Neck sizing 300 weatherby magnum

S

SmokeyBravo307

New member
I've only been reloading a little over a year and just rebuilt a 300 weatherby magnum that had been in a fire. I just needed a little help about neck sizing. I smoked a case to neck size I'm just not sure how far to go off the shoulder and if I need to bump the shoulder back as well? I bought my dies used and they seem to be set up for neck sizing but I'm not sure I've never loaded for a Weatherby before!!!! Any advice would be appreciated!!!
 
Welcome to the forum.

If you have a neck sizing-only die, it will say so on the side somewhere or give you a number so you can look it up on the maker's web site.

Setting the shoulder back slightly (on the order of 0.001" shorter than it comes out of the chamber seems popular for accuracy). The neck you can size by any portion you please. Many folks leave a little of it unresized just in front of the shoulder to help center the bullet in the chamber (aka, partial sizing). You just don't want so little resized that it fails to hang onto the bullet well.

If you accidentally size down into the shoulder with a neck-only die (such dies don't normally touch the shoulder), it will blow back out to shape in the chamber when you fire it. Nominally, the neck is 0.321" long at maximum length, and then less any trimming below that maximum. If you neck-size just the first 0.300", you'd be fine and maybe get a little centering help.
 
That's a good point. I just assumed he'd checked the steel. Weatherby should be able to tell you what the surface hardness should be and that can be tested.
 
Thanks for the advice that does help me a bunch and yes I checked out the rifle before I dumped the money into redoing it and I appreciate the concern!!!! There we over 30 rifles involved in this fire and a friend of mine picked them up for pretty much pennies!!!! He has redone over a dozen of them so far and this is the only one he has parted was with because there were two of them, this is the first rifle I've ever rebuilt and it turned out beautiful and shoots very well also!!!!
 
"...that had been in a fire..." That rifle is toast. Literally. Absolute garbage and 100% unsafe to shoot at all, if the wood stock had been burned off. If there was any charring of the stock at all, it's unsafe.
Wood starts to burn at about 550-600F. Steel starts to lose its temper at 349F.
"...seem to be set up for neck sizing..." More likely not. However, you can usually see how far down the neck the sizing goes. Plus if your cases were not fired out of that rifle you can't neck size only.
 
I had the rifle checked out before I rebuilt it and the shells I'm wanting to neck size I fired out of this rifle after I rebuilt it. I believe I took all the necessary precautions before I took this project on the stock had a small amount of charred wood but minimal. I don't know how this rifle was stored either I never knew the owner he perished in the fire and the gun was purchased from his brother about a decade later!!!! I do appreciate your concern and may have the rifle checked again by another gunsmith I don't want to have a unsafe firearm!!!! Thanks again
 
I think he's assuming "in a fire" means exposed to high intensity flames and burned to a crisp, where it could have been in part of the house that didn't burn and simply had rust and other water damage from fire department hose spray.
 
Thank you!!!! I'm assuming that's what happened like I mentioned I didn't know the previous owner and I had everything checked out and was given a clean bill of health for the rifle!!!! All I wanted was some help with neck sizing I'll make sure not to mention that again but I really do appreciate the concern safety is the most important thing from the range to work and ofcourse my family!!!!!
 
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