Harrell's die...extra brass piece?

[GentleBen]

OK, this borders on one of those areas where you almost hate to ask because it sounds stupid, but ... I just received my 6mmBR FL sizing die from Harrell's Precision. The packet included the stainless steel die, decapping pin, a lock ring -- and a small brass piece that looks like a sizing bushing or gauge.

What is it for? Is it a bushing? The ad say I have to supply my own bushings, no sweat, what is it. It is a tad longer than the .267 Redding bushing I dropped into the die. Is it the sizer they used to pick out my bushing? It also seems to fit right over my fire-formed brass to act like a little neck or shoulder gauge.

 

[Ogre6br]

gauge to help you measure the amount of shoulder bump you are getting with the die

P

 

[GentleBen]

thanks, ogre. figured it was something like that.

 

[rayjay]

Use that little bush to measure the fired case and then adjust your sizing die to bump the shoulder back about a thou [ .001' ]. Once I got used to this method of adjusting the sizing die I had to make bushing for all my cartridges [ or shoulder angles to be more precise ]. It's the only way to know how much you are really sizing the case. There is an article on the homepage about the Harrell's die and in it is a rough way to see how much the body is being sized.

 

[Sighter]

I first came across a bushing similar to this with a gun and die purchase years ago. The gunsmith had chambered and cut off a small bit of the barrel blank to use as a shoulder bump gauge. It's a very handy item for any reloader.

By measuring your fired case, you can then set the Harrels to barely bump your shoulder back and your brass will get worked very little, stay in optimum dimension and keep from getting hard to chamber.

I got one of Harrells early PPC without the bump gauge bushing and found myself bumping way too much until I made a shoulder bump gauge and figured out just how much I was oversizing.

Sorry to repeat some already good responses. I am just a shoulder bump gauge fan.

 

[mason]

how can i make one of these gauges for my ppc.

 

[Sighter]

Mason,

Probably easiest to just call Harrels unless you have a reamer and a lathe. They have always been very helpful when I called.

http://www.harrellsprec.com/

You could get close be grinding a bit to the correct radius and center drilling for the neck if you just had to make one without a chmber reamer. The easiest time to get one is when your 'smith sets up your next barrel

 

[rayjay]

They are easy to make on a lathe. Just set the compound to the shoulder angle. Also they fit any case with the same shoulder angle [ as long as the neck dia on the tool is not too small for the case].

 

[mason]

does a ppc and a BR have the same shoulder angle ?

 

[rayjay]

This info is over on the homepage. You need to verify these things yourself.

 

[rayjay]

No, what I am saying is that there are too many 'experts' on the web. Just like all the 'how to ship a gun' threads where there are replys that are totally wrong.

Go over to the homepage and look at the 6ppc page and look at the 6br page or look at the 223 page or look at the 223AI page. Each page has the cartridge diagram and on this diagram is the shoulder angle.

 

[eggman]

I liked the Harrell's shoulder bump gage so well I wanted one for my Beggs cartridges. I called Gene to see if he could or would make me one and his reply was that he used the 30 caliber hole on the Sinclair bullet comparator 'nut',the little hexagonal nut that Sinclair sells). I didn't have one but did have a 30 caliber insert for my Stoney Point comparator so I used it and it works fine for this purpose.

Rodney