video I've ever watched. I'm new. I'm grateful I've found this

In my studied opinion.... one of the best (if not THE best) instructional videos on reloading. I base that on my 50 years of experience.

This was very helpful. I've crunched brass in the past thinking you just FL size and call it done. There should be a warning that comes with calipers: BUY A HEADSPACE COMPARATOR AND BULLET COMPARATOR SET TO ACHIEVE CONSISTENT RESULTS!

Wow! I've only watched half of this video, but I am so impressed by your communication skills and your simple presentation that I had to stop and complement you....... now back to the show.

I’m glad I found your channel, you do the best job I’ve seen on thoroughly explaining proper reloading procedures. You simplify everything, it makes me wish I would have found this gold gem channel sooner. Thanks brother, I look forward to watching many more excellent videos!

Excellent video, probably the best I have ever seen on the subject. Thank you for sharing it. This video will improve my loads.

Extremely comprehensive video. Great stuff!

Thanks for sharing this video. Its so nice to find a video where someone talks articulated and clearly. The content is excellent too. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

Great Video! Sincere thanks! Been loading since 1991, and I learned something new today!

Great video! I'm completely new to reloading and I've watched several videos on this topic today and your's is the first one that I've watched and actually understood it. Your videos are always very easy to follow and very well explained. Thank you for the education!

Great job, Sam. Excellent information, presentation, and production.

Best source of reloading information I've found yet... Thanks for taking the time to share it.

I found this very interesting and useful. Thank you for taking the time to put it up.

I just watched this again, and I want to say "Thank You" for producing this timeless instruction! I enjoy the material you produce, please keep it up.

Thanks for making it sound so simply and alleviating my anxiety . One opinion I’ll always listen to . Cheers Mate 👍🏻

And ANOTHER excellent, step by step walk-through for us. Just beginning to reload and you have helped me so much...Thanks Panhandle.

Panhandle Precision shares real knowledge and does it WELL. Bow down to the man.

I love your videos. Thanks so much for sharing with us all!!

Superb video of an often misunderstood subject. Your explanations are easy to follow and thoroughly done. Many thanks!

This is an exceptionally clear presentation of several common terms and concepts that are often misunderstood...not because reloaders are slow on the uptake; but rather because there is often no really good place like this to start with the fundamentals and why and how they are important. I wish I would have had a reference like this when I started down Reloading Road. Thank you so much for doing this.

Iam a new self taught reloader down in Tendoy, thanks for sharing info on how to become a better safer reloader

Thank you! Very much appreciate the simple layman's approach to producing accurate ammunition. Too many take it into a rocket science realm that cannot honestly be quantified due to numerous influences/variables beyond the actual cartridge, chamber, and rifling.

A big thank you from Jensen Beach Florida, I just found your channel and immediately subscribed! Thank you for taking the time and patience for teaching all of us and sharing your wisdom!

Very well explained. Thank you. I’d watched a number of other videos on this topic, including from very ‘well known’ presenters and they left me confused. I appreciate you taking the time to actually demonstrate what you’re talking about and not just deal in theories.

This is an excellent video. Great information, well presented and to the point. Thanks.

Great teacher! Thank you Sam.

Thank you! I have a 7mm rem mag and having issues chambering reloads and this showed me everything I needed to know.

Thanks a bunch for making this video. This is a great comprehensive video to understand a lot about this subject. I am brand new to learning about reloading and only learned about the importance of all this yesterday. This is the best comprehensive video I've seen on the subject.

Great video again as always, Sam. Excellent explanation.

Excellent info for a new reloader. Thank you!

wow this is the best video ive ever seen on sizing... I have zero questions left that was very comprehensive

Thanks. Just learning to reload, and there are so many varying opinions and theories. I am a perfectionist so it is very difficult. However, after many hours on the web, you are the first that has been able to explain to me “shoulder bump”, in a way I can comprehend. Keep it up!

You have one of the best by far descriptions and videos on headspacing thank you

Thank you for sharing your experience and explanations. That‘s clear and goes to the essential points.

Honestly, I have watched heaps of your videos and they are full proof. Every video I watch I walk away 100% understanding whatever message you are trying to get across. Cheers mate

these are hands down the best reloading and precision reloading educational videos on the internet. Thanks a ton for posting these. Hope I catch you at a match someday just to say hi

You sir, are a legend. Thank you on behalf of all reloaders.

After watching different video makers, Sam is amongst the top three, maybe even the best. His Panhandle Precision website, which has the text of his videos, makes him unique. His content is a no nonsense, to the point source of information. Pound for pound, there really isn’t a much better, or more practical source for learning about reloading; and other things. Thanks Sam.

Thank you for taking the time to teach what you know so others learn and keep this going for the next generation

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience. I have learned a great deal from your videos and web site articles.

thank you so much for bringing clarity to relosding......

Thanks for going over these steps again with the detailed explanation. I understand what you're saying since I have some experience reloading. A drawing or two might help those that don't quite understand where headspace is defined and how it's established. What I ended up using to measure the headspace location on the shoulder is a .40 S&W case. This works well because the headspace location on the shoulder of the Creedmoor cases or the .260 Rem case has a diameter of 0.400". I use the same approach to measure headspace on a .300 Win Mag case. I still need a way to measure bullet ogive so I use one of those Sinclair bullet competitors that looks like a big hex nut.

Gday from Australia Thanks for the easy to understand and thorough explanation on this process Cheers Sam

Nice presentation, clear and concise.

Great video. Great info. Thank you for explaining in an easy-to-understand format. 👍👍👍

Well Sam, thanks to you I'm finally in the tail end of getting my reloading setup complete. It's taken me a few months to afford it all but I'm excited. Bought some Sinclair stuff, a Hornady OAL gauge, a Redding Type S Bushing die set, Lapua brass, and after watching your video on bushings I finally made my last purchase, a bushing. I'm really excited and I have to thank you for these videos. Hoping I'll have a loaded round in the next week or two. Keep up the videos!

Just found your channel earlier today. I got into reloading back in early 2020 (terrible timing). I purchased a starter Redding press (Big Boss 2) after reading many reviews by people who had been into re-loading rifle cartridges a long time. It took about 5 month on back order before I received the press kit from Sinclair. I've been picking up components for the last two years. I'm finally at a point where I'm preparing to actually re-load.Obviously, you have lots of experience and I liked the way you explain things. After watching your video I realized I still need a couple more measuring devices. Getting ready to locate and order them. Thanks!

You're able to explain this stuff like no other

Greetings from South Africa. Thank you so much for this video! Everyone else is just trying to sell their product instead of teaching like you do. I just moved from neck sizing to full length sizing and your video helped immensely. Keep well

Hey just a note about the Hornady One Shot Spray you like to use, pick up a can or two of CRC Food Grade Silicone Spray from your local hardware store and for 1/3 of the cost you will get twice the amount of the same spray!

Good Video, Sam. Life is good when our FL dies match our chambers exactly or close as possible. I once loaded the same four cases (for a belted mag, no less) over and over for a couple days. I stopped at 17 cycles because I got tired and because I started hearing a squeeking noise when I sized them and at the time, I did not have a means of annealing them. I think head seperation happens most often with belted brass. The shoulder length of belted brass is all over the map because ammo makers know the belt is there to bail them out. The thinning due to the initial stretch can be a lot and it can't ever be put back. I believe the reason die makers include two decapping stems (one with an expander, one without) with bushing die sets is they don't know what brass you are using. The expander is intended for use with common brass such as Remchester that probably has neck wall thickness variations. The one without the expander is intended for high grade brass like Lapua that has even thickness or common brass that has been neck-turned. Again, good video. You have a beautiful reloading room.

Sam! Good morning I believe I account for 10% of the views on this video. Great work brother. You can tell your in this for the love of the game. Thanks a ton. JP

Excellent video, brand new 6.5 Creedmore reloading. Learning a ton, thanks

New to reloading. Appreciate the video!

Once again, I've struck GOLD :D

Super info. Watching a ton of videos, just starting out reloading. This one answers many of my questions. Thank you!

Hi Sam thanks for the great video. For my 6.5 creed i’ve been sizing my necks with a bushing die then going back over them all with the Sinclair mandrel to iron out inconsistencies with the internal neck diameters. It’s quite tedious to do this with every piece of brass however I’ve found this lowers my SD and ES quite a bit. I’m glad to hear the results of your comparison between the mandrel and the expander ball and may start doing the same. This will eliminate an entire step in my brass prep! Also thanks for the detail on belted magnums. I’ve never been concerned with the dreaded c.h.s on my 6.5 however I’ve always been worried about thinning at the belt on my 300wm due how much they stretch I encounter after firing. I’ve fired my Norma win mag brass 6 times so far with a fairly hot 78gr of H1000 with no noticeable thinning at the belt. The primer pockets are another story.. I’ll doubt this brass will see 10 firings so I was glad to hear about the gunwerks brass longevity.

Hey Sam, just want you to know I've been following your videos every step of the way since I started 6 months ago. Bought Sinclair products like you, Redding Type S bushing die set (which was a great decision), followed everything and it all came together last Monday. Everything worked perfectly fine and I'm loading for an M1A Loaded too. I'm now addicted so thanks for that haha

Holy crap! Just when I think I’ve consumed enough info to start reloading I find another Panhandle video.

Hi Sam, your channel came well recommended by a friend, good video. On the subject of case head separation, this is a common enough safety issue to bear discussion. Case head separation results from too much shoulder bump. The loaded cartridge is pushed forward in the chamber by the firing pin. The case shoulder is pressed against the front of the chamber, but the case head is not supported in the rear by the bolt face. End result, the case stretches backwards to meet the bolt face on every firing, until the brass eventually thins and separates just above the webbing. The brass is the pressure boundary that keeps the hot gasses from blowing back through the raceway into your face. Symptoms of shoulder bump problems (excess headspace in reloading terms, although I understand your point that the cartridge can't change the SAAMI spec headspace of the chamber) include primer misfires, as the firing pin expends its energy pushing the case forward rather than detonating the primer.

I bought a comparator gauge today. Only took me 30 mins and 35 cases to get it set!. Lol.. kinda tricky with my little cheap Lee loader kit I bought in 2000 for 35 bucks. But its working now. Thanks for the series on case prep. I'll keep watching and learning!

Very informative and has cleared up a lot of things for me as I move from loading pistol to my 6.5CM. Thanks

Great video! Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

Excellent video. Thank you Sam

What a great video sir . Everything explained very well . Thank you for a fantastic video.

Thanks for explaining the info. I’m new with this reloading so it helps when you explain.

Incredibly informative! I need to watch your videos 2 or 3 times for it to make sense. I just ordered Redding type S for .223 with a .246 bushing. Need to scare up some powder and primers, now!

Great video and very informative. Thank you for your time! You deserve more subs!

Thanks for the instruction. Well done!

Very informational video I got a very lot out of this video thank you for the content in the breakdown I am looking to start reloading my own brass this was very helpful once again thank you so much.

Excellent and clear explanations for a would be new reloader like me ... Thank you

great video.You have the very best HOW To videos with helpful info in plain everyday language I can understand.

Thank you so much. I will have to watch this a couple of times to really wrap my head around it. No pun intended.

Great videos thanks for sharing your knowledge

Sounds good,thanks

Thanks, as always well explained and presented!

At last the answer I was looking for on how to bump back the shoulders and how much!! Great material

Sam, I bought a RCBS desk mounted priming tool last week. one of the best tools ive bought in a long time. I've had lee hand helds, rcbs hand helds but was never pleased with the result. thx for the recomendation.

Part of the fun is establishing our own tried and true reloading methods for achieving reliability and accuracy. I use a Forester bushing bump die to neck size my brass and I can't over stress the importance of verifying the die setup with a case gage and head space comparitor. I see five significant advantages to bumping the shoulder with the Forester neck sizing die. First, you don't work harden your brass by expanding it in the chamber then constantly contracting the brass in an FL sizing die. Second, you're not extruding the brass up the die, doing so thins the brass and reduces the life of expensive brass. Three, fire formed the case is a precision process that allows the brass to maintain concentricty with the chamber. Four, with the brass concentric to the chamber, the neck and bullet maintain axial alignment with the bore. Five, you're able to select the proper neck bushing to control tension on the bullet.

Thank you!

Learned a lot today. Thanks!

Great video, thanks for sharing.

Great video!!! I learned a lot on shoulder bump…

Thank you thank you thank you for the video and the explanations👌🏻 Helped a lot

Excellent video. The best I’ve seen on the subject. Thanks for doing it. 👍

Very Well Done !

Very well done with great information. Being an old hand loader I do find it is much more accurate with the measuring tools easily available today. Long ago we called this “partial resizing” and did it by feel. Just to clarify terminology, true FL sizing brings the case back to SAMMI deminsions and is achieved by setting the die for a slight cam-over. Backing the die out from that point to where the die just bumps the shoulder is called partial resizing, and backing to where the dies just touches the shoulder sizes the neck without pushing the shoulder back. Typically on the first firing a case will be formed to the proper deminsion and the shoulder will not require being bumped back. Subsequent firings will cause the case to be to tight, and by the 3rd firing many cases will be to tight for the bolt to close. What we used to do, without measuring tools, was to take a case that chambered hard and incrementally adjust the die down until the case chambered. At that point you’ve bumped the shoulder 2 or 3 thousand’s. There seems to be a lot of confusion about neck sizing vs FL sizing and which is better. Partial sizing with. FL provides more consistency reload after reload because with neck sizing eventually you have to bump the shoulder back thereby introducing change. However, if you are using mild loads, you can neck size for quite a few times without issue.

Love the videos,thanks for sharing

It all makes a lot of sense to me Sam. Your not making huge dimensional changes at all and you give yourself a good sized insurance policy that you'll be able to close over that bolt on all your loads. And not only are your sizing adjustments small but the brass will spring back a little when you extract the die from the shell. So even less resizing occurs.Thanks for sharing your experiences and hope y'all had a nice Thanksgiving.

Regarding full sizing vs. bump sizing vs. neck sizing can result in some very heated discussions. When this topic comes up among a group of hand loaders you can be sure it will be an interesting afternoon. I enjoyed your video and I agree with your opinion, I've been doing the same for years..

Well done! Thanks !

Man i was on the ball a little over a year ago when i started reloading. I was reloading 9mm .223 and .308 lol i havent reloaded in about 8 months now and im getting back into it and i damn near forgot all this stuff haha time to refresh

Thanks for this content, it is exactly what I've been searching for. I am just putting together my first reloading set up. It has been difficult to find the details broken down to what a beginner needs to know to make good choices and be successful. I subbed as well.

THANK you so much for this video! You are the man!!!!