Is 0pening up the neck on an old die impossible ?

[Lee Whitsel]

I have a few body dies. I need to get one for 223. My ? is I have and old set of dies in 223 I never use any more. Is it possible to drill or some how to open up the neck so I can make it into a body die myself? Or is it to hard to deal with?

 

[STS]

You can bore out the neck with a carbide boring bar.

 

[jackieschmidt]

I have a few body dies. I need to get one for 223. My ? is I have and old set of dies in 223 I never use any more. Is it possible to drill or some how to open up the neck so I can make it into a body die myself? Or is it to hard to deal with?

The die will be case hardened for about .002 inch deep.You can chuck the die up true and either use the correct sized carbide drill or bore it with a small carbide boring bar.
HSS will not cut the case hardened surface.
I made my 30BR “S” style bushing die out of a full length die.

 

[Homerange]

Get a LCD.....never FLS ever any of my 223 brass.

 

[Alfred]

Easily and controllably done with a barrel lap.

Al

 

[jackieschmidt]

The OP did not say how much he needed to bore out.

How much?

 

[boltfluter]

Not to hard with a carbide boring bar as mentioned. I have converted several Redding body dies to accept Wilson bushings. A very economical way to get a nice FL bushing die. Assuming you have a lathe of course! Lol.
Paul

 

[Fuj]

Sometimes if it's just a little, I'll turn the die around and get it indicated
in. At that point, I'll use my tool post Dumore grinder with the 1/8th arbor.

 

[KMart]

I have a few body dies. I need to get one for 223. My ? is I have and old set of dies in 223 I never use any more. Is it possible to drill or some how to open up the neck so I can make it into a body die myself? Or is it to hard to deal with?

PM me with your address and I will send you one at no charge. I will ship with USPS, so no promises on their shipping abilities.

 

[DShortt]

So if one decides to open up a die for themselves and breaks through the surface hardening, is there a technique available to reharden the surface?

Asking for a friend.

 

[Webster]

So if one decides to open up a die for themselves and breaks through the surface hardening, is there a technique available to reharden the surface?

Asking for a friend.

If he is opening the neck so it only body sizes. The part he machined becomes a non contact area. It's just a hole.

 

[RegionRat]

Is it worth mentioning that a Redding 223 body die is only about $38.99 these days?

 

[ELR LVR]

Is it worth mentioning that a Redding 223 body die is only about $38.99 these days?

That and die sets can be had for very good prices on Ebay

 

[AlNyhus]

So if one decides to open up a die for themselves and breaks through the surface hardening, is there a technique available to reharden the surface?

When opening up neck ports to a fixed dimension with a carbide reamer, I lap the finished neck surface. I don't worry about rehardening.

If enlarging the neck port to essentially make a body die, the finish isn't critical since it's not in contact with the neck. On those, I deburr the the neck/shoulder junction with a little Noga tool and run a small 400 grit ball turd hone in the new neck. I don't enlarge the neck any more than needed so it retains as much shoulder contact area as possible.

Good shootin' -Al

 

[Fuj]

So if one decides to open up a die for themselves and breaks through the surface hardening, is there a technique available to reharden the surface?

Asking for a friend.

Generally it's a non issue. A lot of dies are thru hardened. some dies are
not hardened at all or maybe sightly pre hardened before machining. I use
A combination of Newlon unhardened blanks, and shot out 416 barrels for
blank stock.