I should have known better but I have bought some new Redding dies based on what some on the net have posted. I even have a couple of "S" bushing dies.

I have been struggling with FL sizing some 264 WM brass in a new Redding FL die. The press can hardly force the case into the die. I checked the dimensions of the fired case to the chamber and cartridge drawings and the Winchester M 70 barrel, which is quite new, seems within specs. So are the dimensions that the FL die produces on a sized case.

I was using a lube sample of EP grease that I sell and have now switched to Imperial Sizing Wax. Each lube is about the same. The press chatters so bad and hard that I have to stand up to push the handle down using the Redding dies. The press is an RCBS A-2.

I looked inside of the Redding die and it's rough inside. I ran a sharp feeler tool in there and some roughness can be felt. Then I got a RCBS die out for the 300 WM. The RCBS die looks like it was polished. You can still see tool marks on the RCBS die just like the Redding die but Redding die is not shiney inside. One of the "S" dies is also just as rough.

The RCBS die will size the fired brass so easy that you would think it was a small cartridge in the die. There is a dramatic difference.

On Redding in general. I called Reddings tech for just a simple question. I asked what the nominal size was for a bushing for the 260 Rem. He would not answer me but instead tried to talk over me and started throwing numbers at me to calculate. Now I can do addition, subraction, multiplication, division and some squares and roots in my head. We had to do it in grade school unlike today.

This man was just plain rude and would not come to the point. So I kept up with him. To be frank I can afford what I want at least in terms of dies. This stuff is cheap compared to a lot of things.

So sum this up I am going to call RCBS Monday and see what they can do for me on fitted dies. Meanwhile I am going to polish that Redding die. There is no way that I am going to call Redding again and put up with that abuse. And I just asked one simple question that never got answered.

Savage99, I have two sets of Redding dies (7.65 x 53mm & 7.5 x 55mm) and both are finished as well as my RCBS and [older] Lyman dies. However, I did call their techie once with respect to dimensions of their 6.5 x 55 Swedish Mauser die since the one I was using (not Redding) sometimes resized the nose of my cast bullet. To make a long story short, he couldn't believe I was using a .267" [cast] bullet in a ~.263" (or .264") bore. I was and still am because that's what the slugged throat & bore measured (and the "as issued" Model 96 still shoots to <2 m.o.a. accuracy with it). In other words, the Redding techie didn't know what he was talking about. If misery loves company, I hope you'll be cheered up by my experience. ...Maven

I just polished the 264 Redding die and it's nice and smooth now. The die sized down the case now without any chatter or shuddering at all. It was the rough finish on the Redding die that was the entire problem.

I cut a slot in a wooden dowel and chucked up the die and polished it with 600 paper. It was easy to do. One could do it by hand if need be.

Smoothest dies I have ever seen are the C&H dies. www.CH4D.com

Any commercially made mass produced item can have flaws. After fixing the flaw in you die How was the concentricity and the end product? I'll bet better than RCBS any day. You could have sent your dies to Redding and they would have given you new ones. I had a set of Redding dies I bought at a gun show that were not right. Not concentric. I sent them back and got a new set. What more can you ask/

Redding would have just replaced the dies for you...

RCBS would have, too!

Gatehouse is correct. Dies are hand-polished at Redding, so it is possible that someone failed to inspect the die before it was packed.

Go figure........not too long ago I exhanged a set of RCBS for Reddings in .375 H&H . The seater plug on the RCBS set was so rough , it would pull the bullets back out if you used a compressed load . The Reddings look to be higher quality than some of the RCBS stuff I have gotten recently .

[ 10-13-2003, 16:27: Message edited by: sdgunslinger ]

i bought the lyman 416 rigby's from midway..

they cam rougher than corncob toilet paper...

lyman is replacing them

jeffe

Redding dies are my favorite mid-priced die. They make a good product. I especially like the ease of adjustments. It is unfortunate their "tech" didn't know squat!

Their tech. does know stuff. The problem is that he tried to talk down to me and get me to do math on the diameters of necks of loaded rounds. There is no problem with that. We must do that to calculate the size of the bushing to order.

Now the nominal size in many calibers is the die that's available in steel and not titanium coated. I was looking at the Graf on online catalog for this data. There was no steel die listed for 6.5 mm. So I called Redding to find out what the nominal size was and I got this testosterone loaded gentleman.

The new "S" die I have is rough inside also. This die is new so they are not polishing them as they should.

Redding would replace them no problem. Rough dies are not the norm for Redding. For you to have gotten another rough Redding die is bad luck indeed, and I'm quite sure Redding would like to have those dies back to look at them and correct their manufacturing problem. I have used many Redding dies over the years and only had one minor problem with one, and it was replaced quickly. As far as talking with their tech dept., they might just not have understood what you were asking. I'm not sure I do. I may be missing something here, but I don't understand why it's important to know the "nominal" size bushing. To me, the only size important to know is the size of the correct bushing for the job at hand,(or best first guess), and of course finding the proper size all depends on the brand of brass, bullets, how much if at all you have neck turned, and what it all adds up to. Even then, if you are shooting a factory chamber, you may have to try several to find the one that gives you the right sizing and neck tension. (due to extra streching and resizing of the neck that happens with a factory chamber, figuring the propper bushing is less predictable) So anyway you have me a little confused, but at any rate I would still just measure a loaded round and go from there. ...ol blue

[ 10-14-2003, 09:58: Message edited by: ol blue ]

Call Redding and ask for Kurt Nelson. I'll just bet he will handle it for you.