Redding needs special shellholders?

[Andrev]

I recently changed to the excellent Forster press. I shoot a 6XC and want to bump the shoulder about 1 thou. I use the equally excellent Redding type S dies. When installing the die to touch the shellplate of the press, nothing happens to the shoulder. Does anyone else have this problem?
It seems I either have to shorten the body die, or purchase a different shellplate to enable me to use a thinner shellholder. This sort of defeats the object of the Forster press running without shellholders.
Any ideas?
Andre

 

[cprshooter]

You might be better served by shortening the shellholder slightly.

 

[jerryscherrer]

Forster offers a shellholder adapter plate. You could use a set of competition shellholders to control shoulder bump.

 

[Winchester69]

Forster offers a shellholder adapter plate. You could use a set of competition shellholders to control shoulder bump.

The Competition Shellholder Set would be going in the wrong direction. It moves the shoulder away from ram; we want to go the other way.

 

[NorCalMikie]

Chuck your shell holders "upside down" in a drill press. Run them down on a "well oiled" stone and take off as much or as little as you need. Measure before and after so you'll know where you are. Make different sizes and keep them seperate so they don't get mixed up with the regular ones. They come out nice and smooth. Looks like a "pro" did them.

 

[fdshuster]

A friend of mine put the shellholders that were too "thick" on his surface grinder and removed .010" from the top surface. End of problem.

 

[Andrev]

Thanks,
It seems it will be best to shorten the die by 0,010''. That way I dont have to buy the adaptor plate and can stay away from shellholders altogether.

 

[Travelor]

I have the same "problem". I use my Lee press that is set up for loading 50 BMG to set the shoulders back, the go back to the Forster Co-Ax press for all other operations. MUCH faster that using the shell holder adapter

And stops me from being lazy and not changing back to the floating case holder feature of the Forster press for all other operations -thus defeating a large advantage the Co-Ax press has over shelll holder presses.

George

 

[Andrev]

Thanks George,
I am doing more or less the same. I use an RCBS RC4 with a turned down shellholder to set the shoulders back. The reason for changing to the Forster was to make use of the floating arrangement to ensure straight operation. Has anyone had success by shortening the die body?
Is it possible to use the Redding type S die with the bushing for bumping the shoulder? This will take one more step out of the process.

Andre

 

[jo191145]

Redding S series come in both flavors, Full Length and Necksize dies. Which do you have?
Obviously the FL die is capable of bumping the shoulders back.
If you remove some material from the bottom of the die even a necksizer is capable of bumping the shoulders. I've converted my necksize only to shoulder bump dies by grinding down the shellholders.

I'm not familar with the Forster press. Have you tried screwing the die in further to make up for linkage slop in the press?
This is several times fired fully fireformed brass your attempting to resize correct?

 

[Andrev]

Thanks Joe,
I have the necksize (bushing) die, full length and the body die. Yes, the brass has been fired 6 times and I need to bump the shoulder 1 to 2 thou to enable easier chambering.
The Forster press should get rid of any misalignment between the ram and the die. Unfortunately, even screwing the die onto the shellholder is not enough to touch the shoulder in any of my 3 dies. I have to make use of a thinner shellholder, or shorten the dies. I guess my worry is that the bushing neck die has a different inside shape than the full lenth or body die. If bigger than the body die, bumping the shoulder might create a bulge somewhere else that will cause chambering problems.
I find it strange that Redding manufactures their dies so you need special shellholders to use them properly.

Andre

 

[jo191145]

Try screwing the die in even further past "just touching" to cancel out linkage slop.

This will usually work with other presses.

I've never needed to modify a Redding FL to achieve .002" bump. I'm sure its possible thet sent a long die out the door. Manufacturers have been under quite a bit of pressure to get production moving with demand.

Yes, you can convert a necksizer to shoulder bump .002'. As you surmised bumping further than that will eventually get you bulges in places you don't want them.