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Best dies 243

Here are a couple of tricks that readers can use to make the best of a one piece FL die and standard seater. Decap with a punch or decapping die. Remove the decapping stem from your FL die. Lube the case including the inside of the neck (the latter the same as the case body). Size the case paying close attention to bump. Use a expander mandrel and die to expand lubed case necks, doing that operation slowly and paying strict attention to how the effort required builds as the mandrel is inserted in the neck. With a little experience you will be able to stop, the case when the effort rises to the point where the case would be made more crooked, reverse the ram a bit and go again, doing this several times until the neck is fully expanded. By limiting the axial force on the case during expanding, you will stay below the yield strength of the shoulder and necks will stay straighter in relation to cases' bodies. Next, trim to make case mouths square, chamfer, and then, after priming and charging bullets seat in two steps, going half way and then rotating the round a half turn before finishing. If your seater is a loose fit on your sized brass at the base of the die, you can use scotch or masking tape inside the die, applied evenly just above the opening to tighten the fit, and improve alignment. One last thing that I forgot to mention is to clean the lube out of the inside of the case necks after expanding, and of course off of the outside of the cases after sizing. The key to straight ammo is largely in the sizing, and alternative approach to that, for unturned case necks, that has given a number of shooters superior concentricity, particularly when paired with unturned necks, is to use a two step sizing procedure, sizing the neck first with a Lee Collet Die, and then the body with a body die, paying the same close attention to bump as you would when setting a FL die. I have had a lot of positive reports from shooters that have gone to this procedure.
 
I'm looking to upgrade to the best dies I can get. Want to neck size and get that dang bullet in straight. 243 standard chamber. Using a Rockchucker
Well folks much thanx for all the input. So I took the plunge and bought a Whidden F/L bushing die. Looking to buy the Wilson seater die also. Think I'll start with new Lapua brass.
 
Well folks much thanx for all the input. So I took the plunge and bought a Whidden F/L bushing die. Looking to buy the Wilson seater die also. Think I'll start with new Lapua brass.
So I got the Whidden F/L bushing die yesterday. A bit underwhelmed initially. Exterior threads lots of small chips. Looks like worn cutting die. Notice deprimer pin off center. Aluminium lock nut not well finished. (Burrs). Took it apart. Wow, not cleaned. (Metal shaving). Yes, all thread that holds expander bent. And the big one. The expander ball has plier dents in it. The inside of the die is very well polished and the bushing looks good. Nothing I can't live with. Not going to use expander anyway and straightened all thread. Haven't used it yet. If it works it works but it should at least come Cleaned.
 
I would suggest a call to Whiddens. I own many of their die sets and have never received anything like that.

So I got the Whidden F/L bushing die yesterday. A bit underwhelmed initially. Exterior threads lots of small chips. Looks like worn cutting die. Notice deprimer pin off center. Aluminium lock nut not well finished. (Burrs). Took it apart. Wow, not cleaned. (Metal shaving). Yes, all thread that holds expander bent. And the big one. The expander ball has plier dents in it. The inside of the die is very well polished and the bushing looks good. Nothing I can't live with. Not going to use expander anyway and straightened all thread. Haven't used it yet. If it works it works but it should at least come Cleaned.
 
I would suggest a call to Whiddens. I own many of their die sets and have never received anything like that.
Yeh I guess I'll call. But shouldn't have to. Anyway while I've got you on the line. I've never used bushing dies. I got a .268 bushing. They make them .263 - .268 and even .268 seems alittle tight to me.
 
Yeh I guess I'll call. But shouldn't have to. Anyway while I've got you on the line. I've never used bushing dies. I got a .268 bushing. They make them .263 - .268 and even .268 seems alittle tight to me.

best thing to do is mic the neck on a loaded round if you have one handy. Subtract 1 to 2 thou from that measurement and you have the neck bushing diameter needed to get started. Some seem to like more neck tension and some less so its best to buy a range of bushings and do some testing to see what your setup prefers.
 
best thing to do is mic the neck on a loaded round if you have one handy. Subtract 1 to 2 thou from that measurement and you have the neck bushing diameter needed to get started. Some seem to like more neck tension and some less so its best to buy a range of bushings and do some testing to see what your setup prefers.
And measuring -.002 is what Whidden recommends. That seems odd to me. It's like putting the cart before the horse. First let's remember .268 is the biggest bushing Whidden makes. I do have some loaded rounds available but for which die? Have some old factory ammo its .271, from my old Rcbs f/l its .2715. If I use .2715 minus .002 I would need a .2695 bushing. Which they don't make. I going to run some through the .268 bushing and seat a bullet now I'll get back soon. It was easier on my brain when I just jammed the through my old die but this forum got me on that whole neck tension thing. It's all your fault! Mike
 
And measuring -.002 is what Whidden recommends. That seems odd to me. It's like putting the cart before the horse. First let's remember .268 is the biggest bushing Whidden makes. I do have some loaded rounds available but for which die? Have some old factory ammo its .271, from my old Rcbs f/l its .2715. If I use .2715 minus .002 I would need a .2695 bushing. Which they don't make. I going to run some through the .268 bushing and seat a bullet now I'll get back soon. It was easier on my brain when I just jammed the through my old die but this forum got me on that whole neck tension thing. It's all your fault! Mike
once you get some experience with the bushing die you will appreciate what it has to offer over the standard FL die.
 
And measuring -.002 is what Whidden recommends. That seems odd to me. It's like putting the cart before the horse. First let's remember .268 is the biggest bushing Whidden makes. I do have some loaded rounds available but for which die? Have some old factory ammo its .271, from my old Rcbs f/l its .2715. If I use .2715 minus .002 I would need a .2695 bushing. Which they don't make. I going to run some through the .268 bushing and seat a bullet now I'll get back soon. It was easier on my brain when I just jammed the through my old die but this forum got me on that whole neck tension thing. It's all your fault! Mike
Ok so here's what I got with the .268 bushing. Old once fired winchester brass. Without the expander. .2685 w/o bullet, .2720 with bullet. Thoughts?
 
Redding_1.jpg
Redding type S fl bushing die. Using Win or Rem brass.
 
Make the change to arbor and wilson dies - my press only bumps, FL,Forms and does pistol anymore.
Works for me
 
Redding_1.jpg
Redding type S fl bushing die. Using Win or Rem brass.
Hey 243winxb, ok so I just got Whidden f/l bushing die w/.268 bushing. I see on your redding you have .270, .269 and .268. Whidden makes bushing from .263-.268. .268 being the biggest, which seems alittle tight to me. And .263 crazy tight. After sizing w/o expander I got .2685. My neck wall thickness is .015 times 2=.03. So the math says .2685 minus .03=.2385. Now take .243 minus .2385 = .0045. And I guess I'll call that neck tension. So I here people talking about .002 neck tension. Which would not be achievable with this bushing and again .263 seems crazy tight. Thanx mike
 
Rather than the math, seat a bullet and measure the neck with the bullet in place, over the location of the bullets largest diameter. Then, if you want .002 neck tension, subtract that from your measurement. For unturned necks, you may want to go a little smaller so that the expander does about .001 expansion. Whidden makes expanders in different sizes that fit their dies and Redding's. Bushings from Wilson, Redding, Whidden, and RCBS all interchange. This is not rocket science. These sorts of measurements should be done with a micrometer that reads to .0001, not a caliper. IMO ever reloader should have a 1" micrometer that reads to .0001.
 
What BoydAllen said. Brass necks sized with a bushing spring back outward a tiny bit, so with unturned necks, you may want to go the extra .001" on the bushing like Boyd said. Slight drag from an expander is OK. A .263" bushing would be for a turned neck to fit a custom tight neck chamber. I load for 2 factory Remington chambers, using my bushings above.
 
What BoydAllen said. Brass necks sized with a bushing spring back outward a tiny bit, so with unturned necks, you may want to go the extra .001" on the bushing like Boyd said. Slight drag from an expander is OK. A .263" bushing would be for a turned neck to fit a custom tight neck chamber. I load for 2 factory Remington chambers, using my bushings above.
Got it. By the way I got my Wilon micro adjust seat die yesterday. Nice. Think I'll sleep with it under my pillow tonight. Thanx much. Mike
 

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