Originally posted by lrgrendel
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If you have a bolt gun and want to stick with your FL die then I would set up the die first. Start with your die unscrewed a couple of turns. Lube a fired case and size it. Then load it in the gun (no bullet, just the empty case) and try and close the bolt (don't force it). If it doesn't go into battery repeat this sequence while screwing the die in 1/4 turn each time, until the bolt finally closes. You can fine-tune it at this stage and then secure the locking ring and you are set.
This means you are sizing both the neck and case but only to the bare minimum to close the bolt. You can measure the headspace with your comparator but no doubt it will be less than the .003"+ in gas guns. Maybe .001". The neck might not be sized all the way to the shoulder but it will be pretty close. This is a good thing as it helps centre the case in the bore.
Some bolt gunners even attempt half-sizing with neck-sizing dies. By that I mean they size only half the length of the neck. So half is holding the bullet and the other half is left fire-formed for a tighter fit in the chamber. This means there is less surface area tension holding the bullet but with bench-resters who gently load their bullets one at a time this is an option.
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