.260 Ackley Improved 40 Degree Reloading Die Quandry...

[Matt in Virginia]

Gentlemen,
I have a slight problem. I'm building 6.5/08 Akley Improved 40 degree shoulder off of a JGS #2022 Reamer recommended by Terry Cross. I have plenty of Lapua Brass on hand, however, when I started this project I was planning to run a straight .260 Remington and hence picked up a set of Redding Competition Dies. The micrometer sliding chamber seater, micrometer sliding chamber bushing neck die, and a body bump die. After reading the following article multiple times... ( http://www.accurateshooter.com/guns-of-week/gunweek046/ )

In the article Terry discusses having custom dies made to the reamer print to avoid over or under sizing with the body bump. He went with a standard Redding set Custom Made to the reamer and even to his brasses specific neck tension. Which will be different as he is/was running R-P Brass and I have a 1000 Lapuas ready for this project. I called Redding and spoke with a young man in technical help who informed me that THEY NO LONGER MAKE CUSTOM DIES. While the "possibility" will be revisited in January this is not helping this project.

My question: Do I return the dies to Sinclair(Brownells) OR is it possible to have custom sliding chamber sleeves made for the Redding Comp .260s I have on hand? The body bump will likely be the issue, however, I'd also like to get the seater and type S neck sizer modified. Who out there is making custom dies off of your reamer print?

This all assumes that the factory Redding .260 AI dies will not be a tailored fit. The reamer print has been e-mailed to Redding to run against their production .260 AI die measurements. Maybe I'll get lucky there...

That said I would GREATLY appreciate any input from the membership. I'd like to do this properly... Thank you ahead of time.

Regards, Matt Garrett
Chesapeake, Virginia
757-581-6270

 

[wwbrown]

I have custom dies made by Mark Spence (spencertool@sbcglobal.net) his charge is under $150 and they are made to your print or fired brass.

Hope this helps.

 

[Preacher]

Neil Jones.....

 

[jonbearman]

Harrels!

 

[ab_bentley]

Hornady.

Adam

 

[jcampbellsmith]

Matt

One point to consider. That's an old article. I don't believe Terry Cross takes this approach any more. I've owned 260 Rems since '99 and I see no benefit in moving away from the standard cartridge.

Regards

JCS

 

[savagedasher]

Five years ago I built several 260 AI I had Dave Kiff send Forester a chamber die the made my Dies off of it. Check wit Forester and the can tell you if the dies would be the same. The 260 AI will do everything that 6.5 284 with 10+ grains less powder. Barrel life will more then double.
MRP was the best powder with 140 gr Bullets Larry

 

[Matt in Virginia]

Gentlemen,
Thank you for the suggestions... I've noted them.

JCS,
It is an old article, however, I did run the print past Terry just to make sure it was THE reamer. His response, and I quote, was as follows:

That is the reamer I used.
Cut with confidence. Great chamber.

Best,
Terry

I don't know if that goes far enough to say he recommends the whole AI deal. Which is becoming more of a headache than I anticipated. I honestly wonder if sending the brass and dies back to Sinclair(Brownells) and simply switching out to 6.5x47 Lapua. Granted the .260 AI will do things the 6.5x47 will not, however, I don't know if the extra performance is worth the trouble...

I have one AI chambering, a .223 Rem AI 40 degree, which I love. Hence I'm not averse to the process, however, this project is getting complicated and more expensive than I expected...

Thoughts?

Regards, Matt.

 

[Rtheurer]

I just cant figure out why...if your going to get a reamer MADE by PTG or JGS or who ever that you would not match the reamer to the Cheap available Off the shelf FL die like a redding FL type S bushing die.

Work with your reamer maker and keep you Neck and Freebore, then have the body of the Finish reamer match the off the shelf Die instead of paying some one hundreds of dollars for a one off custom die. Especially with a case like the 260 or 260 AI. If you match the reamer to the die, no need to spend all that money on something that is not needed.
Obscure cartridges.. I get it. Took me several headaches like the OP to figure this out.

RussT

 

[Brians356]

I see no reason why you cannot have all three dies modified by any gunsmith (or general machinist) using your reamer.

For the neck and seater dies, it's just the sliding carrier - no special worries. The body die will be trickier, but by using Redding Competition Shell Holders, you can compensate for any slight headspace mismatch. The surface polishing is critical, so not sure how that would be handled - too bad Redding cannot do the body die for you. One of the specialists like Harrell's or Jones which have been suggested a good bet.