I have two rifles in caliber 25/06, one a Ruger bolt and the other a Browning single shot. The Browning came with a lot of handloads. However they will not chamber into the Ruger. I have to assume the loads were neck resized only. Can I full length resize assembled cartridges so as to be able to use them in either rifle? Thanks Bobcat

Nope - and don't try it!

Putting a charged cartridge into a sizing die is guaranteed to shorten your life considerably. Doubt seriously if the seated bullet will allow the case to enter the neck portion of the resizing die, but the worst thing is you may exert too much pressure on the case base and cause the primer to ignite.

The reason those reloaded cartridges won't interchange is because of two different chamber reaming tools and process.

Best to disassemble the loads, resize and then reassemble.

I have two rifles in caliber 25/06, one a Ruger bolt and the other a Browning single shot. The Browning came with a lot of handloads. However they will not chamber into the Ruger. I have to assume the loads were neck resized only. Can I full length resize assembled cartridges so as to be able to use them in either rifle? Thanks Bobcat

No.

We'll ignore the dangerous aspects of this for the time being.

The idea of sizing is to squeeze the case down...that includes the case neck. the expander brings the neck back up to the right size for bullets. IF you were to size a loaded round, would squeze the case neck and bullet down to sub-diameter. Besides fitting the case poorly (becasue the brass will spring back a bit, but the lead in the bullet won't) would be tossing .253-254" bullets.

IF you "just gotta" then dissasseble the rounds (bullet puller) and reprocess his reloads. Can back the decapper/expander out so it doesn't deprime. IF you notice a vairation in charge weight...or powder that looks different from other rounds...then chuck everything but the cases and bullets.

First, do you KNOW what loads the reloads are? Do you TRUST the reloader with your life? I wouldn't unless I bought the rifle from my best friend, and even then maybe not. Pull 'em.

That said, if you know what kind of loads they are, you might be able to use a body die to resize them, but I would not use them for anything more than plinking, since the effect of body sizing, including setting back the shoulder, with a bullet in place is not going to be conducive to accuracy.

Can I full length resize assembled cartridges so as to be able to use them in either rifle? I'm glad you asked here first, before trying something dangerous!!

NO. If you thought the bullets were seated out too long, or that you needed more crimp, you could run the loaded rounds thru a seater or crimper die. But, don't try to resize the case while loaded. It's very likely the neck with the bullet seated would get stuck in the die, and you might even tear the case head off trying to get it back out of the die.

There has been a lot of discussion on whether to use someone else's handloads; e.g. see http://www.shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?t=31670

If you decide to use the handloads anyway, use them only in the rifle they fit, and then resize the empties for the other rifle.

I'm glad you asked here first, before trying something dangerous!!

Thanks guys. I know that was a dumb question but just had to try in hopes I was wrong and there was a way,
I`ll just shoot them out in the Browning and be sure the cases are full length resized before being relaoded. Bobcat

I'd run them through a .270 die with de-capper removed, but that's just me and i happen to have .270 dies at hand.

We shouldn;t be too paranoid here.
If you try to full length re-size them in a .25-06 die, you would not be able to get the necks inserted, as the overall diameter of the case neck and the bullet would be far larger than the sizer die.
Any excessive pressure to actually seat the cartridge fully could not set off the primer - no impact and there is a hole in the middle of the shell holder.
However, as suggested, you could try with either a .270 or .30-06 sizer die. Try one and see if it is the base or the headspacing that is causing the problem
Truly the simplest solution for a few rounds would be to pull the bullets and re-size without the capper pin.

In the intrest of safety, we of the board DO NOT recommend trying to resize fully loaded cartridges.

If you want to shoot them cases in the Ruger, fire them in the browning and reload them for the ruger. Bottom Line.

I'd run them through a .270 die with de-capper removed, but that's just me and i happen to have .270 dies at hand.

I do hope you weren't serious and haven't done this yourself.

Yes I am serious, no I haven't done it and no, I'd have no qualms about doing it if need be. What's the big deal?
When you seat a bullet on a powder charge do you not have a fully loaded cartridge in the die? And is that die not closed at the top? If that powder charge somehow ignited in that seating die would it not be a bomb? But it doesn't ignite, why should it?
And why should a 25/06 loaded round ignite inside a .270 or '06 die? And if it should somehow ignite the primer would pop out the bottom and the bullet may poop out the top, never building enough pressure even to burn the powder.
If i were the worrying sort, I'd worry much more about seating a bullet on a compressed charge of black powder, and many folks do that every day.

I'm not sure how much potential danger there is in resizing a loaded round but it just doesn't seem like a idea with much usefulness and I 've always considered it an unsound and unsafe practice.If you don't do it you can't find out if can happen-aomethings are best left unproven!shootrj2003

Yes I am serious, no I haven't done it and no, I'd have no qualms about doing it if need be. What's the big deal?
When you seat a bullet on a powder charge do you not have a fully loaded cartridge in the die? And is that die not closed at the top? If that powder charge somehow ignited in that seating die would it not be a bomb? But it doesn't ignite, why should it?
And why should a 25/06 loaded round ignite inside a .270 or '06 die? And if it should somehow ignite the primer would pop out the bottom and the bullet may poop out the top, never building enough pressure even to burn the powder.
If i were the worrying sort, I'd worry much more about seating a bullet on a compressed charge of black powder, and many folks do that every day.

CJ,
Really, what could be the worst that could happen.
If it does go BOOM, you'll make this year's list for the annual Darwin award!

:D:D:D

Yes I am serious, no I haven't done it and no, I'd have no qualms about doing it if need be. What's the big deal?
When you seat a bullet on a powder charge do you not have a fully loaded cartridge in the die? And is that die not closed at the top? If that powder charge somehow ignited in that seating die would it not be a bomb? But it doesn't ignite, why should it?
And why should a 25/06 loaded round ignite inside a .270 or '06 die? And if it should somehow ignite the primer would pop out the bottom and the bullet may poop out the top, never building enough pressure even to burn the powder.
If i were the worrying sort, I'd worry much more about seating a bullet on a compressed charge of black powder, and many folks do that every day.


I'm going to rephrase part of an earlier post.

Why do sizing dies have expanders?

They size the case mouth SMALLER than the bullet size...the expander brings it back up to slightly UNDER bullet size.

With the decapper/expander removed from the die, if you were to size a loaded round, would squeeze the case neck (with bullet seated) to way UNDER the desired size. Bullet will be squeezed down along with the neck.

No real danger here...but (1) trying to shoot a .250-.251" bullet in a .257-258" bore isn't a great way to accuracy and (2) the bullet will often have a loose core.

For that last...the bullet jacket will spring back a bit from compression...the lead core won't.

----

I'll leave the safety issue as a sperate item. With the decapper/expander removed, itf the worst did happen, would most likely shoot up...but would also most likly blow the un-supported head (unless you got "lucky" and it went "bang" when fully in the die).

Bet a buck you'd probably get the case stuck. Once stuck with a loaded round drilling out the primer hole to use a stuck case puller would'nt be very effective. Guess you could take a punch and try to drive it out from the top as the expander would be gone. Probably best to use about a three pound sledge.

Bet a buck you'd probably get the case stuck. Once stuck with a loaded round drilling out the primer hole to use a stuck case puller would'nt be very effective. Guess you could take a punch and try to drive it out from the top as the expander would be gone. Probably best to use about a three pound sledge.

Been several people killed while trying to drive a loaded round out of a rifle chamber with a rod. Even with the bolt out of the gun, the force applied has to be onverted to something if there is no movement. Avoid wacking on it with a rod and hammer...that can/will set it off.

Smokless powders do go through a weight drop test...hit them hard enough, and they will ignite.

Was given a .30carbine die with a loaded round stuck in it. No good way to get it out, and as I really didn't need .30carbine dies, decided to get it out the "natrual" way.

Rather than lead others into mniss-deeds, will mention that heat (fire) will set it off...and the case exits the die as fast or faster than the bullet.

I think we've had enough fun with this one, closed.