Reeder Custom Guns - Sizing question

Gonna resize some 30-30 brass to load some 256 Falcon ammo. Having no experience with reloadinv bottle necked cartridges I am wondering if after shooting my initial loads, will they be fire formed to my chamber dimensions and NOT need full length sizing for reloads?

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only have to neck size from there. No reason for full length. If you only have a full length and no neck sizer, just run the die all the way down then back off bout half a turn.

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small bulge at the base of the case, usually .002 to .003. If you don't full length your brass that bulge gets bigger and wider each time you reload it and at .006 the brass is toast and won't go in your chamber anymore. No die will go down far enough to take that kind of bulge out. By full length sizing after setting the sizer die to the junction of neck and shoulder I have loaded some HOT rounds 8 or 10 times and never had a problem getting them to drop in the chamber.If I don't do it that way, after 2 loadings the round won't chamber.

Everybody loads differently but this has been the way I have loaded for almost 50 years and it has worked for me.

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Herrett so as not to set back the shoulder. For me the brass lasted longer. No on straight case cartridges I always full length size.

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could drive you crazy at times. Back then I was a 30 Herrett freak and a regular pain in the ass to Bob Milek and he was constantly harping on having the case headspace on the shoulder and not the rim of the case. He was right of course and I eventually got the hang of it, which was hard after 10 years of loading cartridges to headspace on the rim. But like Lee Jurras, Bob put up with me and again like Lee, never told me to take a long walk off a short pier. I miss both of them.

The 357 Herrett was a different story. It beat hell out of me in that little thin 10" TC barrel with the hard wooden grips with lots of sharp edges. I couldn't keep a scope on it. The Bushnell Phantom scope on the slide on rail would sheer off all 4 screws and hit me between the eyes after 5 or 6 shots. I got to flinching so bad trying to yank my head to one side as I pulled the trigger so as not to get a bloody nose or third eyebrow, it got to where I couldn't hit the old barn door with it. So I made one of my friends a great "deal" and traded it off to someone with a harder head, maybe Larry Farley.

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like a dummy, I let it go in a trade and have regretted it ever since.
That barrel was a tack driver with the 125gr Ballistic tip and 1680.

I still have all of my old cases and loaded ammo. No dies though.

If anyone has one they would trade, I have a Super 16 in 45-70 that I never shoot...

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Back in the day I would grab whatever 223 to shoot and some of the cases were sized down a little too much and would have ignition issues. I would have fire them in my AR then resize correctly and reload. I would also have to size them just enough, to make sure the base was resized and the shoulder wasnt set back too far. 35 Rem the brass was all over the place, some too thick, some too thin, and it was another you had to pay attention to the shoulder. Components are soo much better now, it's easier to get consistent ammo.

And I agree with you on the 357 Herrett, it was a little brutal. I had a leupold scope on a 10" bull barrel that never failed. But that plain original wood grip was a beater. When they came out with the grip that had the rubber back area, I put one of them on and it was much better. I ended up letting that barrel go and kept the 30 H I just enjoyed it so much more.

Now that I have the 355 GNR barrel, I can get herrett performance without the snappy recoil. Another plus is that we now have many more powders to choose from to get what we want.

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suggestions are simply that, suggestions. I may be doing it all wrong but it worked for me.

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Shooting. The value of not reshaping and then blowing the shoulder out with each firing is inarguable, at least in my opinion. I like the idea of full length sizing and adjusting the die not to change the shoulder on fire formed brass. Not having experience with bottle necked cartridge reloading I did not know thar was an option until you mentioned it. Avoiding the bulge from not full length sizing makes sense too. I have seen match shooters having to discard brass because of that.

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length sizing. Neck sizing is for match shooters for the most part. I wouldn't think of not sizing full length all my hunting ammo once I set my dies to size the case to where the shoulder is. You don't want to push the shoulder back every time you reload and blow it back out every time you shoot it. Your brass won't live long at all. But size the case down to the junction of the neck and shoulder, lock your sizer die down and full length size from there.

And then check every round to make sure they drop right in the chamber.

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you can set the die to just "bump" the shoulder to fine tune the lock up. I like a smart snap to lock. This ensures the safety internals will work and shoot. Plus the brass will not stretch much at all and get maximum life.

I find the .256 Flacon needs a pretty stiff load to fully blow out on the first fireform try. Andy loaded me some that had smoky dents. Evidence on the brass not sealing totally and gas leaking by. But second firing it gets fully blown out.

The main thing about bottleneck cases is you typically do not "flare" the cases to seat the bullet, only chamfer. Also no crimp. It works just fine.

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Sizing question

Should be sized to the chamber and should

I disagree. If you don't full length your brass, you get a

I hear that. Just that is the way I always did my 30 and 357

The old Herrett cartridges were great cartridges, BUT

My first Contender was a Super 14, 30 Herrett.

The 2 that drove me crazy was 223 and 35 Rem

Thanks, now I know!

Grover, find your own road to travel. My

I will, just need to start loading and

I SIZE EVERYTHING INCLUDING BRAND NEW BRASS

As a hunter, always get in the habit of full

For the most part yes. With TC's