best dies for arbor press

[group therapy]

Heres the press youd need to fl zize with an inline die. View attachment 1201927

dusty, stop!!!

 

[Sandstorm]

Its a Harbor press No?

 

[INTJ]

Because that was old school train of thought. They also used to shoot 308 Baer and 6.5-284 rifles. Knowledge has evolved and they all know now that smaller 6mm rounds and FL sizing is the only way to be competitive at 600 and 1K. I don’t know a lot of BR shooters, but I’ve met a good amount over the years and there isn’t a single one of them that neck sizes cases these days.

I used to neck size myself thinking it was the way to go. Wasn’t until I went to a 1K BR shoot many years ago where I learned the error of my ways.

This ^^^^^

I think the history of that knowledge is something like this. When bolt action rifles seriously hit the scene they were built as battle rifles. Reliability was an extremely important consideration. Reliability is why Mauser developed controlled round feed. Another big part of reliability is designing cases that always feed and extract. So cases were on the small side, chambers were on the large side, and freebore was enough to make sure there were no issues. That is still often the case with factory rifles and even some customs.

As benchrest came on the scene after WWII, the focus became on how to shoot as small of groups as possible. Reliability, though important, wasn't anywhere nearly as critical as with battle and even hunting rifles. The benchrest approach was taken up by hobby shooters and hunter as well. The initial way that was taught was to completely FL size the case, meaning the shellholder touched the die during sizing. This made the cases min spec in what was usually a max spec chamber.

One of the ways they found to improve accuracy was to make the case a custom fit with the chamber. They initially thought that making the case fit as closely as possible would help the most in accuracy. So they started neck-only sizing, along with developing a load and adjusting seating dept to get closer to the lands. And of course accuracy did indeed improved over the small case/large chamber battle/hunting ammo/basic reloading approach. I think that is where the idea came that neck-only sizing improved accuracy.

I went through a similar journey. When I became serious about reloading, the idea was still out there that neck-only sizing was the most accurate. Of course, after three firings, sometimes two, I'd get sticky extraction and would have to FL size. I, like others, began to notice the accuracy didn't fall off when lightly FL sizing those cases cases that were sticky. That's when I learned that many just bumped the shoulders .002" all the time.

When I started LR BR shooting in 2005 I thought that they'd all tell me to neck-only size, but I found that every one of my fellow competitors bumped the shoulders each sizing and had been doing it that way for some time. I subsequently learned that even more clearance was better and that is why I bump my 6mm BRA cases .002-.003", and my custom die is almost as tight as a small base die--like almost everyone else I shoot with.

So compared to completely FL sizing, where we make the case min spec and then shoot it in a max spec chamber, neck-only sizing may well improve group sizes. However, when we bump the shoulder, we still get a custom fit but have enough clearance to avoid the sticky extraction issues and wind up with more consistency in our group sizes.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

funny. but i didn't picture you as a harbor freight sort of guy.....

I said youd need that. I know better

 

[hammerjack]

You should change your post to best seating die.

 

[Ledd Slinger]

You should change your post to best seating die.

Answer:
Wilson micrometer blanks custom matched with rifle chamber reamer

 

[rkittine]

My Large Harrell's C Press is not that much bigger than my Arbor press, so for travel, it is what I use for FL resizing. It will handle cases through .308 size. On the bench at home I have bigger ones.

Bob

 

[Iowa Fox]

I have even quit seating with an arbor press. Some of the 7/8x14 seating dies do a fantastic job with the right press.