how difficult would it be to drill a air vent hole in a redding full length die? I own about 11 different die sets and its the only one that dents shoulders. it also is my only redding die set and it may be my last as I also dont care for the seater die.
Use less lube; sizing dies are usually quite hard so you would need a carbide drill. For the price of one of those, you can buy another set of dies with relief hole.
Posts: 17294 | Location: USA | Registered: 02 August 2009
What kind and how much lube are you using? Over doing the lube will cause dents. I prefer to spray lube in a gallon bag. Also make sure your die is clean. A grain of corn cob media will cause dents after it smears out in the die.
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Posts: 1254 | Location: Norfolk, Va | Registered: 27 December 2003
Originally posted by Luckyducker: I have several sets of Redding full length die sets and don't have dents in the cases. Apperantly you are using too much lube.
And you may be driving the shoulder farther back than it should be.Try Bardahl or a dry lube and reduce the case travel by .010" . See if that works and will chamber. Than relax and have a tall one***or two. roger
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Posts: 10226 | Location: Temple City CA | Registered: 29 April 2003
I use Hornady lube in a tub, like a wax and rub is on with my fingers. I have several tubes of the RCBS lube that is like STP, and I never use them; too easy to get too much on.
Posts: 17294 | Location: USA | Registered: 02 August 2009
Roll your cases across a lube pad but dip the necks and shoulders in a small tub of graphite powder. Make sure you shake off the excess powder against the side of the tub before re-sizing.
Posts: 1433 | Location: Australia | Registered: 21 March 2008
If there is no vent hole in the die, you are going to dent the shoulder no matter what you do. Send the piece of crap back to Redding and tell them to make it right. (And I hope they do, but my experience with them is they are going to want to charge you for what is obviously their fault...)
Posts: 4748 | Location: TX | Registered: 01 April 2005
In spite of what everyone is trying to say (that you're too dumb to properly lube a case), it ain't necessarily so. I have one set of dies in 505 Gibbs that dents the shoulder each and every time regardless of what lube method or brand of brass is used.
I even had the die maker send me their super special wax that would eliminate the problem. Which it didn't.
I think the configuration of the die is such that air is being trapped in the annulus between the die body and case early in the stroke. Lube of any kind only improves the seal. I've thought of a drill or EDM to poke a little hole but as has been said, drilling a die body is a chore and the setup cost for EDM is too steep to be practical. So for now I'm living with the dents. They seem to be a cosmetic issue with little if any effect on the ammo.
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Posts: 11142 | Location: Texas, USA | Registered: 22 September 2003
i've had the complaint about redding before. if you take the die to a gunsmith or machine shop = they will have a carbide bit and drill it for you. works much better with the vent hole
Read a recent write-up on 6mmbr.com about using Imperial sizing lube. The gist was to use it on the body of the case ONLY, not the neck or shoulder and only use a small amount. Tried it on some 22-250 cases using Redding dies. Worked great.
If you look at the interference of the neck and body of a case in the die as they begin sizing you would expect any long neck case to dent in a die without a vent. Yet the worst denting case/die combination for me was a short necked case in a vented die. It was a 7MM-08 FL by RCBS. It would only work if I left the Imperial lube film off of the shoulder and neck. (By comparison I have sized thousands of .243 and .308 cases with no denting.) A close runner up for denting is forming 40-65 WCF cases from 45-70 brass. The only thing that worked with this round was a lot of patience. I have 6 FL dies for the 40-65 made by different manufacturers (Redding, Lyman, RCBS) They will all dent if I try to form more than .100 neck length at a time. The 40-65 cases only dent when forming. When FL sized after being fired they never come close to denting.
In theory I think all bottle neck dies need the vent hole. In practice I have little problem with denting and when I do it does not seem to be strictly related to vented dies. I always clean out the vent hole in a newly acquired set of dies. A straightened chisel edge staple seems to clear the crud (abrasive and oil from the final die polish) the best. Then some light rust preventative like Barricade and compressed air is used to get the vent clear. Cover the top of the die and apply compressed air to the interior too.
The best "working" lube I have ever used is Militec-1. I think it is a common wheel bearing or chassis lube repackaged. In some heavy forming applications, once I pull the press handle back over center, heavily tapered cases will actually case back out of the die a short distance. It requires a little more clean up and is not needed for everyday use. I normally use Imperial.
Some of you may wonder why anyone would have so many die sets for the same caliber. I have found it educational to compare dies from different manufacturers and from even the same manufacturer decades a part. Some of your favorites may not be as good as you think and some of the others are not as bad as you think.
Posts: 13978 | Location: http://www.tarawaontheweb.org/tarawa2.jpg | Registered: 03 December 2008
Interesting thread. I have about 10 Redding sets and about the same number in RCBS. I have a lot of denting issues with the Redding and none with the RCBS. The denting is especially bad on the smaller cases, like 17 Rem and 204 R.
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Posts: 2649 | Location: Minnesota | Registered: 08 December 2006
I would agree that denting is more of a problem in some of the smaller rounds. They have wimpy rims and if you do not get enough lube on them your great big massive press pulls a little horse shoe off the bottom the case and you get to say "oh crud"..... The wimpy rims cause you to over lube the brass...
Posts: 13978 | Location: http://www.tarawaontheweb.org/tarawa2.jpg | Registered: 03 December 2008
And you may be driving the shoulder farther back than it should be.Try Bardahl or a dry lube and reduce the case travel by .010" . See if that works and will chamber. Than relax and have a tall one***or two. 
roger
