Die Reaming?

[jareese]

Update - the die cut beautifully and and everything turned out perfect.

Looking for some guidance on reaming a standard 300 Norma seating die to 300 Norma AI. I did a test fit of the reamer to the die, but there is quite a bit of space around the reamer in the body area. I'm really only focused on the neck/shoulder area as this is just a seating die, not a body or FL die. (Wilson die for Arbor press)

Just looking at it and going off of quick glance and day after memory, no measurements yet, I've got 'around' 80-90'ish thou to take out of the shoulder area. Should I approach this the same way I do a regular chamber, or are there some extra precautions I should take?

Thanks.

 

[DaveTooley]

Business as normal. I always go a little deep then drill a bleed hole into the shoulder. Polish out the base 3-4 thou and your GTG

 

[jareese]

Business as normal. I always go a little deep then drill a bleed hole into the shoulder. Polish out the base 3-4 thou and your GTG

Thanks Dave

 

[Sniperhandle]

Business as normal. I always go a little deep then drill a bleed hole into the shoulder. Polish out the base 3-4 thou and your GTG

Dave, If this is a standard factory die like say, RCBS or Redding, Does it need to be annealed first or will a High speed steel reamer work ok?

 

[DaveTooley]

He says it's a Wilson inline die.

 

[ricco1949]

Dave, If this is a standard factory die like say, RCBS or Redding, Does it need to be annealed first or will a High speed steel reamer work ok?

I made a 221 FB cutoff die from a standard FL die to fit a Dillon 1500 trimmer.

Tried machining with carbide without annealing first...no go.

Annealed top half of die to cherry red and air cooled and all went fine thereafter.

 

[jareese]

So is the consensus that I need to anneal the die first?

 

[liljoe]

Post a picture of the die you have and that would help answer the question.
Joe

 

[jareese]

Post a picture of the die you have and that would help answer the question.
Joe

That will have to be later tonight when I am home from work. It's an inline Wilson die for use with an arbor press.

 

[DaveTooley]

It doesn't need to be annealed

 

[ricco1949]

So is the consensus that I need to anneal the die first?

Jareese,

My post #6 referencing annealing was in response to Sniperhandle's question regarding standard factory FL sizing dies.

Your Wilson seating die GTG with HSS reamer.

 

[jareese]

Jareese,

My post #6 referencing annealing was in response to Sniperhandle's question regarding standard factory FL sizing dies.

Your Wilson seating die GTG with HSS reamer.

Copy that - thanks for clarifying.

 

[ELR LVR]

Dave, If this is a standard factory die like say, RCBS or Redding, Does it need to be annealed first or will a High speed steel reamer work ok?

I did some mods shortening an RCBS 22-250 die
it was tough even for Carbide to cut it (Face it off smooth and chamfer the entry)
I took very small cuts but really squeaked as it did so.
I dont think HSS would last long in a hardened die, it is pretty "Tough" stuff.
I'd say Carbide cutters or reamers only

 

[Old Navy]

Why even bother with it. My 6BR Foster die works just fine for seating my 6BRA rounds

 

[jareese]

Why even bother with it. My 6BR Foster die works just fine for seating my 6BRA rounds

Because that's what the customer wanted - and the fact that the AI brass stuck out the bottom of the seating die 0.119" further than the standard, so he couldn't use it for the AI fired brass.
Edit: He uses Wilson inline dies