That is what you want, your brass will last forever.
I do this process with all my rifles I reload for. It makes for little to no run out in my cases so trimming is almost non existent.
The Redding Body/Lee Collet combo have made straighter ammo for me than any others I have tried. I also like the Forster FL sizer, as long as I have them hone the neck to my specified diameter.
A standard FL sizing die sizes the neck down far more than necessary then expands it back to set neck tension via an expander ball. They do this to allow for widely varying neck wall thickness between manufacturers. With many conventional FL dies, if the expander is not perfectly centered, the expander can pull the neck off center. Forster is better than most with this, because the expander is up high on the spindle so the neck is still supported by the die body as the expander enters the neck. They work even better if you have Forster hone the neck of the die so it only sizes the neck down about .005” below loaded diameter. Mighty Armory’s design works well too, because their expander is more of a mandrel and is held perfectly centered within the die by its cone shape. The LCD works well because it only sizes the neck down as far as necessary to get the desired neck tension, so doesn’t overwork the brass. It does this by squeezing the neck around a mandrel. Any inconcentricity is pushed to the outside of of the case, keeping the bullet well centered within the cartridge. Unlike bushing dies, conventional FL dies and the Lee Collet Die size the neck all the way to the shoulder junction. Having tried all of these types of dies, most often, the LCD/ Redding Body die combo produces ammo with the least runout for me.
Thank you for the explanation. So if one were to use a fl die with the expander removed and then use a mandrel die for neck tension would this accomplish the same thing as the lcd/redding body combo? I am looking at doing this with a Forster fl die than been honed out
Yes, but you may not enjoy any better results than just the honed Forster by itself. The combination of the honed neck and the expander being supported by the neck makes pretty straight ammo.
You guys are probably right but technically speaking isn’t the point of foregoing the expander in the fl die and using a mandrel die to not “pull on the brass” and push inconsistencies out? Again I doubt I’d see difference in paper just asking purely out of technical curiosity
Yes, and it will likely provide results at least equal to, and maybe superior to the honed Forster, but, the honed neck really helps out with the expander because it’s not having to move the brass nearly as much. The advantage of the expander mandrels is keeping the neck centered and being able to set neck tension via different sized mandrels. You can do the same with a LCD, and, I believe Forster has different sized expanders available also, which will allow you to set neck tension. The advantage of the honed Forster would be one less step in the sizing process.
