OK,..so I have tried the suggestions of many members here of smoking or marking a shoulder to be able to tell when the die has just made contact with it. I am unsure as to whether I should take the marker and color the whole case shoulder from neck to body,..or just at the body/shoulder intersection?

How much contact will I "SEE" on the marker/smoke? where will it appear,..or should I say,..where should it be for me to be only bumping the shoulder by .001-.002"?

Thanks.

When I was doing it this way I used a magic marker and colored one side of the case from approx. half way down the neck to just past the shoulder. With this method it is difficult to tell when .001-.002 has been achieved. If I was loading hunting ammo I used the size and try method. I now use the Stoney Point tool that clamps onto a dial caliper. You simply measure a fired case, size and measure again then adjust accordingly. It's well worth it, in my opinion.

Good Shooting,
Ben H

If you can see it, you are there. Chances are, you will only touch part of the shoulder, and still move it enough to chamber freely. Play with it a little, and it will become obvious. HTH, Dutch.

Lube the case, smoke the neck-shoulder junction and about half of the shoulder with a match or candle flame, (match is less greasy!!) then run it into the die. You'll see exactly how much of the case is being touched by the die. You'll have to adjust the die about 1/4 turn, or less, and continue to "cut & try" until you get the die set just right. Re-smoke the case as necessary during this process. This is a trial and error method, but the contact between die and case is very visible!

[ 09-15-2003, 18:22: Message edited by: eldeguello ]

Get a Stoney Point kit and it'll cover most popular calibers. Measure your cases as per the instructions with a caliper and then you know where you started from, where you are going and when to quit. Peace of mind is worth the 25 or so bucks its going to cost you and if you get a few more loadings from your brass because you are only working it the barest minimum necessary then its paid for itself, IMHO.

Big ditto - just get the Stoney Point case length gauge and be done with it.

Using the gauge you measure the length of the fired case from base to the datum point on the shoulder. Then set your sizing die out a turn or two from touching the shellholder. Then size, measure the case, turn the die down 1/8 or 1/16 turn - repeat until you have set the shoulder back about .001 - .002". Then lock the die down and you are good to go from then on, assuming of course that you only use that one sizing die for cases to be fired in one rifle. Even if you switch rifles you can easily and quickly re-adjust the sizing die.

I tried the smoked case routine and never felt really confident with the die settings. With the Stoney point case length gauge I know down to the thousandth of an inch how much my cases are being sized.

I generally neck size even hunting ammo, segregated for each rifle. When the fired, empty brass starts to show some resistance entering the chamber, it is time for full length sizing. I just set the die away from the shell holder, size a case, and try it in the chamber again. Set the die down a little and try again, etc. When the case just enters the chamber freely, it is just right. Brass lasts a long time this way, if loads are not too hot. Brass fired this much is relegated to practice ammo, though.

When using the same ammo in more than one rifle, I full length resize, but only enough so that the brass will freely enter the chamber of all rifles to be used with that ammo.

It seems to me that the best gauge is the rifle's chamber.

I agree with KLN in that the best gauge is your chamber. In my bolt rifles l take out the firing mechanism in the bolt and continue to size the case until there is a slight resistance to chambering the round. This is a procedure that l have used based on information from another varmint shooting website and it works. There is minimal working of the brass and it is as close to a custom fit as possible to whichever rifle you are loading for. The only problem is that you will need to do this for each rifle as there is no universal fit even with two rifles of the same make and caliber.

Good luck.

Thanks for the tips gentlemen. I will be experimenting with them quite soon.

GET THE STONEY POINT!! If you do reloading in any amount you will love it. ALSO--after you have those dies set NEVER TOUCH THE LOCK RING AGAIN--you can do this if you get a "shim kit" from Sinclair. I think they are about $9.00 and they have shims from .002"->.008" and you just put them under your sizing die to adjust headspace. These come in really handy if I'm loading for a friend and don't want to disturb "my setting". Like mentioned above--use the stoney point to measure a once fired case and then set the sizing die quickly and accordingly.