Ok, I am going to be buying all the tools, books and loading manuals I need to reload in the next few days but I got a question about dies first.

Everything I reload will be for a specific rifle only so I will be wanting to neck size only most of the time but realize that I will have to occasionally full length size the cases. So what I need to know is can I neck size only with a full length die set by adjusting it properly or do I need to purchase a neck sizing die in addition to a full length set.

If I can neck size with a full length die is it worth the small added cost to purchase the neck sizing die any way so I won't have to keep adjusting the full length die back and forth?

It's been a long while so my memory about this is a little fuzzy.

Thanks for the help.

The additional die should be only $15.

Neck sizing with a full length die still moves the shoulder slightly. This is caused by the expander ball being pulled back through the neck. In most rifles this isnt much of an issue, unless you have a really tight chamber. You can eek a bit more accuracy from using a true neck sizing die. I personally use a neck die with all my rifles. I like to work the brass as little as possible and like the idea of not having to lube my cases to resize.

Neck sizing with a FL die works pretty well for calibers where the case has a fair amount of body taper - like the 30-06 or .270. You resize only about 3/4 of the neck, so the body and particularly the shoulder of the case aren't resized by the die. Also, resizing only a portion of the neck allows the part of the neck you didn't resize to align very precisely with the neck of the chamber - and gets things lined up pretty straight. After two or three reloadings, the bolt will close hard and you will need to FL resize the case - but only just enough to get the bolt to close without effort.

Having said that, I would buy a three die set from Redding. Another economical alternative is get the collet dies from Lee, which have a neck sizer and a seater, and then purchase a Redding body die to bump the shoulder back as necessary.

Thanks for the info guys.

Give the lee deluxe die set a try. Its the one in the yellow container. It includes a seater,collet neck sizer, full length sizer and a shell holder. I consistantly get .002" or less run-out with the lee dies. You don't need to lube or trim brass when using the collet die. This isa huge time saver.

NOTE:

Any full-length resizing die will neck-size if you set it back about 0.060" from touching the shell holder with the press in the full "up" position. Good luck.

what everyone else said bout the FL die.. this is the method i use most often on my bottle neck cartridges... but remember.. you can only truely neck size a bolt or single shot rifle... autoloaders and pumps need FL sized brass to feed and chamber properly.

I suggest a heads and shoulder gauge from Stoney point. I love mine. This actually lets you see what is going on with the shoulders before you fire, fireformed and after FL sizing. YOu can adjust you FL die to not touch your shoulders. The method some writers speak of by turning the FL die down until it chambers easy is a little clumsy and not very repeatable.

I did a quick test and seen that the FL sizeing die may push your shoulders down but just draggin the expander ball back thru will pull them back up. So what I ususally do these days is expand in a separate step. I pull out the expander ball. I Partial FL size. I then put the expander ball back in and push it thru just enoughto expand, I don't push the brass thru to neck size again. I have found this really good to limit runout and very consistent shoulders from one piece of brass to another.

I suggest since you are a big hunter, to partial full length size with a FL die. What I suggest is RCBS regular FL dies and if available a collet die from Lee.

The regular neck sizers from RCBS and redding havea tendency to cause bad neck runout.

What is described here is "partial full-length resizing, it is NOT JUST sizing the neck, as any partof the die that touches the case is going to size it somewhat. The straighter the case, the more this happens.

To neck-size only, you must have a neck-sizing die. However, I use an FL die, and adjust it to only resize about the first 1/3 of the neck, just enough to firmly grip the bullet! The actual amount of required neck sizing varies somewhat from cartridge to cartridge, but works out to be about 1/3 of the neck. Even set this way, there is still a little sizing of other parts of the case, but the shoulder is left where it should be. One must use some kind of lube (Motor Mica or powdered graphite) inside the caseneck to keep the expander ballfrom pulling the shoulder forward, when sizing cases that have this tendency-not all calibers do. Neither do carbide expander buttons.