6-6.5x47 Lapua FL sizing issue!

[JustinP]

Guys

Have recently chambered a rifle in 6-6.5x47L, with a .272' no turn neck for use with Lapua brass

I've just set up a Forster FLS die to neck the brass down from 6.5mm to 6mm in one pass. On the face of it, this seems a good way to go. Trouble is, I've run one case through and note that the die does not size the neck all the way down to the neck/shoulder junction. Thus, I'm left with the base of the neck still at around 6.5mm and therefore a 'false shoulder'. I ran the case into the rifle chamber the bolt closed but it was pretty stiff.

Don't think a neck die will help either, given I know of no neck die,bushing or otherwise) that will size the entire neck portion. My die is set up properly and cannot be screwed down any further - it is already in hard contact with the shellholder when the ram is raised to its highest point.

Anyone else had this problem and come up with a solution that doesn't involve neck turning down to the shoulder junction??

 

[bulletbill]

I size with Foster benchrest neck size die and don't seem to have this issue. At least no that large of an issue. I have a small, and I mean small portion just at the neck to shoulder junction that doesn't go all the way down to .268 but it definately isn't 6.5mm either. After my first firing everything is uniform.

I just ran downstairs to measure, virgin brass run once through the neck die yeilds .268,outside dimensions) on the neck, and a slight bump of .272 at the neck to shoulder. A once fired case yeilds .272 the entire neck prior to sizing.

If the die is adjusted correctly, I'd say the die itself would be suspect. But that's just my 2 cents.

 

[vlcakc]

I have a Savage PTA with a PacNor 6X47 L barrel. I originally set the headspace with a PTG go gage. The Forster FL sizing die fit the fired cases very well, except it was a bit too long to bump the shoulders back enough to permit easy chambering. I didn't have a lathe at the time so could not properly shorten the die to fit. I then reset the headspace with a piece of Scotch tape on the end of the PTG gage and the Forster die now sizes fired brass just fine. The bolt will not close on a PTG no-go gage, so headspace is still within tolerance. A better solution, and one that would work on a rifle that the headspace cannot be easily reset, would be to shorten the die about 0.005'. On virgin brass there will still probably be a very short portion of the neck next to the shoulder that appears to be a bit oversized, but should still should chamber and fireform ok. It's also very possible that your FL die will work ok with your chamber and not have the same problem as I. You'll have to shoot it to find out. I now have a lathe with carbide tooling, and will shorten my die when reinstalling the 6X47 L barrel.,The rifle is now wearing a .22X47 L barrel.) Good shooting, Vic

 

[JustinP]

I've actually just now reduced the shellholder in height by 30thou,no lathe unfortunately, just a grinder and hand tools...) and I seem to have solved my problem...

 

[82boy]

I would say the problem is in your shell holder. I have the same set up as you and have never ran into this problem. I have ran into this problem with Reeding dies, and when i called then they told me to take the die, and place it on a piece of 600 grit sandpaper that is on a flat surface, and then take the bottom of the die, and do circle 8's on the paper, then work down to 1000 grit paper. This is what I did and the die works great.

 

[RBD]

You don't have a problem, Justin-

I worked hard to set up my die to leave a false shoulder for fire forming.

If you can close the bolt, camming down, you force the case head to the face of the bolt and insure concentricity.

Do remember to decrease your load for fire forming though.

RBD

 

[vlcakc]

RBD has a good point, one that I should have mentioned in my earlier post. DON'T size virgin brass too much. This is very important to properly fireform new brass. Don't try to eliminate all the oversized portion of the neck next to the shoulder. Size just enough to give a good crush fit when closing the bolt. Vic

 

[Rodbolt]

JustinP,

In the interest of safety I strongly advise you to take your brass to someone that fully understands reloading and have them measure the brass you have resized with the .030 cutdown shellholder for headspace. I'd guess that you at least bumped the shoulders on your brass back enough to insure that your Lapua cases will never be accurate cases and at worst you could have case failure due to excessive headspace. Be careful!

 

[JustinP]

I've just checked the headspace on the two test cases and you're right, it is too much. Back to the drawing board.

Still need to figure a way to slightly reduce the unsized portion of the neck...