Pulled bullets from cases do I resize?

[joehxx]

I had to pull the bullets from 40 rifle cases due to powder issue. Do i need to resize
the cartridge or can I refill the cases with the correct powder and load the
bullet again with out the re size.
Thanks for your help

[Unclenick]

Only the neck may need resizing. You are likely to reduce neck tension by using it as-is, and may suffer some loss of velocity consistency or a change in barrel time that could move you off a sweet spot, if you are on one now.

[Scoits]

Neck sizing is necessary

[Don Fischer]

Do not forget to remove the de-capping pin from the neck expander!

[Stats Shooter]

Yup,
Touch up the neck with a neck die if you have one.

[hdwhit]

joehxx wrote:
Do i need to resize the cartridge...

Yes. If you don't have a neck sizing die then you will should full-length resize to ensure that the bullet is firmly and consistently held by the case neck.

• Remember to remove the powder from the case.
• Remove the decapping pin, but replace the expander plug in the die so it can expande the mouth back to the proper size.
• Lubricate the cases and resize as normal.
• It is best to wipe the lubricant off with the towel rather than trying to remove it with a tumbler.
• Recharge the case.
• Reseat the bullet.
• Enjoy.

[HankC1]

Still need lube if using full length sizing die but just close the die enough to size the neck?

[444]

Measure the case necks.
You do know what your sized necks measure, don't you ?
If you don't, measure them after you resize so you have a repeatable metric. Write this down somewhere.
If nothing else, take a bullet and see if you can seat it in the neck by hand. You probably can't but this tells you that you have enough neck tension to hold the bullet.

I would at least run a brush through the neck to make sure it provides a nice clean path for the bullet. Along with a very light chamfer/deburr to make sure the case mouth is nice and smooth.

[joehxx]

Thanks for the responses

[RC20]

Just reload and shoot them.

Neck tension needs to be consistent, not a specific value.

I can't believe with all the pressures involved that if you have little tensions its going to make a difference than a lot of tension in techs scheme of things of 50,000 pounds more or less going off.

Your powder burn variation between cans is worse than that.

[Metal god]

RC20 . with very light bullet hold compared to what you may normally use . The primer can unseat the bullet before the powder really gets going . Resulting in that COAL that was .020 off the lands to now act as if the bullet was jammed in the lands . This will change your internal ballistics likely causing inconsistent burn and barrel time . resulting in the effects UN was speaking of .

I guess the question is , did seating the bullet change inside diameter of the case mouth to cause those above issues . Maybe yes maybe no and is why I neck size all rifle necks I pulled bullets from .

It's an interesting thought to test this out but I'm not sure I care enough to spend the time and materials finding out for sure . I'd rather just neck size real quick .

[Unclenick]

Yes. If the OP hadn't already pulled them, I would have said to measure the OD at the bullet base location before and after pulling (measuring all around and averaging the results, as the unoccupied case necks can be slightly oval in cross-section). If the difference were over 0.001", then I'd have said it will probably serve well just to use it as-is. But if it were less than that, I would resize the necks. Now we can't know, so sizing the necks seems like a reasonable preemptive measure.

What is affected by this is the pressure at the moment the case neck lets go of the bullet. How high pressure has gotten at that point affects how quickly pressure goes on to build to its peak after the bullet gets into the rifling. If the peak is delayed, it is usually a little lower and barrel time gets longer, so if the load were a carefully tuned load it could now be off and you could see groups open up, even if the loads behaved consistently. But as MG points out, that may not happen, either.

I have, BTW, pulled bullets from military ammo and seated others without sizing the neck, a la Mexican Match, and it worked well, taking a 3 moa load down to about half that. However, military cases held their bullets with pitch sealant, plus the lot of Sierra MatchKing bullets we had were measuring half a thousandth wider than the original bullets, IIRC. So you have to adapt to the circumstances.

[ligonierbill]

If you crimped them, yeah resize. I don't usually crimp rifle rounds unless they are going into a tubular magazine. And I've had no problem simply reseating bullets back into the case if not crimped. Usually (not always) you are in the elastic strain range.

[Metal god]

Good point about the crimp . You are going to want to remove that before seating another bullet

[RC20]

We don't know about the crimp, so good question.

Primer moving the bullet, hmm, maybe.

You can easily find out by seating a bullet back in as to how much tension is there.

If I had a neck size I might think differently, but as I don't and have done it a few times I am ok with it.

[Metal god]

I bought some Rem once fired brass one time where I could not size out the crimp deformation . These were 308 cases and I ended up trimming and chamfering the crimp out . My case length when done was 1.995 .

You can easily find out by seating a bullet back in as to how much tension is there.

To a point I'd agree but Unclenick pointed out to me some time ago there were test showing that you need at least a 10lb pull difference to notice on a single stage press . If using a progressive , "forget about it"

Oh and for the record I have pulled a bullet and just seated another in its place with out sizing . I'm not saying it can't be done or shouldn't . Just not recommended .

[RC20]

Fair enough.

I am using single stage, isn't everyone?