Need to neck size after pulling bullets?

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wombat13

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I stumbled across a deal on Winchester .300WM ammo when searching for brass. The ammo was cheaper than virgin brass. I intend to pull the bullets, dump the powder and load my special recipe. Do I need to neck size the brass before loading? I use a Dillon RL550. I believe the powder funnel bells the case mouth as the charge is dropped, correct? If so, is neck sizing necessary to ensure correct tension holding the bullet in place?

I'd prefer to not neck size so I don't have to take the decapping pin out of my sizing die. I've sized primed brass a few times, but only one or two. Doing 200 is probably asking for trouble.
 
Do you have a neck sizer die? If so, use it.

I am not familiar with the Dillon powder funnel for .300WM, but I doubt it bells the case mouth.

The sizer squeezes the neck down, and the expander ball pushes it back out to where it needs to be. That is all you need to load rifle with jacketed bullets. There is no need to bell.

Your other option is to FL size and reprime. You can use the same primers, or the primer of your choice.

Some would say don't do anything and just seat the new bullets, but the neck tension will be different than what you are used to loading your own.
 
243winxb said:
Someone elses reloads? If yes, FL resize all.
Click to expand...
No, they are factory Winchester ammunition loaded with 150 grain Power Point bullets. I'm not convinced a 150 gr cup and core bullet will hold up on game when fired at 3,300 fps, particularly when there is a good chance I'll have a shot at a bear (my land is in the management unit with the third highest black bear harvest in NY). So I plan to pull the bullets and load my own. Besides my concern about using the PP bullet on game, I've developed a load with Barnes TSX bullets that shoots one hole groups at 100 yards.
 
Walkalong said:
Do you have a neck sizer die? If so, use it.

I am not familiar with the Dillon powder funnel for .300WM, but I doubt it bells the case mouth.

The sizer squeezes the neck down, and the expander ball pushes it back out to where it needs to be. That is all you need to load rifle with jacketed bullets. There is no need to bell.

Your other option is to FL size and reprime. You can use the same primers, or the primer of your choice.

Some would say don't do anything and just seat the new bullets, but the neck tension will be different than what you are used to loading your own.
Click to expand...
I do have a neck-sizer die. I'm usually loading brass that has been fired in my rifle, so I just neck size. I've only used the FL sizing die when I bought new brass a few years ago.
 
I agree, I would also neck size the brass. It will make a better load because the neck tension will be uniform and that's important with hunting ammo.

As for the Power Point bullets, don't fool yourself. They have taken a lot of game along with the Remington Core-Lotk bullets over the past 50 years. Sure the new bullets are improved but the old standbys are not junk.
 
I just did the same thing a few months back with 300WM, I also couldn't find brass, so I pulled a bunch of factory, 160 of them.

Because of the stupid crimp that Winchester uses on their factory ammo, I felt it was necessary to run them through the neck die to obtain uniform neck tension, and clean up some of that excessive crimp Win. applies.

A little tip that will help you when pulling those crimped bullets, bump them on a seating die a tad to break them free, they pull so much easier, and it helps to reduce the risk of pulling the shoulders up.

I recommend you leave the decapping assembly in the die. Doing so will ensure that the necks get expanded back out to uniform sizes, just re-prime them after you neck size them, that way you'll also know which primer is in them.

As for the belling thing, but I've never had that issue with Lee or RCBS dies. Oh, and don't bell them, even if the die will do it, it will just open a whole can of worms that's totally unnecessary for bottle necks.

GS
 
Don't punch out the primers. Just pull the decapping pin from the stem. If they're Winchester ammunition, you can bet your bippie they're going to contain Winchester primers that are intended for the caliber........

Hope this helps.

Fred
 
Well what I was referring to Reloader Fred, the OP appears to be going to the trouble of pulling them to procure a particular load, with a particular desired quality / performance. So considering there is no way of knowing with any certainty which primer Winchester used, it might be worth the time / trouble to just prime with the appropriate primer for the powder he is using. It just appears his primary goal here is to build a better shooting load, which also involves using the right primer / powder combination, at least that's how I interpreted that portion of his questions?

Other wise, there is little to be accomplished, may as well just shoot the factory loads up and start fresh, if that's the case.

OTOH, if using a powder that needs a magnum primer, and if Winchester primed them with a standard primer, he could encounter some inefficient powder burn problems. There are a number of powders that don't do at all well with standard primers. ES and SD numbers could end up being all over the place with the wrong primer / powder combo.

GS
 
I would reuse the same primers as well, assuming they are a good match for the powders suited to the caliber.

But no reason the OP couldn't use his own either. After all, it is a "special recipe". :)
 
If these are factory cartridges why not just go to the range and a have a fun session of shooting these 200 rounds, then reload them to your specifications? Unless a round is questionable as to how it has been constucted the easiest and most pleasurable way to pull the rounds is to just choot 'em. Any time pulling the trigger is a good time! CCW
 
When I bought my first .338 WM, I noticed right away that recoil was pushing the bullets remaining in the magazine more deeply into the case......a very dangerous situation. I fixed that by removing the expander button and reducing it's diameter by .001".

With heavy recoil rifles, neck tension is required that will prevent setback of the unfired rounds.

Yes, resize the brass.
 
CCWdownrangeP2 said:
If these are factory cartridges why not just go to the range and a have a fun session of shooting these 200 rounds, then reload them to your specifications? Unless a round is questionable as to how it has been constucted the easiest and most pleasurable way to pull the rounds is to just choot 'em. Any time pulling the trigger is a good time! CCW
Click to expand...
same thing I was thinking , ^^^^^^ plus if they have a heavy factory crimp you may be stretching them , in witch case you should full length size them , or at least make sure they are not over Max length after pulling each one , so pull them , then check if you need to full length size or neck size , hope primers match you powder , ..... nahhhh just go shoot em ..
 
I can not help you, I do not have neck tension, I have bullet hold and my Dillon gunnel does not expand the neck.

I have bullet hold, bullet hold can be measured in pounds, I do not have a tension gage that measures tensions.

F. Guffey
 
Walkalong said:
I would reuse the same primers as well, assuming they are a good match for the powders suited to the caliber.

But no reason the OP couldn't use his own either. After all, it is a "special recipe". :)
Click to expand...
Yes, "special recipe" was meant tongue in cheek.
 
CCWdownrangeP2 said:
If these are factory cartridges why not just go to the range and a have a fun session of shooting these 200 rounds, then reload them to your specifications? Unless a round is questionable as to how it has been constucted the easiest and most pleasurable way to pull the rounds is to just choot 'em. Any time pulling the trigger is a good time! CCW
Click to expand...
With work and kids, it's hard to get to the range to shoot. I can pull bullets and reload after putting the kids to bed. No range around here lets you shoot after dark.
 
fguffey said:
I can not help you, I do not have neck tension, I have bullet hold and my Dillon gunnel does not expand the neck.

I have bullet hold, bullet hold can be measured in pounds, I do not have a tension gage that measures tensions.

F. Guffey
Click to expand...
Sorry my terminology caused you such distress. While you might measure bullet hold, the bullet is pressing against the neck creating a tensile load running around the circumference of the neck.
 
Sorry my terminology caused you such distress.
Click to expand...

Not a problem, nothing locks me up, I understand interference fit. I can measure interference fit, I have tension gages, my tension gages are calibrated in pounds, I have operated tension gages that were calibrated in tons. I have strain gages, I do not have a gage that measures tension. I do have gages that measure bullet hold, I do not have a neck tension conversion chart.

F. Guffey
 
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