Hello,

I am attempting to figure out what exactly is going wrong when trying to size my .220 Swift brass w/ a Redding Body Die.

Background:

Brass is Winchester, fully prepped, i.e. trimmed, chamferred, deburred, primer pockets uniformed, flash holes deburred, neck turned w/ K&M tool, sorted by weight to w/i < 1% variance. Loaded approx. seven times on Redding Model 25 turret press, w/ Redding shell holder, Competition Neck Sizing die w/ TiNi bushings, Competition Bullet Seater die. Normal TIR is ~0.001" or less by Sinclair concentricity/runout tool.

Brass has gotten to where it chambers w/ some difficulty even after neck sizing and completed round assembly. So I proceeded to attempt to bump the shoulder back w/ the Redding Body die, checking headspace before and after w/ a RCBS Precision Mic gauge. According to this tool, the brass is coming out 0.005" longer at the shoulder than it went in!! I have attempted to size about 10 cases so far, w/ similar results. The cases are lubed before sizing w/ Imperial Sizing die wax, for consistent results.

From what I can see of the marks on the case, it appears that the body die is not even touching the shoulder of the case; rather it is squeezing the case body walls, starting from the body/shoulder junction on down. Yes, the die is screwed all the way into the press and the ram is bottoming out on the base of the die, so that is not the problem.

I have checked around for information, and about the only one that sounds like it might work at this point is having 10-20 thou taken off the bottom of the body die to allow the case to fully enter the die and contact the shoulder region of the die. The difficulty would be finding someone w/ that level of machining expertise in this area willing to do the work, w/o guaranteed results.

In any event, this is kind of a time critical problem, as it leaves me w/o a functional way to size brass and varmint season is a-starting

TIA,

Monte

The problem with a die body that is too deep for your gun's chamber is one that has come up on this forum before, and is not that uncommon.

Rather than trying to face off a few thousandths from your die bottom, try grinding a similar amount from your shell holder head. The shell holder is much softer, therefore easier to reduce (not to mention much cheaper to replace if you screw up). The result will be the same as taking some off of the die.

[This message has been edited by Stonecreek (edited 03-27-2002).]

Do you think your case-getting-longer problem would go away if you lubricated the neck expander?

H. C.

Short reply:

Non-issue, as I don't have an expander ball. Check the equipment list above.

Longer reply:

Not sure if you understand exactly what a 'body' die is... It is simply a die cut to bump the shoulder back and do a f/l resize on the case _body_. It is relieved so it doesn't even touch the neck. Doesn't have a decapping rod, doesn't have an expander ball. For that matter, Redding Competition Neck Sizers don't have an expander ball either. They aren't meant to be used on something that beats up the brass so that it comes out of the chamber not round. If I want to iron out dents in case mouths (i.e. new brass) I run it thru an expander mandrel, right before neck turning, and yes, the expander mandrel is lubed (would be a bitch to get the cases on and off of it otherwise).

Thanks anyway,

Monte

Monte, I've been working up loads for a .243 I acquired a few months ago and had something similar happen 2-3 weeks ago. I had been just necksizing using a Lee Collett Die, but after 3-4 loadings the brass got hard to chamber, which is normal.

I broke out the Lee FL die, adjusted it per Lee's instructions and couldn't get it to bump the shoulder one smidge. Just as in your case, the shellholder and die were making hard contact, and I saw nothing else to do other than shave either the die or the shellholder. Then I stopped and re-read the advice some guys had posted for me here and on the GGVG board: They kept saying "Regardless of the fact you're already making full contact, screw the die in some more." I didn't see how that would help, but in desperation I tried it. I screwed the die in another 1/4 to 1/2 turn, lubed the brass up with Imperial and really leaned into the handle. Presto, for no explainable reason, I was now able to bump the shoulders back maybe 3 thou or so.

Later, I got to looking at the bottom of the Lee FL die as well as the shellholder, and I noticed that both are chamfered a bit. So I'm thinking that even though they were making contact, screwing the die down a little more allowed the shellholder to actually jam up into the die body a little. That's just theory; all I know is that screwing the die down even more and leaning into the handle allowed me to bump the shoulder enough so that my brass now chambers easily.

Give it a try, who knows. If it doesn't work, then you're right that grinding down the shellholder is the way to go. Just don't forget and use that shellholder with brass for any other gun or you could cause a serious headspace problem.

Thanks for the thought. I've already tried screwing in the die, until it is about ready to come thru the press!! No dice. I contacted Redding, and they said to send them the die and 5 fired rounds and they would make it work right. I have some cases that have been fired 7 times in this gun, so they should be about fireformed by now Away they go!!

Thanks,

Monte