Getting Forster dies honed out

[Hapnin]

I know some people here have had the necks honed out on FL dies. I was curious how this has worked out versus some custom die jobs. I'm considering having it done for a 22BR. I am also curious about thoughts on removing the expander and having the die honed out to the size I need.
I have a Redding FL die that I just bought and it's sizing the neck a little too much. My chamber has a .254 neck and the brass ends up at .249.
There used to be a discussion about this on the home page but I couldn't find it.

Thanks

 

[Laurie]

Hapnin,

I had this done with a new FL sizer for 6BR a few years back. Forster's service was very good indeed, especially considering I live a few thousand miles from Illinois!

The results are excellent in terms of case-body and neck run-out and I've been very pleased with mine. You have to make a careful decision in terms of the specified size of course as you're stuck with it forever afterwards unlike with a bushing die. I deliberately went a couple of thou' 'tight' on the basis that I used moly-coated 105gn 6mm Lapua Silver Scenars at the time which are on the skinny side dia.-wise and need a little more grip than naked bullets too, also allowing for a half, or even full thou' 'clean-up' neck turn if desired, and/or future lots of thinner neck brass. (Wise as it turns out, it seems with what is being said about the 'Blue-Box' lots of 6BR.)

So far as neck expansion goes, if I'm really putting effort into the ammo, I expand them after sizing with the E24 expander mandrel from my collection of Sinclair neck-turning tools which gives a nice light amount of grip on bullets that are just over 0.243" including the 105gn Berger VLD that I eventually adopted as my number one bullet in the cartridge. If I'm less bothered, I simply screw Forster's decap / expand stem back in and the die works very like a Redding 'S' Type, with very little working of the brass - and I suspect no worse results than using the mandrel, maybe a little tighter grip.

With very lightly neck-turned brass or 105 Silver Scenars, I skip the expand stage and use the cases as sized. Bullet runout is low, a standard Forster Bonanza Bench Rest quality seater used.

The reason went down this route was that a standard 6BR Forster FLS die worked the necks a HUGE amount. I couldn't afford a Redding bushing die at the time, so sold the original and bought the modified one direct from the factory. If I had been a US resident, I would have mailed it to Forster, but a new one worked out cheaper from the UK.

All in all it has produced a very satisfactory die-set, at what was a bargain price at that time. Even today, it gives a large saving over bushing dies, at the cost of the loss of some flexibility.

Laurie,
York, England

 

[thefitter]

Call Forster first. They will only hone out a few thousands or so. I can't remember exactly how much they will do, but it has to do with the thickness of the surface hardening.

 

[Laurie]

+0.008 in half-thou' steps, which is quite a lot, on the customer's own die. I think Forster will do more on a new blank though if you're ordering a custom version as I did rather than sending an existing finished body in for alteration.

http://www.forsterproducts.com/store.asp?pid=30223&catid=19938

is the link, scroll about half way down.

 

[Martin52]

Forster recently supplied me with a 308 FLS die with the neck honed to my requested size, 0.3345. The expander ball just touches the inside of the case neck and the run out is < 1 thou. This is quite an improvement over my Redding FLS and NS bushing dies. The honing cost is just a few dollars and well worth it but as Laurie says, you need to be certain what size you require. My loaded Lapua brass measures 0.3375. Forster provide an excellent and affordable option to custom dies costing much more and excellent service.
Martin

 

[anyrange]

Steve,
Look at Rick Averill's page on lapping FL Dies.
http://rickaverill.com/projects-past-and-present/lapping-reloading-dies/

I have done it to my 6mmBR and 308 FL Dies. Easy to do.

Larry

 

[palo]

Could I size my 308 cases from .344 to .336 with a honed die without increasing runout.
At the moment I have to size my cases first with a .340 bushing then with a .336 bushing to minimize runout

 

[anyrange]

Palo,
If you use your FL Die as is and size a case without the expander, you will be going from .344 to .330. My redding 308 FL die neck was .329 and now it is go on .334 and no go on a .335 (.3348) gage pin. I think the straightish necks you can made are from a FL Die and no expander. So yes you can go from .344 to .336 is one step.

 

[Hapnin]

Thanks a lot for all the info on this. I think I'll give them a call and see what the best course of action is. Whether to buy a couple dies and send to them or just buy directly from Forster.

Thanks again.

 

[jmatters]

I am NOT blaming Forster but the die I had honed wound up deeply scratching my necks. Rather than throw it out, it was suggested I send it to JLC Precision to see if he could polish it. Well, he couldn't but what he DID do was convert it to a bushing style die that is the smoothest die I have ever used. He has since done several dies for me, and all are amazing. Consider that option, since it allows you the flexibility of using dirfferet brass with various wall thicknesses with just a bushing change. Personally, I can't understand how the guy makes any money, but I'm glad he does what he does as inexpensively as he does! Best bargain in shooting as far as I'm concerned. (Ok, may BIB bullets....)