Headspace, Neck sizing, and other internet lies?

[Broom_jm]

Some of your questions might be answered at www.kriegerbarrels.com

Go to FAQ/proper reloading practices.


I consider this to be the expert source.

I don't disagree with any of the commentary or recommendations in that article from Krieger barrels; it is consistent with information you would find in any good reloading manual. However, using your own chamber and adjusting your dies accordingly works very well in the vast majority of reloading situations. If someone wants to make the process more complicated or expensive, so they KNOW their chamber, there are tools for that job. As long as I'm still getting very accurate and safe ammunition, using simpler time-honored methods, I probably won't change how I've been doing it for almost 30 years.

 

[WyldeShot]

I have been researching this too. I have another thread that Yeah commented on. Let me say that I don't anneal. I'm fairly new to reloading so I don't know if I need to anneal or not.

I am using a CTS Engineering trimmer that measures off the DIM. The CTS trimmer is a lot like the WFT. The issue I was having is that my trim lengths were all over the place, even after adjust several times. I emailed Jim, owner of CTS, asking if this was normal. He asked if I had used the head space gauge that was included with the trimmer, which I had not. Jim ended up calling me and we walked through the whole process from beginning to end in an 1 hr + conversation.

What we found is that I was not pushing the neck back enough on my brass and I was having some head space issues with my reloads. Which made sense as I had a couple of unfired rounds that were really hard to eject from the AR. Jim recommended a set back between .006 - .008 for auto loaders, I don't know if this distance is only for his gauge or not. I have only been able to achieve a .005 - .006 set back.

I went yesterday and purchased a Hornady LNL Head Space Gauge. From the information that I have read, it is recommended that you use a .002 - .003 set back for bolt action and a .003 - .005 for auto loaders when measuring with the LNL Head Space Gauge. I used my 5.56 LC brass that was a factory load that I saved to get my zero. I tested about 25 rounds and I'm right at the .005 set back.

I might adjust my die to make the set back .004. I am resizing on a RCBS single stage press using Lee carbide dies. I have read that Lee dies are rough and should be polished. I might take it apart to see if I can clean it up. I wonder if tumbling in stainless steel media will work?