Redding .223 Akley Improved problems

[1banger]

Bought a competition set of Redding dies for reloading my .223 AI. Seater works fine, and bushing die sizes the
necks well. The body die is where I have issues. Firstly a properly lubed, fire formed case, would not go all the way into the die
without a tremendous amount of force required to press it and then extract. So, much force that the case rim ripped
away from some of the Lapua cases I use. I sent in to Redding to have it looked at with a few fire formed Lapua cases. They sent it back within 2 weeks. It will now resize the way I expect a FL to. Not much press force and easier extraction. Great result, but...

Now that I can resize normally, it was time to set the shoulder bump for the case. Unfortunately, the die will not bump the
shoulder. Even with the case holder bumping into the bottom of the die. See picture. The shoulder is cut into the die as I
can see it. If I press the case to the shell holder limit on the die, then remove the case from the holder with it all the way
in the die. I can tap on the top of the die and get the case to go deeper into it. Doing this, I can get a shoulder bump.
Of course this is no way to get an accurate bump, and you have to insert a punch from the neck end of the
die to extract the case. No response yet from Redding on having them fix this.

If I had a lathe I could turn down the bottom of the die to bring the shoulder part into the range I would need to get an adjustable bump. I think this is the only way to get it fixed. Any other ideas?

 

[Plumsask]

I set tight head space on my 6mm AI and had to have a few thou machined off the shell holder in order to bump the shoulder back .0015

 

[acloco]

Plumsask has it right.

Take a couple thousandths off of the shellholder and MARK that shellholder to go with this die set.

 

[Ned Ludd]

Would a set of Redding Competition shell holders possibly work?

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I think the answer depends on where your current shell holder falls within the dimensions of this set. A call to Redding should be able to clear this up for you. I have been very satisfied with their customer service and information provided when I've called them in the past.

 

[marchboom]

I would send the die and some cases to Redding and tell, "Make this so it works properly". If they can't, call Forster. You should have to do machining on a new die.

 

[JFrank]

I took .005 off a shell holder with a belt sander /80 grit then cleaned up with 320 grit, in just a minute or two. I use a standard RCBS press to resize with.
It really doesn't have be perfect as the die base only touches the highest point of the shell holder so a little trial and error until you get enough movement is no big deal.

 

[tmwinds]

Shell holders are not hardened . Just sand or file the shell holder down about .010 and see if that give you the bump you need.

 

[Nicklas]

Would a set of Redding Competition shell holders possibly work?

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I think the answer depends on where your current shell holder falls within the dimensions of this set. A call to Redding should be able to clear this up for you. I have been very satisfied with their customer service and information provided when I've called them in the past.

Comp shellholders are thicker and size less than the regular ones

 

[SG4247]

I just ground .010” off the bottom of the die with my bench grinder. Works perfectly now.

 

[fkimble@charter.net]

Dies cost too much to be grinding on them. Voids warranty I bet! Just take a little off the top of the shell holder.What's the old saying, modify the cheapest part first. Either way, the results are the same, more case in die!

Frank

 

[INTJ]

I wonder if putting the CoAx shell holder jaws back in would allow more sizing?

 

[AckleymanII]

Redding dies are made for SAAMI spec web dia brass, lapua is CIP European spec brass(larger)?

 

[1banger]

Thanks for the tips on lapping the shell holder. I had a RCBS shell holder that was already
.0015 thinner than my Redding, so started with that one. Lapped it about .002 and now it
works. To Redding's credit they did offer for me to send it back in with a shell holder, so they
could take care of it.

 

[JPB4BAMA]

Pretty much same issue here. Actually when I could get the case out after using a sloppy amount of lube, the cases would grow about 0.003-0.004 from the fireformed datum line. I could chamber a fired case, but not a sized case. First solution was to go back to sizing in my original LEE Die which must be cut shorter than the Redding's. Then I had 0.015 milled off a Hornady holder and can now bump correctly. I also find that sizing gets easier with more firings, and annealing eases the sizing operation on my MEC press.

I don't know about the SAAMI vs CIP thing, but in my case it did the same on everything from Lapua to most commercial US 223, and even Lake City 5.56.

I really wish Redding made some "minus" size shell holders in the competition die set. I misread the specs and thought they were thinner and now I have a lifetime of spares that I can mill down.