Bushing die issue. Not sizing neck to shoulder

[Jeff Porter]

I purchased a new Redding FL S type with a 0.247" bushing for a .223 bolt gun. I removed the expander and got the die set to take my brass back -0.002" . But... the neck is only getting sized part way down toward the shoulder. 0.070"- 0.090" ish gap. Brass is Lapua fired in same bolt rifle. Press is a Forster CoAx with the die just kissing the shell plate to get the bump I need. Sized brass measures the same as new primed Wolf brass as I don't have a Mo's or Whidden gauges for 223 but am fairly certain I am within a few 0.001's of 0.000 on one of those.


Am I doing something wrong or was the die body not bored deep enough to allow the bushing to work down to the neck shoulder junction?

 

[Jeff Porter]

Picture is worth a few words. I put some mica lube on the neck to show where the sizing stopped.

 

[Dave M.]

Holy moly. What is that all over the neck? How much are you trying to size the neck down in that single pass? Also, the bushing will never size the neck all the way down to the shoulder.
I speculate from the looks of the picture that you have the bushing locked down in the die, which it shouldn’t ever be. Make sure you allow the bushing to free float in the die. When you shake the die up and down, you should hear it make a little “click click” noise. This is the bushing moving up and down a tad.

 

[mikecr]

Body-bushing dies do not usually FL size necks.
There are some dies where the bushing includes the shoulder, but that's not yours.
Personally, I would never FL size necks, and I like this attribute of bushing dies.

 

[Dave M.]

Also, I try to never size my brass more than 3-4 thousandths in a single step. If you need to size more that that, you may have to do it in two steps with two different sized bushings.
Dave

 

[Bill Norris]

Did u retain the black nut that goes on top of the bushing ?

 

[SKWERLZ]

Looks like you need to adjust for bushings vertical clearance or have a issue with the die

 

[mikecr]

But for accuracy, I size 1/2 of the neck.

This is normal and not a problem. I do the same.

 

[BoydAllen]

The plug in the top of the die that the decapping stem screws into is adjustable vertically in the die body, it is secured in position by a knurled lock ring, that you can loosen and then screw the plug farther down into the die, to the point where the bushing won't let it go any farther. (Note: If you get to that point, back it up a fraction so that the bushing can float a little.) If you make this adjustment you will need to adjust how far the seater stem sticks out of the bottom of the plug or the expander or decapping pin retainer will run into the inside of the case and deform the primer pocket ruining the case, or if it is far enough out of adjustment bend the rod. If you go the other way with the plug you need to extend the rod the same amount or it will not decap the fired primers. To make the adjustment you loosen the knurled lock ring on the bottom of the plug, make the adjustment and then retighten.

 

[Bill Norris]

This is normal and not a problem. I do the same.

I normally leave app. .100 of the neck un-sized on all my cases.

 

[Webster]

I purchased a new Redding FL S type with a 0.247" bushing for a .223 bolt gun. I removed the expander and got the die set to take my brass back -0.002" . But... the neck is only getting sized part way down toward the shoulder. 0.070"- 0.090" ish gap. Brass is Lapua fired in same bolt rifle. Press is a Forster CoAx with the die just kissing the shell plate to get the bump I need. Sized brass measures the same as new primed Wolf brass as I don't have a Mo's or Whidden gauges for 223 but am fairly certain I am within a few 0.001's of 0.000 on one of those.


Am I doing something wrong or was the die body not bored deep enough to allow the bushing to work down to the neck shoulder junction?

Sizing part of the neck is normal for a bushing die. It doesn't affect accuracy with my accurate vamint rifles.

 

[Jeff Porter]

Thanks for all the feedback.
The white stuff is motor mica so I could see for sure how far down it was sizing. The die is assembled with 1/16 turn of play to allow for centering with the knurled nut in the decap rod.
I appreciate knowing that is not unusual. I had not noticed this on my 6BRA bushing set from Whidden.

The loaded rounds for this brass are 0.250” not turned. I am using the 0.247” bushing expecting 0.001” spring back to get 0.002” neck tension.

 

[kochie]

The plug in the top of the die that the decapping stem screws into is adjustable vertically in the die body, it is secured in position by a knurled lock ring, that you can loosen and then screw the plug farther down into the die, to the point where the bushing won't let it go any farther. (Note: If you get to that point, back it up a fraction so that the bushing can float a little.) If you make this adjustment you will need to adjust how far the seater stem sticks out of the bottom of the plug or the expander or decapping pin retainer will run into the inside of the case and deform the primer pocket ruining the case, or if it is far enough out of adjustment bend the rod. If you go the other way with the plug you need to extend the rod the same amount or it will not decap the fired primers. To make the adjustment you loosen the knurled lock ring on the bottom of the plug, make the adjustment and then retighten.

 

[kochie]

Don’t think you have too size neck all the way down the neck total length I do about 3/4 the way down with correct neck tension i have had no problems

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

My 223 and 204R Redding bushing die brass doesn't look like that. I size nearly the whole neck.

 

[Jeff Porter]

Holy moly. What is that all over the neck? How much are you trying to size the neck down in that single pass? Also, the bushing will never size the neck all the way down to the shoulder.
I speculate from the looks of the picture that you have the bushing locked down in the die, which it shouldn’t ever be. Make sure you allow the bushing to free float in the die. When you shake the die up and down, you should hear it make a little “click click” noise. This is the bushing moving up and down a tad.

In the image caption it explains that is mica to show where the sizing stopped.

 

[Chaotik]

Your bushing die is normal. It is not intended to size the whole neck.

 

[6BRA]

if removing the decapper assembly and nut, just use 2 bushings stacked.