My 6.5-06 project arrived complete from the gunsmith with the Redding Comp Neck Die reamed from the 25-06 original die and the bullet seater. As you probably can figure out, my cases are getting a bit long in the shoulder after several firings, and I am a bit confused on what die to use in order to bump the shoulder just a touch.

As background, I am necking down 30-06 cases and then fireforming. I am not looking to get 50 firings from these cases, but also do not want to toss perfectly good cases if I have the right equipment to prolong their use.

My question is: Am I better suited to buy just the body die to bump the shoulder or should I just go ahead and purchase the full length resizing die and just adjust it to bump the shoulder and not the rest of the case?

While I am not shooting 1000 yard mathces (yet), I do want to maximize my efforts in having as accurate a process in this as possible. Any help greatly appreciated. Jim R

At some point you'll probably want both, but I'd start with the FL die if both aren't in the immediate cards.

I haven't personally tried this, but maybe you could get the Redding die that is a FL sizer with a bushing neck sizer (can't remember the name of this die). If you take the bushing out, it would seem to be the equivalent of the body die. Leave the bushing in and you can size the neck and body at once.

Thanks for the reply.

If you think it best to just get the FL die, what purpose does a body die provide? I may be missing something on this body die biz....Jim R

Just missed your post by a minute or two, Mark........Good thought, there. I will read to see if anyone else can enlighten us on that idea. Thanks, Jim R

quote:

Originally posted by Jim R:
My question is: Am I better suited to buy just the body die to bump the shoulder or should I just go ahead and purchase the full length resizing die and just adjust it to bump the shoulder and not the rest of the case?

While I am not shooting 1000 yard mathces (yet), I do want to maximize my efforts in having as accurate a process in this as possible. Any help greatly appreciated. Jim R

I personally try to stay away from die setups, which rely on an expander. Just too much trouble, and too great a chance you might get significant runout introduced. In particular, if you intend to shoot this @ 1000 yds (in the future), this is an important issue to be aware of.

Since you already own a great neck sizer, I'd personally buy the Redding Body Die - if it is available in 6.5-06?? That way, you can avoid the pesky expander.

Alternatively, should the Body Die not be available in this caliber, you can think of buying a Forster FL sizing die, and have it shipped to Forster to have the neck honed to the diameter (or smaller?) that you use for NS bushings. Cost: 10$ plus shipping. That way, that die can be used without the expander. There may even be (conclusive?) evidence that such a setup is likely to produce practically no runout. Drawback: unless you modify multiple dies, with different internal neck diameters, once you have decided on a neck diameter for your die, that is it. That is what makes the bushing dies so flexible - although some people claim they produce more runout than a fixed die.

See this article for the Forster die conversion: 6mmBR.com article

- mike

Good info, and good article! Thanks for taking the time to provide that. Yes, the dies for 6.5-06 are offered by Sinclair and have for a couple of years now. That was not the case when i took delivery of the rifle.

Thanks again! Jim R