head spaceing a belted mag

[camoman83]

ok i am told you space off the belt on a belted mag on a savage barrel. so would it be ok to cut down a case with a pipe cutter and " head space" that way
Matt

[Eric in NC]

You do headspace off the belt on all belted magnums (according to "them") but you will get better case life and potentially better accuracy if you headspace off the shoulder of a fired and sized case.

[sharpshooter]

Why would you want to cut the belt off a case? The belts on cases are shorter than the belt on a headspace gauge.

[camoman83]

well I mean cut the belt off of a case and use the belt only but I am new so I am all ears

[Cycler]

The belt was added to the original belted magnum case because the first of them (the .375 H&H) didn't have a shoulder sharp and well defined enough to reliably headspace on. Modern belted magnum cases typically have a well-defined shoulder and can be headspaced like most non-belted cases and benefit by doing so. Headspacing on the shoulder will assure the case isn't sized too much in the reloading die and will greatly increase case life.

[Con]

Headspace of a case ... the guages for belted magnums are notoriously 'loose'. Friend just had a 60OverKill built and the guages were 'loose' to say the least. Better to use a case and headspace off its belt. Only catch may be that all belts aren't exactly identical and can vary amongst ammunition manufacturers.
Cheers...
Con

[nwkman]

Thats what I did, then every fired case is neck sized from then on