Neck Tension on Reloads

[Bill,SC]

Is there any danger in light neck tension on reloads?  I am loading .243.  Some bullets seem to slide in very easy.  While others need more presssure/force to seat the bullet.

Thanks for any help/advise.

Bill

[Sensai]

There's no danger in it, but don't expect much accuracy.  If there isn't enough neck tension the bullet will start to move before the powder is fully burning and cause the powder to have a different ignition pattern.  The difference in neck tension between rounds will make a difference in velocity.  Are your cases the same manufacturer and lot?  The tension differences are normally caused by different neck thicknesses, provided you're consistent in your case forming process.

[necchi]

Not any danger per say, some bench rest guys literally put the bullet in with their fingers,
However,
 One needs to consider the cartridge use, are you just shooting target from a bench? Or stumbleing around in the field?
 I guess for me consistancy is key, and if I had some loose neck tention I'd be wondering why.

[stimpylu32]

The only real danger is if the necks are too loose , and allow the bullets to either slide in or out , out could let them engage the rifling , which can raise pressures to dangerous levels , and in could allow them to slide too deeply into the case and be lodged in the case below the neck / shoulder junction .

stimpy

[Bill,SC]

Not any danger per say, some bench rest guys literally put the bullet in with their fingers,
However,
 One needs to consider the cartridge use, are you just shooting target from a bench? Or stumbleing around in the field?
 I guess for me consistancy is key, and if I had some loose neck tention I'd be wondering why.

I have 3 sets of dies--RCBS standard .243, RCBS small base .243, and Lee .243.  I 1000+ rounds sized and ready to prime.  Some are fine--neck tension is what I expect.  While others seem loose.  I don't want a situation where a bullet is going to allow bypass of gas and allow a bullet to lodge in the barrel.

[Lloyd Smale]

If your loading top pressures for that round a small increase in seating dept can raise pressure to dangerous levels real fast. Ive seen it in lever guns that recoil was so stout that it shoved bullets back in the case after a couple rounds and it actually caused a blown primer once for me.

[huntswithdogs]

Bill, In all my years of reloading, I don't think I've had a sized case that wouldn't hold a bullet  tight in the neck, but once.  My BIL tried necksizing some cases and didn't have the dies screwed in deep enough to touch the cases but had adjusted the deprimer to punch the primers. He ended up with what you're describing, but not quite 1000 cases! I'd run the iffy ones back thru a resizer and see what happens.

HWD

[SHOOTALL]

Is there any danger in light neck tension on reloads?  I am loading .243.  Some bullets seem to slide in very easy.  While others need more presssure/force to seat the bullet.

Thanks for any help/advise.

Bill

Are all the bullets the same ? same lot # ? Were all the cases sized in the sane die ? same expander ? Are your light loads easy to move the bullet with finger pressure ? or are the hard ones just harder to seat ? If just harder to seat did they get reamed  inside and out ? Are all cases the exact OAL ? if not that could be the problem .As you seat a bullet in a long case when the die was set up with a short case it has to force more case in the crimp portion of the die. If you set the die up with a long case a short case may not get to the crimp section of the die.

[SHOOTALL]

BTW I would rather not talk about how I came by that imformation .