.303 British reloading...

[amadeus76]

Im looking at an RCBS FL die set and I noticed that there is a neck sizer die sold seperately. I know that the .303 has neck issues but all my reloading experience with rifles has been with 2 die sets. Do I need this neck sizer die or is it included amount the FL Die set and I'm simply reading wrong?

Information

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[M94/14]

The FL die set contains the FL size die and the bullet seater die. The neck sizing die is normally sold separately.

Do you need a neck Sizer? That depends...With regards to the .303 cartridge, I use both the FL and NS dies depending on the chamber of the rifle. If the rifle has an excessively large chamber, then I find that FL sizing the cases more than 2 times, can often cause case head separation due to the extreme taper in the case body and the excessive amount of sizing involved. The brass has to go somewhere during the sizing process, and on the 303 cartridge it pushes it up towards the shoulder and neck, leaving it thinner around the solid head area of the case. Much of this is also due to most rifles chambered in 303 having some manner of headspace which stretches the brass just ahead of the solid head area during firing, thereby thinning it somewhat.

Here is where the Neck Sizer comes in; If you know you have a rifle with a large chamber, you will have better brass life if you neck size after the initial firing. I would suggest finding some small, thin rubber bands that just fit around the base of the cartridge case, just ahead of the rim. You place these on each cartridge, then when you chamber the round, it will keep it fairly well centered in the chamber for firing. The fired cases should come out looking more uniformly round afterwards. If you then just neck size these cases, and use them only for that rifle, you should have excellent brass life.

I use the FL die to initially size a brand new, or once fired case, then I use the above described procedure for firing, then neck size from then on.

Probably more than what you asked for, but hope it helps anyway.

[CINDERS]

Don't know about neck issues never had one in any of my 303's, had only two head separations over the years but that's all I fls all of my ammo as running with 5 x 303 rifles I cannot be bothered keeping all the brass separated on top of those throw in 4 x eff class rifles and 1 x full bore and a 22/250 means I have my hands full reloading even though they are different calibers I try to cut my work load where possible. One thing I do religiously is with the 303's is anneal after 3 firings and keep the cases TTL getting anywhere between 10-12+ loading's out of cases as I keep my loads down to 2,412fps (46gns AR 2209 1 grain = @ 52.4375 fps)

[browningautorifle]

I fls all of my ammo

So, I'm getting that you also FL resize all your .303 every time? Not often you hear that, considering how much .303 you go through. I also FL resize and have minimum trouble with separated cases...but I watch them. Don't remember the last one.

[CINDERS]

I do Jim but hawkeye them very closely like yourself, the neck splits I have had over the last 5-6 years I could count on one hand I only bin a case if I suspect by visual and the inside wire scrape that incipient head separation is imminent and as said I anneal them as I have a system going for that lot when to do it. I have probably 450 ~ 480 Rem cases that I have in the system with about 400 rounds loaded at any given time any cases I bin I crush the body in my vice then belt the rim with a 4lb gimpy hammer to render them completely useless and in the bin they go.

[browningautorifle]

the neck splits

Usually just old brass I don't care about in the first place. Perhaps old Berdan cases...

[ActionYobbo]

So, I'm getting that you also FL resize all your .303 every time? Not often you hear that, considering how much .303 you go through. I also FL resize and have minimum trouble with separated cases...but I watch them. Don't remember the last one.

I also fls all my 303 before loading. I run too many 303 guns and never know what gun the ammo will be going into next. I take care of the brass (no commercial junk) and it last for 10+
reloads.
my methods are
anneal the shoulder to 1/4" past the shoulder
size and wash the cases
trim for length if needed
prime powder and bullet with crimp
fire.
I did a torture test where I ran the cases out of different guns until they failed. here are the results.

there is alot of variables in case life in my experience and I did a test
I took 10 of each case from what I had and loaded and reloaded them and kept track of them.
The load was 38 grains of 4895 and a 150 FMJ pulled from 7.62x54r
cases were annealed and trimmed every 5 loads
cases listed from worst to best
remington all gone by 4 loads for head seperation
winchester all gone by 5 loads for head seperation
ppu/nny all 10 made it to 9 loads but were all gone by 12 for neck splits
HXP 8 made it to 8 loads by 15 I had 2 left I still have 1 left thats loaded for the 20th time
Iraq (surplus converted to boxer by me) lost one to a reloading mistake but the remaining nine made it to 12 then by 17 I had 2 left. those 2 are loaded for go 20
RG1944 (surplus converted to boxer by me) all 10 made it to 10 then at 15 I had 6 left at 19 there was 5 . I have 3 left that are loaded for number 20
the brass was all full length resized and used in a different gun every time around.

other notes
I boiled the Iraq and RG42 cases in water to get the salts out when I first got them.
All the cases get washed between reloads. They get sized then get a bath in hot water and a bit of yellow ajax then rinsed and dried.
I anneal the top 1/3 of the case
Trim length is 2.22"
they get fired from 7 different guns
All cases get crimped with the lee factory crimp die.

guns used were BREN, Vickers, SMLE's and No4's

[browningautorifle]

Pretty comprehensive MrE...here I was thinking I was the only reloader that was incorrectly fl my .303 brass. So I gave up talking about it. I have a bit of a mixed bag of brass, I use them until they are about to go. Usually you can see the next one will break it. I have lots of IVI and some Priv Partizan. I have some civilian, yes, it's thin. They don't want you to reload anyway.

[ActionYobbo]

in my opinion the commonly available brass to avoid is winchester, remington (RP) and the early S&B with the shallow primer pocket. Brass to get if you can is HXP or NNY/PPU.

[Parashooter]

Before anyone draws any conclusions from that picture of sectioned brass from my scrap bin, please note that the Berdan cases are once-fired and the Boxer ones were retired after many reloads had stretched them significantly at the web/wall transition.