Same here - been using belted cases since 1968. I don't like them, but have not had the case head separation problems some people get by not adjusting their dies properly.

The old Lyman loading book, #45 IIRC, advised hand loaders to adjust the sizing die until the shell holder bumped it, for full length sizing. I did exactly that, for my 6.5 Rem mag. Ken Waters wrote the ctg. up in Handloader magazine & stated the 6.5 Rem. Mag. was hard on brass & would cause incipient case head separations in as few as 3 handloads. When it happened to me, I bought that magazine from George Wood's Guns, 100 Hamilton Road in London Ontario. I read it how it was happening to Ken and I figured that since the fired brass fit easily back into the chamber, why size more than just the neck.

I adjusted the die so only the full length of neck was being sized but the shoulder was not being touched. That stopped the case head separations.

If the chamber of one's rifle is overly long - it happens, and the die is a bit short in the body - it happens, you have the potential to introduce excessive headspace in the reloaded ammo - it happens. What then occurs, is that after 2 to 4 shots with that case, it separates just above the belt at the thinning of the web.

Rifle Mfgr'z have minimum and maximum tolerances. Die mfgr's also have minimum and maximum tolerances. Get a mis-match and problems can happen.

Saturday evening I was talking to a friend from Vermillion Alberta who asked about this very problem. Solving it is as easy as die adjustment. When I get the length right, I put a flat piece of steel between the shell holder and the bottom of the die to set the die perfectly perpendicular to the press' ram- then lock the lock-ring. If you don't, the slop in the threads of the die and press can cause misalignment & result in slightly out of alignment brass.

By 1980, articles in magazines as well as loading manuals told handloaders to adjust the dies so the shoulder was just barely touched, or just until the fired and re-sized cases would chamber nicely as to not overwork the brass or introduce excessive headspace.

This, in itself will help prevent case head separations.

Case head separations have only one cause - excessive headspace. It can be the chamber or it can be the brass, sometimes it's both - or any combination of those two.