Reloading Question

[Wolf4Skin]

I am just getting into reloading and shot my first 60 reloaded rounds yesterday.They shot well but I just have a few questions before I load my next batch.

1. Do you have to size the ENTIRE neck of the case , or can you just size the first 1/8th of an inch or so??

2.My bullet diameter (22-250 or .224) is so much bigger than the case neck that copper shavings result and gather at the top of the case neck. Is this OK or normal?? My brass have only been reloaded once , so are on there third firing.

3.If I am only sizing the neck, why do I need lube all up and down the casing???


Thanks in advance.

 

[danr55]

Chris, I'll try to answer your questions and provide a little explanation about why I answered them as I did.

1. When neck sizing only, I've found it best to size the entire lenght of the neck. If you size on a portion of the neck, it's too easy for the bullet to be knocked out of line with the case neck. This can cause problems chambering and with accuracy.

2. The copper shavings that you are seeing at the top of the neck are threre because you didn't chamfer the case mouth before you loaded. That means you probably didn't trim the cases either.

You have to use a chamfer tool to remove the burrs that are left around the mouth of the case from the operation that cuts the case to length. It's also best for the best consistancy from your loads to trim the cases so that they are all the same length. Use a pair of calipers and measure all of the cases after the necks are sized. Use the shortest one for a guide and trim all of the cases to the same length. Make sure you record what that length is so that if you add more cases to that lot, you can trim them the same. Is this absolutely necessary? No. Will it improve accuracy,, probably.

Chamfering the case mouth will stop the copper burrs you are seeing though.

Do you need to lube the entire case to neck size only? No. I use a piece of cheese cloth with lube on it to wipe the case neck before I put it in the reloader. Just a little goes a long way, so take it easy..

 

[Wolf4Skin]

Hey Danr thanks for the info. You are right I did not chamfer the case mouth on the first 60 I reloaded, but I now have a tool to do so.
How much pressure should I be putting on the reloader handle to size the entire neck?

Currently I am sizing to about an 1/8th of an inch from the shoulder of the case and man o man is it ever hard to push down on that thing. I have been using a dry lube that you dip the neck into and tamp off the excess.
In the manual that I have( Lyman 47th reloading handbook) it says the casing should be 1.912 in length, so what is considered OK?(1.925 is about what all my cases are) And what is considered trimming length?
The reloader I am using is an older RCBS and the Die for the 22-250 says to use the Number 3 case holder, but this case holder is not holding the case very firmly. When I put the bullet on to the casing to seat it , I have to make sure it is perfectly steady and then not jiggle anything so that the bullet does not fall off of the casing. Is this normal??

And lastly, When I do finally get the bullet seated and remove it from the press, the bullet has been scored all the way around it by the thing inside the die being too deep or something, not to sure how to explain this one. The part inside the die that pushes down on the bullet is like a cylindrical tube that is not letting the point all the way in to touch in the back, instead it is putting all pressure on the bullet casing. Make sense??

My gun likes about 37.5 grains of H380 so this will be my primary load, shooting 50 and 55 grain Hornady V-Max. All on top of a CCI Large rifle Magnum primer. Any more info you can give me would be great. I am currently off to the Sports store for new inserts to my sizing die. The casing fits so loosely that I bent all the parts involved with the de-priming. Again thanks.

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 03-31-2002 13:04: Message edited by: Chris ]</font>

 

[danr55]

Chris, I usually trim all of my cases so that the length listed is the max. I like my cases .005 to .010 under that length. The published length is max.

It sounds like the seating die is missing an insert. There is a piece that goes into the seating die to catch the bullet. Make sure yours is there...

As for chamfering the case neck, just enough pressure to break the edge and put a slight angle on the case mouth. That, so the bullet doesn't get the copper shaved off.