Redding 'S' Type dies stretching too much of case?

[bozo699]

Frank,
Let us know how it all turns out, best of luck.
Wayne.

 

[Hugh204]

Hey Bozo - another question if I may. I resized some 204 brass last nite with my Redding 's' type die with a bushing. One pass to deprime, bump and necksize. Now that I understand that you are resizing the whole case I did some measurements and would appreciate your feedback.

Everything seemed good except the top of the cartridge before the taper begins. I'll go thru what I checked. Assume a case sitting on the primer pocket with the tapered end facing up ready for loading powder. Starting with the inside neck, it was exactly 2 thousandths smaller which is good. Then measuring the bump on the shoulder using Hornady (stoney point) tools, exactly 2 thousandth shoulder bump. Bang on. Then I measured the cartridge just a bit below where the taper starts and it was 3 thousandths smaller. My understanding is that this should be a 1 thou bump so I believe I'm oversizing by 2 thou correct? Then I measured the bottom part of the cartridge just above the band and it was 1 thousandth smaller which is bang on.

So if my die is making the top of my cartridge too small, should I worry about it and should I do anything about it???

 

[bozo699]

Hey Bozo - another question if I may. I resized some 204 brass last nite with my Redding 's' type die with a bushing. One pass to deprime, bump and necksize. Now that I understand that you are resizing the whole case I did some measurements and would appreciate your feedback.

Everything seemed good except the top of the cartridge before the taper begins. I'll go thru what I checked. Assume a case sitting on the primer pocket with the tapered end facing up ready for loading powder. Starting with the inside neck, it was exactly 2 thousandths smaller which is good. Then measuring the bump on the shoulder using Hornady (stoney point) tools, exactly 2 thousandth shoulder bump. Bang on. Then I measured the cartridge just a bit below where the taper starts and it was 3 thousandths smaller. My understanding is that this should be a 1 thou bump so I believe I'm oversizing by 2 thou correct? Then I measured the bottom part of the cartridge just above the band and it was 1 thousandth smaller which is bang on.

So if my die is making the top of my cartridge too small, should I worry about it and should I do anything about it???

Frank,
There are others better suited to answering your question on this but if I am understanding your question correctly I wouldn't worry about it to much as you have a factory chamber or at least I think you do so your chamber might be a little oversized. Or are you saying it is .002 under Saami spec?
Wayne.

 

[Steve Blair]

Wayne,

Hugh is saying that the die is reducing the case diameter at the shoulder by .003, which is fine for a factory die and chamber.

Hugh,

In order to get better than that, you would need to have the dies modified or buy a custom die like a Carstensen or Warner. Your present setup is fine.

 

[bozo699]

Wayne,

Hugh is saying that the die is reducing the case diameter at the shoulder by .003, which is fine for a factory die and chamber.

Hugh,

In order to get better than that, you would need to have the dies modified or buy a custom die like a Carstensen or Warner. Your present setup is fine.

Steve,
I thought that is what he meant that's why I said I wouldn't worry about it but then I got thinking maybe he meant under saami spec.
Wayne.

 

[Hugh204]

Frank/Wayne - This is impressive. Outstanding answers in a very short time.

Yes I have a factory Savage chamber. And as you both agree, the die is reducing the case diameter at the shoulder by .003, which is fine for a factory die and chamber.

I'm a happy camper. I just got a Hornady auto loader and I'm going to load up 150 204 cartridges. I wanted to take this opportunity to be sure I was doing it properly before I try the new toy.

Thanks guys

 

[bozo699]

Frank/Wayne - This is impressive. Outstanding answers in a very short time.

Yes I have a factory Savage chamber. And as you both agree, the die is reducing the case diameter at the shoulder by .003, which is fine for a factory die and chamber.

I'm a happy camper. I just got a Hornady auto loader and I'm going to load up 150 204 cartridges. I wanted to take this opportunity to be sure I was doing it properly before I try the new toy.

Thanks guys

Frank,
before you load all 150 take a EMPTYsized case and try it in your rifle to make sure it chambers, I am sure it will but to be on the safe side you might want to.
Wayne.

 

[Killshot]

I just got a Hornady auto loader and I'm going to load up 150 204 cartridges.

I'd recommend you NOT load up 150 cases right now.

Take your time. Load up twenty and take them to the range. After this you can begin to adjust your powder charge to find a load your rifle likes best.

If I had a nickel for every time a new handloader wrote about how they loaded up a couple hundred cases that they ended up having to take apart.......well, I'd have a lot of nickels.

 

[Hugh204]

I should have mentioned, I've been shooting this rifle since spring and its a shooter. I got a load from the local benchrest club using 4895 over Berger 35's. A number of the guys have the same rifle (Savage 12 LRPV) and they all find the load doesn't need much tweaking to shoot tiny little groups. I've been loading it from the beginning. Now that its winter and I'm not shooting other than coyote hunting, I thought I would try to learn more about reloading to 'refine' my skills. Have really appreciated all the help here, and now I NEED to go load some bullets cuz I need an excuse to hang out in my gun room!