best die LOCKING ring

[Uncle Ed]

Ever seen the giant crowbars used to back out 8 to 16 inch naval gun barrel rifled liners up to about 60 feet long?

I have visions of you pounding on the crowbar with a sledge hammer and peening and pounding the barrel liners to death.
Don't worry it gave the civilians at the overhaul depots job security.

 

[jimmymac]

What is it with you two? Do us all a favor and put each other on ignore because any time you two old farts end up in the same place it turns in to a shit show.

 

[Uncle Ed]

What is it with you two? Do us all a favor and put each other on ignore because any time you two old farts end up in the same place it turns in to a shit show.

And with all the experts in this forum on the topic of lock rings none of you told us how you square up your dies before tightening up the lock ring. So again why do the dies and cases float in a Co-Ax press but many reloaders do not square up their dies in a standard press to make sure the die is not tilted.

And if you don't get it, what does Bart B. over active ego, the Navy, M14 rifles and crowbars have to do with reloading.

O-Rings on Dies May Reduce Run-Out
http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/reloading/o-rings-on-dies-may-reduce-run-out/

"Here’s an inexpensive procedure that can help you load straighter ammo, with slightly better measured concentricity (i.e. less run-out) on the case necks and bullets. Simply use a rubber O-Ring on the underside of the die locking ring. This allows the die to self-align itself (slightly) to the case that is being sized. Without the O-Ring, if the flat surface on the top of your press is not perfectly square with the thread axis, your die can end up slightly off-angle. This happens when the bottom of the locking ring butts up tight against the top of the press. The O-Ring allows the die to float slightly, and that may, in turn, reduce the amount of run-out induced during case sizing."

And below there is a thick rubber washer under the Forster expander spindle lock nut that allows the expander to float and self center and reduce neck runout.

So again, if you can lock down the expander down off center what makes you think you can't lock down the die off center when you tighten the dies lock ring.

Below a simple cheap Lee die has a locking collet that centers the expander when tightened down and the dies lock ring comes with a rubber o-ring.

 

[JFrank]

You don't have to thank me for my service, we were told to take our uniforms off at the airport so the non-vets wouldn't spit on us.

And today if you work for the Federal Government and served your country in the military you do not have veterans preference status. Meaning non-vets with bone spurs have the same status as veterans and before we had the all volunteer military the veterans had a higher status than non-vets. Meaning during all the military cutbacks after the Viet Nam war you could be bumped out of your job by non-vets.

So "Thank you for your service" coming from non-vets gives me heart burn.
Military Veterans "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers"

Dude"
I come from a long and proud family of veterans from several wars and years of service all over the world. You nothing about me or my Family..

 

[Bart B.]

What is it with you two? Do us all a favor and put each other on ignore because any time you two old farts end up in the same place it turns in to a shit show.

I will not let anyone who starts degrading and demeaning my military service get by unscathed. This forum's moderators don't shut down the instigators. Nor do readers caution the ones starting it.

You'll be best served by convincing moderators to shut down the instigators. I've had no luck doing that so they must not see anything wrong with it. Therefore, the opinions of the rest of us are meaningless.

 

[Uncle Ed]

I will not let anyone who starts degrading and demeaning my military service get by unscathed. This forum's moderators don't shut down the instigators. Nor do readers caution the ones starting it.

You'll be best served by convincing moderators to shut down the instigators. I've had no luck doing that so they must not see anything wrong with it. Therefore, the opinions of the rest of us are meaningless.

Did you ever stop to think about the complaints the moderators get about you Bart B. that nullify your complaints.
Or the amount of likes a posting gets to a persons screen name that counts in their favor.
Or how you bring up your Naval service and shooting the M14 rifle.

Bottom line, the Navy, M14 rifles, crowbars etc have nothing to do with reloading. And my postings were a reflection of your ego driven postings to show the irony of your postings.

And another poster here thought I was Uncle Nick and was mad because you and Uncle Nick tag teamed him in another forum to feed your egos.

 

[Uncle Ed]

Dude"
I come from a long and proud family of veterans from several wars and years of service all over the world. You nothing about me or my Family..

But you wouldn't give me credit for the 19 years of eating Navy beans, living in a Quonset hut and wearing low quarter shoes because the military pay my dad got was so low. I had 19 years in the Navy before joining the Air Force and then serving in the national guard.

Your problem is you can dish out sarcastic comments but can't take it in return.

Thank you for your sarcasm................"Dude"

 

[Uncle Ed]

Maybe just maybe, by the dies not being square in respect to the ram and shell holder is giving me the crooked amo that my factory sporters shoot so well.

Yes I'm starting to have fun with this.

Seriously though I'll head up to diamond and grab some O rings and check it out.
I did load great stuff with Lee's gear.
This might be just what I need to see the .2's

Just get some Lee lock rings, they will allow the die to float, and they can be tightened down with just your fingers and the die will not move.

P.S. And buy a torque wrench, some duct tape and string so you don't strip the dies threads when the press cams over.

 

[JFrank]

But you wouldn't give me credit for the 19 years of eating Navy beans, living in a Quonset hut and wearing low quarter shoes because the military pay my dad got was so low. I had 19 years in the Navy before joining the Air Force and then serving in the national guard.

Your problem is you can dish out sarcastic comments but can't take it in return.

Thank you for your sarcasm................"Dude"

Nope,
My old man served 27 years, I ate plenty of beans
Dude..

 

[Uncle Ed]

I have 8 lee rings as I have 2 complete sets of thier dies.
I'll check it out next time I size some brass.
5 with lee rings
5 with hornady's no O rings
I'll take ammo to my brothers and check
run out before shooting for group.

Don't take this the wrong way, but if you had your own concentricity gauge you would know where in the reloading process that any runout was occurring and fix the problem.

Its a little late after the cartridge is already loaded and at your brother house, and the expander pulled the case neck off center.

 

[Uncle Ed]

Nope,
My old man served 27 years, I ate plenty of beans
Dude..

I hope your dad didn't serve in the Army, their tech manuals were only written to a 8th grade level and our Air Force manuals were written to a 12 grade level.

So don't take too hard "DUDE", I like you as much as I like Bart B.

P.S. All those beans you ate are now showing up here as fecal debris and Bovine Scat.

So what is the best lock ring if its locked down and the die is not centered and square in the presses threads.

 

[snert]

I have Redding dies. The ring is not split. If you tighten the screw a lot the screw damages the threads making it very difficult to rotate. I took the screw out of all my dies and put a small piece of rosin core soldier in the hole to protect the threads.

The redding die lock ring should have a #9 lead BB between the screw and the die thread. When ready to loosen it, tap it smartly at the screw onto a solid bench and the ring will be loose.

what you are experiencing is the lead grabbing the thread, not damaging it, likely.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

I hate to bring this thread back up again because it went south pretty quick, looks like.
I wanted to though because I just tried the Forster lock rings, and like them best over the others. I like them because you can tighten them down by hand and not have to use any pliers or wrenches. If you want the die locked completely solid all you have to do is tighten the cross bolt screw slightly snug. Loosen this screw and they unscrew with your fingers easily. I’m assuming that being made of aluminum makes them have a little grab, and this is why they finger tighten so easy. This may not work where someone is wanted to leave their die and lock ring permanently set together though.

 

[Lannister]

I really like the Forster rings, with the upgraded Allen-wrench screws! Work great with my Co-Ax!

 

[Whisky Tahoe Foxtrot]

For my Co-Ax I use the Forester lock rings. While other can fit and work, they just don't work as well in my opinion.

For my standard presses I basically don't like any of the lock rings. For the ones with the set screw toward the threads, I find that after locking them down, it makes it very hard to make minor adjustments. And if they don't have the lead shot or plastic ball in front of the set screw, then the set screw damages the threads enough to make easy movement impossible. For the split ring style, if you tighten the lock screw when the ring is tight on top the press, you can't unscrew it. So you have to tighten it with the die slightly out of position.

While playing around with using an O-ring under the lock ring to improve die alignment, I found this method worked best for allowing me to make minor adjustments without the problems listed above. Kind of like the Lee lock ring that incorporates an O-ring - that I hated at first. I never tighten the lock ring down any longer. I just compress the O-ring with the lock ring and the die NEVER moves. And I can make half a thousandths adjustments easily. I just make a reference mark on the die that I line up with a point on the press threaded insert. Works fine for me. The picture is taken with the die up from the use position so you can see the O-ring.

View attachment 1084929

In addition to the cautions with lock rings and benefits of O-rings, I'll add that a set of resin jaw pliers are extremely useful for "cinching" the die into the press or adjusting a bushing die. Amazon has a set for under $10 delivered via prime. They are spring loaded which makes them really easy to use one handed. The enlarged setting is perfect for dies. No more bite marks on your beautiful dies!

 

[jepp2]

Amazon has a set for under $10 delivered via prime.

6" or 8", which ones do you have?

 

[Whisky Tahoe Foxtrot]

6" , with the pliers expanded into the 2nd notch, they are perfect for dies

 

[Bill K]

i currently use a LEE hand press, i have been using RCBS dies and their lock rings, but they work loose ever few sessions, any suggestions?

thanks

Tighten the small tension screw up a little more. Mine never slip.