Custom Wildcat Dies

[CoverDog]

I have both my Finished Chamber Reamer and also a FL Sizing Die Reamer for the cartridge. Custom Die makers are asking for fired brass and a reamer print. Do any of them use your reamers, or was that a waste of money?

Please tell me who will use my reamers to make custom dies. They tell me they don't want the reamers, just fired brass and reamer print. Of which I have both.

This is for a 6mm Coyote, I believe this was a Jerry Simonson creation.

 

[ireload2]

The die makers can use your reamers. If your reamers happen to be wrong you will not have much recourse with the die maker.

I am sure they would like a drawing but they can also check the reamer on an optical comparator.

 

[mikecr]

Could ask around over at Benchrest Central, and have a good gun machinist do it. Mike Bryant comes to mind..

 

[CoverDog]

Do fired formed cases and a reamer print make more precise dies then using the correct reamers for the same job ?

 

[Phil]

Bob Green can do it, but i`d include fired brass to measure from as well as the reamer print.

It never hurts to be too sure, i`ve had Bob cut me dies in the past and been extremely happy with them.

I`ve also owned sizing die reamers, but don`t plan on buying any future such reamers, i will just send the fired cases and reamer prints in from now on.

Good luck with your project.

 

[CoverDog]

I was going to contact him to chamber a barrel for me in .284 win. I will ask about the 6mm Coyote dies also.

Thanks to all that responded.

 

[fredo]

I've had both Whidden and CH4D makes custom dies off a reamer print, sent via email.

 

[fguffey]

Do any of them use your reamers, or was that a waste of money?

It should not have been a waste of money but it seems they have convinced you it was.

F. Guffey

 

[ireload2]

Fired cases give the reamer grinder an accurate profile of your chamber.
Reamer makers typically have large optical comparators.
For example a company that I worked for had a 50" OGP comparator and at 20X magnification a 2" long case was 40 inches tall. That made it very easy to measure all dimensions, intersections and angles on the outside of the case.

This video is for a 30" OGP optical comparator.

Do fired formed cases and a reamer print make more precise dies then using the correct reamers for the same job ?

 

[lpreddick]

I'v modified existing cartridges and sent a reamer print of each to Whidden and they made a fantastic precision FL type s neck bushing die and microseater.

 

[ireload2]

The problem with a reamer print is that it is only a piece of paper. It is not the reamer and it is not the chamber.
Reamer grinders have been known to make mistakes. When that happens your reamer drawing says one thing but your reamer and your chamber are something else.

I'v modified existing cartridges and sent a reamer print of each to Whidden and they made a fantastic precision FL type s neck bushing die and microseater.

 

[Phil]

The problem with a reamer print is that it is only a piece of paper. It is not the reamer and it is not the chamber.
Reamer grinders have been known to make mistakes. When that happens your reamer drawing says one thing but your reamer and your chamber are something else.

Exactly why I feel that fired cases are the best way to go.

 

[tightneck]

If you had both reamers ground at the same time, there's no need for the die maker to have anything else, assuming proper grinding. As to sending brass, I don't buy it. Fired cases measure differently depending on how many times fired. Spring back simply changes as the brass work hardens. I've seen folks send a couple 2 or 3 times fired brass to die makers, only to get a die that doesn't size properly after the cases have been fired 20 times. I spec a resize reamer to aggressively size the base of the case, to avoid running into this problem.

 

[NorCalMikie]

As to sending brass, I don't buy it???

My guess is that most folks that are looking for a "custom wildcat die" and are thinking of sending fired brass will probably be using new made up and fired brass for chamber specs, not some old work hardened brass.

 

[fguffey]

If you had both reamers ground at the same time, there's no need for the die maker to have anything else, assuming proper grinding.

I agree but this forum is full of reloaders that insist there is only one person that can do it like 'their die maker'. There was a time before social media a smith at then end of a dusty road would make the reamers for the chamber and dies for the cases and then sell it as a bundle, 'before there were bundles'.

F. Guffey

 

[JRS]

Alan Warner, the craftsman of the finest resizing die on earth, requires a few pieces of brass that was fired in your chamber. No reamer, no reamer print

 

[tightneck]

My guess is that most folks that are looking for a "custom wildcat die" and are thinking of sending fired brass will probably be using new made up and fired brass for chamber specs, not some old work hardened brass.

That's the problem. When the primer pockets loosen up, brass starts clicking, etc., they blame the brass. The reality is that the sizing die plays a huge role in the life of a brass case.

 

[fguffey]

That's the problem. When the primer pockets loosen up, brass starts clicking, etc., they blame the brass. The reality is that the sizing die plays a huge role in the life of a brass case.

The clicking I call snapping and then there is something called swipping, There is no end to the problems a reloaders can created out of bad habits.

F. Guffey

 

[Brians356]

The problem with a reamer print is that it is only a piece of paper. It is not the reamer and it is not the chamber.

That's why they also requested a fired case.
-

 

[bobinpa]

So, how do you create a piece of brass to fire in the chamber of your wildcat if you have no custom made sizing die to create it with?
With no sizing die you can't size a piece of brass to get it into the chamber to fire it.....
With no fired brass you can't get a sizing die...

This could be a vicious cycle.....