Headspace and OAL of brass unchanged after firing?

[burborg]

So I had some interesting results with the Starline brass I've been working with for 6.5 CM. I measured the headspace (0.400 gauge) and OAL of the new brass before sizing. It FL sized easily with the die touching the shellholder, and the dimensions didn't change after sizing. I didn't see that as much of an issue.

Last night, I was inspecting the headspace and OAL of the now once fired brass. To my surprise, the dimensions were the same as the unfired brass.

I'm sure someone is going to want to mention springback and a tight chamber, and I agree.

I'm just trying to think of potential drawbacks. I can't think of any problems this will cause as long as I keep my cases clean. I live in Alaska, so 90 or 100 degree days aren't much of an issue. It's a bolt action hunting rifle, so I'm not really concerned about issues it might pose for high volume, rapid shooting sessions.

Are there any other potential issues I'm not considering?

 

[WeiserBucks]

Eventually they'll need to be sized and it doesn't sound like your die is going to be able to do it.

 

[burborg]

Eventually they'll need to be sized and it doesn't sound like your die is going to be able to do it.

Definitely possible, but I can't be 100% certain yet.

 

[TaperPin]

Definitely possible, but I can't be 100% certain yet.

I’ve burned up a number of barrels with the full length die unscrewed half a turn, not pushing the shoulder back at all. The negative effects of less than .00X” of setback are greatly exaggerated. As a teenager I can remember reading gun writers claim your hunting rifle will jamb up with slightest debris or changes in temperature if only neck sized, yet it never happened. Nowadays an easy chambering round with pushed back shoulder is thought to be more accurate because the rifle doesn’t move around when chambering another cartridge, but for hunting purposes I don’t see it on target. Straighter walled cases probably have more issues, but I have yet to see it with my Creedmoors.

 

[justin davis]

I’ve burned up a number of barrels with the full length die unscrewed half a turn, not pushing the shoulder back at all. The negative effects of less than .00X” of setback are greatly exaggerated. As a teenager I can remember reading gun writers claim your hunting rifle will jamb up with slightest debris or changes in temperature if only neck sized, yet it never happened. Nowadays an easy chambering round with pushed back shoulder is thought to be more accurate because the rifle doesn’t move around when chambering another cartridge, but for hunting purposes I don’t see it on target. Straighter walled cases probably have more issues, but I have yet to see it with my Creedmoors.

Interesting

 

[TaperPin]

Interesting

It’s not talked about much how recent this change has been. Similar to how shooting styles that are taught today as gospel, are also less than 2 decades old, and old shooting scores were pretty good.

In the way back machine prior to Speedy Gonzales pushing his shoulders back in benchrest competition in the early 2000s, every one of his competitors up until that time were burning their barrels up with neck sized brass. All the accuracy records, every benchrest competitor at every distance neck sized to that point. I’ve never owned a 1/8 MOA or even a 1/4 MOA rifle, but 1/4 MOA wouldn’t even be competitive at the local level back then.

My personal feeling is folks do what they’ve heard the best shooter do, and chambering a silky smooth FL sized ammo is like a silky smooth bolt - people associate that with a better functioning, more accurate rifle, when neither have any impact on the target at the accuracy levels of hunting rifles.