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Honed dies

Hi
I'm in the process of order a custom die
My 6.5mm has a loaded OD of 0.291
I'm thinking of setting the die neck diameter to .289 and then expander ball diameter to .263
Would this be optimal ?
 
I'm thinking of setting the die neck diameter to .289 and then expander ball diameter to .263
Do you anneal? Will you "ever" neck turn?

I hone my own die necks and I prefer 0.003" under the loaded neck OD. I also want more than 0.001" neck tension. You can always use a separate expander step. Gives you more flexibility and will probably be straighter case necks.
 
Do you anneal? Will you "ever" neck turn?

I hone my own die necks and I prefer 0.003" under the loaded neck OD. I also want more than 0.001" neck tension. You can always use a separate expander step. Gives you more flexibility and will probably be straighter case necks.
I do anneal don't neck turn though
 
If a Forster die, it will be honed stock at .285.
if you are at .291 no turn/ .0135 necks. With spring back that would be .005 neck tension.Neck will probably come back to .286.
You can run a stock Forster and simply by turning the necks, "alot to be gained in my opinion". You can decrease your neck tension without any expander involved. Think about it.... simply by turning necks .001 you decrease tension on this die by .002. Yes...no expander period.
 
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If a Forster die, it will be honed stock at .285.
if you are at .291 no turn/ .0135 necks. With spring back that would be .005 neck tension.Neck will probably come back to .286.
You can run a stock Forster and simply by turning the necks, "alot to be gained in my opinion". You can decrease your neck tension without any expander involved. Think about it.... simply by turning necks .001 you decrease tension on this die by .002. Yes...no expander period.
So I'm in South Africa so no forster honed dies here
Yet I'm getting a custom made die to my chamber ( saami chamber)
So i can choose any neck diameter that would be appropriate
 
Your die neck diameter would be based on your neck wall thickness. The bullet diameter isnt going to change.
that would be up to you then. Regards...I was just merely stating that if you have the ability to neck turn, you dont have to worry about custom honing, unless you really feel the need to keep your neck wall to chamber clearance that tight. There have been several well known shooter state that larger clearances dont hurt. "Thin to win".
 
Your die neck diameter would be based on your neck wall thickness. The bullet diameter isnt going to change.
that would be up to you then. Regards...I was just merely stating that if you have the ability to neck turn, you dont have to worry about custom honing, unless you really feel the need to keep your neck wall to chamber clearance that tight. There have been several well known shooter state that larger clearances dont hurt. "Thin to win".
Definitely agree with the neck turning
I think I'll start once I get a new non factory barrel
Thanks for the advice mate
 
Definitely agree with the neck turning
I think I'll start once I get a new non factory barrel
Thanks for the advice mate
I see neck turning different than most. I see it for consistency in the bullet release. Regardless of a tight neck chamber. I have seen a bunch of factory rifles shoot better from neck turning where the turning only further increased the sloppy chamber. I see it more as bullet release...and after putting mics on brass more than I would like to say, the brass almost always as a heavy side/seam. They are no where near even in thickness. Not even Lapua. Good luck.
 
Just a suggestion, but consider using a good bushing die to sort of feel out your process goals and to settle on where you want to size. That at least reduces the amount of unknowns running all at the same time.

As long as you use lubricant to size with a steel bushing, you should land very close when you order your honed steel die, with the exception being the neck-shoulder junction on the bushing work is a different product from a one piece FL die. Verify the ID of the bushing die you are happy with, some are not as marked. YMMV
 
Hi
I'm in the process of order a custom die
My 6.5mm has a loaded OD of 0.291
I'm thinking of setting the die neck diameter to .289 and then expander ball diameter to .263
Would this be optimal ?
It's not possible to say before hand what's optimal as there are too many variables.
I would highly suggest a bushing die to give you the flexibility of tuning by changing neck tension. Later on, you could move to a fixed neck diameter die if you chose to.
Good shootin' -Al
 
I just use FL bushing dies, then buy or make bushings to the diameter of your brass lot if ya don't neck turn. Then use a mandrel die with the correct dia to expand the neck to the neck tension you desire. With a regular honed FL die you can not control variables...as neck hardness increases with every firing and spring back of the brass will soon allow you to pull bullets with your fingers,... anneal or use a smaller bushing before necks split. I also use different bushings for different brands or military LC brass in 308. IMO the FL bushing die is the way to go for flexibility and variables. I used to shoot Lapua 308 brass up to 40 times without annealing and no neck splits in a bolt gun, with just a Redding bushing die and a couple of bushings...then use the Redding body die to slightly move the shoulder back a thousandths or two for another 4 firings until there begins to be a resistance when closing the bolt. Now I just use FL bushing dies, mostly Wilson brand and sometimes their arbor press dies, but these days can't shoot good enough to tell the difference and TIR is good with both.
 

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