This will sound dumb, I have been reloading ammunition for over 30 years. I thought I was doing things right working up loads etc.. I was reading about the proper way to set up a sizing die and it seems more complicated than the way I do It . How do you adjust the die until it just "bumps" the shoulder back. I usually use the crank it down till it touches the shell holder and then 1/8 th turn more to take up the slack in the linkage, or I use a neck sizer. How do you do it right?
lb404

I don't know how others do it. I use the Redding body dies. The only problem they don't make them for every caliber. I did make one out of a Hornady F/L die for my 222Rem. Mag. All I had done was had the neck portion of the die reamed out where it would'nt touch the neck of a fired case.

Rem. 222

I screw in the sizing die progressively, trying the partially sized case in the rifle chamber in between (ideally, this should be done with firing pin assembly and ejector removed to alleviate foreign tension)and call it good enough when the rifle bolt closes with just a little "feel".

With a combination of a Stoney Point Chamber-All tool and a Forster Coax, you just adjust the die down and measure .001" short of a case fired in the same chamber. In a conventional press you need to insure the die is 90� to the shell holder. You pretty much need the Redding Competition shell holders to get this AND the perfect right angle or else you introduce runout, unless you're lucky. Use of a flat washer to get the perfect alignment is possible also, once you get the die lock nut adjusted perfectly to the correct shoulder setback. You just insert the washer, put pressure on the die and lock nut, cinch it down, and you're on your way.

I also use a flat washer to be sure the die is square with the ram, but be sure to use a machined washer, like an automotive head bolt washer to be sure it's flat. A shellholder on top of the other one is ok, too. I don't know if it makes a lot of difference, just seems like the proper way.

I also use the co-ax press and stoney point headspace gauge to bump the shoulder just slightly. And I also think you should use the redding competition shellholders (silly name, but they are a columbi egg). The only problem with the redding shellholders is that if you reload a magnum calibre they are probably not enough, you need a shim between the die and the shellholder to take up most of the "slack". The stoney point gauge come with instructions, I recommend you use it with a digital calipre, its easier.

Tron