I have always done full length resizing of my brass. I am thinking of going with neck only for one particular caliber that I only have one rife for.

If I do just neck size is there a recommended number of times I do that before I need to do a full length resizing?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Just do a shoulder bump of .003" and call it good. The neck only sizing may work for you for one sizing, but you will certainly have chambering issues after 1 or 2 only neck sizings. I used to neck size my 300 WM competition ammo, until I had major chambering problems. In theory, neck sizing should work forever, since the round was fired in your chamber and should have a perfect fit. In reality, the brass case swells ever so slightly and can change it's shape slightly during neck sizing or the loading process.

If you want to keep it simple, just FL size it.

Bump the shoulder enough to chamber.

Shoulder bump .002"-.003" for bolt action.

Ive still never had any issue with neck sizing when only using in the gun the cases were fire formed in.

I've seen several with the case stuck after firing. The dreaded, butt on the ground, and boot stomping on the bolt handle is not a pretty sight.

I would think that is from something unrelated to neck sizing, perhaps too warm a load?

Seen it happen to about four rifles that have had brass neck sized. I know one was just a 25-06 hunting rifle. I asked his charge, and he showed me. Easily below book max.

Firing brass makes it flow forward. We all know that. We see case lengths change after firing. It makes complete sense to me how it is bound to happen, with neck sizing only.

Agreed. I've been neck sizing only for the past 4 years for my 7mag, 243, and 7-08. Haven't had to bump shoulders yet, and have no extraction or feeding issues. Love the fact that no lube is required.

I'm reading two opposing cases for Neck sizing. So I think I will stick to FL sizing since I have not had any issues in the past with that.

Why not give it a try? If you run into problems then stop.

I would have to invest in the dies and from what I hear it may not be worth the trouble

Can you not adjust the dies to just bump the shoulder?

Setting up a FL die to bump the shoulder is perfectly acceptable. It works.

I changed over the Lee collet dies for neck sizing some time back. The advantages are having no expander button to pull your neck out of alignment and (the biggie!) not having to use case lube. And, you just can't get a straighter case neck. I HAVE had to bump shoulders back, though. To me that's no big deal.

I neck sized 300 WM (I did this a lot for this caliber) and some 260 Rem. I quickly realized neck sizing was not for me. If you fire your round and stick it back in the ammo box it came out of, it may work. I would generally have to go find my brass off the ground after I fired in a comp. Often times a neck size only case would have tight chambering, or chambering where I had to force the bolt closed, and this would be in the middle of a stage in a comp. I didn't like this at all. I need 100% reliable and smooth chambering. A partial shoulder bump works well. But I still chamber check most of my brass after sizing when doing a shoulder bump, to insure 100% smooth chambering. Most of my personal ammo I FL size- 308 Win, 270 Win, 300 blk out, 223. I'll shoulder bump my 6.5x47 Lapua and 300 WM and 7mm/300 WM ammo. This works fine, but it does take more time to set up the sizing die to get it just right.

I won't even neck size customer ammo any more. I have done several neck sizing projects and the ammo came back to me for tight chambering or not chambering at all. It does happen, and is very common for neck only sizing. I won't do it for this reason.

Why not just bump shoulders .002" and know you're never going to have a problem?

Ammo with bumped shoulders shoots just as tight, but it is reliable to chamber and eject.

This is a silly argument.

Yeah, I don’t get this at all.

It really depends too on the caliber. I have used Lee Collet Dies to size 17 Remington and 221Fireball brass until it was wore out with loose pockets or split necks and never Full length sized.
I noted that my 17 Rem brass usually gave out at 9 reloads. 221 brass is like the energizer bunny it just keeps on going.

I got a Lee collet die just to try neck sizing and actually got better accuracy by using a Hornady bushing die and bumping .002".

Also, about 10% of my once-fired brass required a bit of extra force to chamber than factory ammo or brass that had the shoulder bumped.

I know lots of folks neck size, but I tried it and it didn't have any benefit to me.

If anyone is interested, I'll sell you my Lee collet 6.5 creedmoor die on the cheap.

It depends on the gun. I have a rifle that will seize up something fierce if I bump the shoulder back in the slightest. Once I figured out that I shouldn’t bump, it was cycling easy again.

What cartridge?

Ten, What cartridge and what rifle?

Steve, I would say give it a go. You will learn more about reloading by doing it. Most all of us have tried to just neck sized at some point. For what it's worth I do a partial full length to set shoulders back on my
bolt guns .001-.002. Semi autos, levers or pumps get full sized.

I think every loader should try everything from full length sizing that will fit any rifle, to only bumping shoulders a few thousandths to fit a specific chamber. They should size brass for a "crush fit" in a specific chamber, and also neck size for a few rifles. After you do that you will size your brass the way you want it and know why you do it. Don't overthink it and take everything you read on the internet with a grain of salt. Reloading is not very complicated.

I cringe at the thought of this. What would be the advantage of neck only? I read up higher something about aligned necks. I did not realize sizing with a .002 push to the shoulder was knocking my necks out of center. I'm just not seeing what's to be gained by this.

Does that mean that any new brass that hasn't expanded to your chamber gets stuck as well?

That's my point, there is no gain by neck sizing. Guys doing it are just being stubborn in my opinion. "It's the way I've always done it" mentality. Pretty sure Judd said even bench rest guys got away from neck sizing.