Why not neck size lever action calibers

[woodsie57]

Most manuals I've seen say that neck sizing only is fine for bolt actions or single shots, but not for s/autos or levers- can see the logic for semi autos, the cases can get a bit beat up- wonder why full length resize would be needed in a lever action- (30-30 in my case) Any logical reason for this? I'm reusing cases from the same gun, btw

 

[Clay Pigeon]

One big reason is a lever action doesn't have the camming action opon closing that a bolt action has. With most applications with levers, pumps and autoloaders you need to full length resize.. And in my case I use small base dies in my levers, pumps and autoloaders as to not have any feeding problems.

 

[natdscott]

I think you might COULD...
But why WOULD you?

 

[bstewrat3]

Load some dummies by neck sizing only and see if they work for you. The manuals are just guides to help you make quality ammo. but the are not set in stone rulebooks.

 

[natdscott]

The manuals are just guides to help you make quality ammo. but the are not set in stone rulebooks.

BLASPHEMER!

 

[Hawkeye7br]

It may work a time or two, but I suspect the cases will slightly expand each firing. If so, you will eventually have a case that will be really difficult to chamber. If the extractor doesn't grab well, you have to drive the loaded round out from the muzzle. Trust the knowledge of the TC single shot crowd, we've been down this road....

 

[Clay Pigeon]

It may work a time or two, but I suspect the cases will slightly expand each firing. If so, you will eventually have a case that will be really difficult to chamber. If the extractor doesn't grab well, you have to drive the loaded round out from the muzzle. Trust the knowledge of the TC single shot crowd, we've been down this road....

Thats the reloading Gods telling you to back down on your powder charge. I have cases I can neck size a dozen times and not use a shoulder bump or full size die on them.

 

[bigedp51]

In 1973 after I got out of the military I bought a .270 Remington 760 pump and a Lee loader. The second time I fired the cases they would not extract until the cases cooled off. And that same night I bought my RCBS Rockchucker press and full length RCBS dies.

In a semi-auto the case body diameter after full length resizing should be .003 to .005 smaller in diameter than its fired diameter. This allows the case body to spring back from the chamber walls and extract reliably.

In a bolt action the camming action of lifting the bolt straight up is called primary extraction, and this breaks the case free of the chamber walls.

In a lever action, pump action or semi-auto you are only pulling straight back. And why the case body needs to be reduced in diameter when full length resizing to extract reliably.

The late Jim Hull of the Sierra ballistic test lab had a humorous saying about full length resizing.
"The cartridge should fit the chamber like a rat turd in a violin case."

Below Kevin Thomas of Team Lapua USA

"There's two very common misconceptions that you've expressed here, and I'd like to address them both. One , that N/S extends the life of the brass. As I said, if done properly, F/L sizing gives you every bit as long of case life as N/S can, but without all the additional headaches that go hand in hand with neck sizing. You will have problems if you stick to neck sizing. It's not a question of if but of when. I tend to believe in Murphy in these things, and he'll usually find you when you can least afford a visit from him. And Two, that full length sizing somehow produces less accurate ammo than neck sizing. It doesn't, and is generally the other way around. Virtually all accuracy labs that I'm aware of use nothing but full length sizing for all their testing, and accuracy is what most reloader's dream of. I've fired literally hundreds of thousands of ten shot groups, with well over 95% of them staying far below the 1/2 MOA mark. In fact, when a rifle wouldn't consistently hold 1/2 MOA or under, I scrapped the barrel, as I could no longer use it for test purposes. All of that ammo was full length sized, NEVER neck sized, as it had to work in a variety of different guns. MY predecessor at Sierra, Jim Hull, used to say that a loaded round should fit in a chamber," like a rat turd in a violin case." Jim had a way with words, and creating visual images. But the idea is that it should fit freely, without binding or jamming when chambered. Forget the nonsense about N/S ammo giving better accuracy, because it's exactly that, nonsense. A few isolated examples of individual guns or groups don't change that, and it's the long run averages that count."

Kevin Thomas
Lapua USA

 

[natdscott]

bigedP51 with the win!

Repped.

 

[Kart29]

I suppose it depends a lot on the cartridge, but I have neck sized hundreds if not thousands of rounds in .35 Rem for use in a lever action and never had the slightest difficulty with extraction. A caliber that develops higher pressures may be different

Oddly, the one rifle I can't neck-size for is a single shot. If I don't FL size, the cases will sometimes stick in the chamber.

 

[Hohn]

I didn't know anyone still did neck sizing only. The myths die hard, I guess.

I use my Lee Collet after the FL size just to I can have something closer to consistent neck tension with mixed brass. With range pickups,and standard FL lee will give neck tension that's all over the place. No, it's not the most precise way to set neck tension, but if you're mixed brass and don't neck turn, the LCD is the fastest and most convenient way to vastly improve consistency.

Which is not to say that the LCD neck tension is consistently appropriate for what you want to do, just that it's consistent.

I saw that posting by Kevin Thomas of Lapua and abandoned all curiosity about neck-only sizing.

Long term, I will end up doing the LCD with a redding body die for sizing.