Yesterday I attempted to load some ammo for my .250AI. The brass is once fired/fireformed, shot in another rifle and a bit too long to chamber in this rifle.
Bumping the shoulder would be the fix but with the die touching the shell holder I couldn't reach the shoulder.
I called Sinclair to order a body die and was told that wouldn't cure the problem and that I should call Redding and talk to Pat Ryan.
I should mention the die in question is marked 22/250AI which uses the same parent case as the .250AI, the only difference being the neck diameter(this is a bushing die and has the proper bushing for 25 cal)
Mr Ryan informed me that Redding didn't recommend using that die for my application and if i'd send 3 fired cases they would make me a Custom die. Cutomer service means a lot to me, in this case there was none.
The rifle and die are at my Gunsmiths and the problem will be solved. Redding lost a customer because of this.

Stepchild

So my understanding is Redding is telling you that their die is not made for resizing 250 AI, but only 22 250 AI.
I wonder why that is?

I live fairly close to Redding, and use mostly their dies, usually theit customer service is reported to be great, and their ability to answer my limited questions has been great!

quote:

Redding lost a customer because of this.

Wellll...okay. But, they haven't lost me!

Do you know why your chamber is different than your Redding die? Could be you have a chamber problem. In fact if you planned on using the Redding die with it you should have cut the chamber to work with the Redding die.

thats funny strange, I had a problem with run out on a redding neck die 243AI sent them 5 fired cases they sent it back and said the die was for a 243 improved 40* sholder. But I had ordered a 243 Ai 40* die ( i had sent them the reamer dim. when I ordered the die)... they informed me that.003" runout was as good as they could do.
now use $20 lee die and runout is < .001..
$20 verse $100 die with problems.
probably never buy a another set from them.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by stepchild 2:
I should mention the die in question is marked 22/250AI which uses the same parent case as the .250AI, the only difference being the neck diameter(this is a bushing die and has the proper bushing for 25 cal)

I believe the parent case for the 250AI is the 250 savage, and not the 22/250. I just took a quick peek in the nosler reloading manual and the distance to the shoulder is .003" longer on the 22/250 than on the 250 savage 1.515" vs. 1.512". They also list the 22/250 AI and it has the shoulder blown forward to 1.524" or an additional .009". Buying a set of dies for 250 AI may solve the problem. Hope this helps. Paul...

I bet the solution is a simple one. I have had the same problem recently with my .243 wssm dies. Although they are not made by Redding, the solution will probably be the same.

I could not chamber (without some force) any FL resized case. I adjusted the die so that the ram "cammed over" like RCBS suggested. I contacted them and told them I may have a bad die. They responded that I may have a tight chamber and to give the die another 1/4 turn down until it really cams over hard. It cured the problem.

Try it.

quote:

Originally posted by vip:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by stepchild 2:
I should mention the die in question is marked 22/250AI which uses the same parent case as the .250AI, the only difference being the neck diameter(this is a bushing die and has the proper bushing for 25 cal)

I believe the parent case for the 250AI is the 250 savage, and not the 22/250. I just took a quick peek in the nosler reloading manual and the distance to the shoulder is .003" longer on the 22/250 than on the 250 savage 1.515" vs. 1.512". They also list the 22/250 AI and it has the shoulder blown forward to 1.524" or an additional .009". Buying a set of dies for 250 AI may solve the problem. Hope this helps.
Paul...

Paul,
Not to be sarcastic but the 22/250 is nothing more than a 250 Savage case necked down to 22 caliber..... it all started around 1935.

rcamuglia,
Thanks for the advise but in my case it wont work. With the die touching the shell holder it only sizes 60% or so of the neck so the only fix is to remove 3/16"+ - from the base of the die.

Stepchild

quote:

Originally posted by penrod72:
So my understanding is Redding is telling you that their die is not made for resizing 250 AI, but only 22 250 AI.
I wonder why that is?

So they could sell me a Custom(expensive) die.

I live fairly close to Redding, and use mostly their dies, usually theit customer service is reported to be great, and their ability to answer my limited questions has been great!

Stepchild

quote:

Originally posted by stepchild 2:
Thanks for the advise but in my case it wont work. With the die touching the shell holder it only sizes 60% or so of the neck so the only fix is to remove 3/16"+ - from the base of the die.

That's a lot of metal to remove to gain .009"

Just saying that the 250 and the 22-250 are the same dimensions won't make it true, and apparently the dimensions ARE somewhat different since 'the book' says so. Actually it appears that your particular chamber is indeed a little too short and so you need either a shorter/thinner shell holder or else to grind a little off the bottom of your F/L die. IMO Redding's response was OK since I figure they came to the same conclusion that I did, your original AI chamber is too short to work with your particular die.

I've always found Redding to be great although somewhat expensive; I use almost all brands of dies including Herter's and CH-4D and normally have no preference except I don't really like RCBS and I DO really like Lee.
Regards, Joe

quote:

Not to be sarcastic but the 22/250 is nothing more than a 250 Savage case necked down to 22 caliber..... it all started around 1935.

There are slight differences in the shoulder angle and length from head to shoulder.

Stepchild2, sounds like the chamber, that your brass was fireformed in, is longer than your rifle's chamber. You could take your die to a machine shop, or gunsmith, and have .020" taken off of the bottom of the die. Then reset the die to move or, "bump" your shoulder back until the stripped bolt closes easily on a sized case.

If the shoulders are at the same height, the shoulders are at the same angle, and there are two different neck diameters, the base of the smaller neck will be higher than the base of the larger neck. Engineers understand these things, and Pat Ryan is an engineer. I guess what engineers don't understand is that the customer is always right. Must be the secret to RCBS's success. Keep'em smilin'.

quote:

Paul,
Not to be sarcastic but the 22/250 is nothing more than a 250 Savage case necked down to 22 caliber..... it all started around 1935.



Stepchild

Stepchild, I think your incorrect. The datum lines for the two are different and therefore so are the headspace gauges. I am looking at my book of chamber prints and the difference in the datum lines (headspace) for the 22-250 Ackley improved and the 250-3000 ackly improved is a minimum of .0226". I believe this is why you got the answer you did from Redding. Maybe one of the resident gunsmiths on this forum could better explain it. Regards and good luck, Paul....

The Redding people have always been first rate with me. I think this is a good argument against nonstandard chamberings.

I'm not going to split hairs here and shaving a few thousanths off the shell holder ain't going to work, i'm talking roughly 3/16" from touching the shoulder of the case. This die wouldn't bump the shoulder on either cartridge without taking a generous amount of material from the base of the die.
Here's one for you to ponder, am I to believe that a .308 couldn't be loaded on a .243 bushing die with the proper bushing?
Redding recommends adjusting the die to touch the shell holder, while RCBS says to place a nickle between the die and shell holder thus providing some(.074") adjustment flexibility.
RCBS obviously realized that there are minor differences in chamber length and compensated for it. Just for the record, most of my dies are RCBS, going back to 1960 and i've had zero problems with them.
Back in the early sixties I bought my first 22/250, there was no loading data available then not to mention datum lines but we got by just fine necking 250/3000 brass down to .22 caliber on RCBS dies.

Stepchild

quote:

I should mention the die in question is marked 22/250AI which uses the same parent case as the .250AI, the only difference being the neck diameter(this is a bushing die and has the proper bushing for 25 cal)

Is this die an type S full length die or a neck die? What sort of die are you talking about?
Something has to be way off if you have to cut the die bottom 3/16".

This is an S die,FL and i'm not sure about how much needs to be removed, that's my Gunsmiths job. He knew exactly what needed to be done fifteen seconds into our conversation.

Stepchild

How much confidence do you have in your gunsmith?

100% This is my last post on this thread.

Stepchild

[quote]now use $20 lee die and runout is < .001..$20 verse $100 die with problems.

Hivel, you must be MISTAKEN! All of the good web "experts" know Lee tools are just "junk"!