Reloading for a belted mag

[eddywitay]

I was wondering how to headspace on the shoulder instead of the belt I an loading for 7mm stw. Do you have to modify the die or what.Or do some other trick.Thanks.....

 

[pmarauder]

I have (3) 7 STW's and head spacing off the shoulder is the correct way to go. First you need to talk to Larry Willis about his collet die. http://larrywillis.com/

Second, you need to get a set of Sinclair bump insert dies to measure your head space off your calipers. http://www.sinclairintl.com/.aspx/pid=35265/Product/Sinclair-Bump-Gage-Insert Make sure you get the 25 degree insert

Third.... You may be getting hard bolt closure due to your case dimension just above the belt. Most people think that they are having a head space problem, when in fact, this is more than likely a problem with your case being over .513 just above the belt. Larry willis will get you straightened out.

 

[eddywitay]

OK thanks i read a little about that collet die I will have to give him a Call is that the only way with the collet die.I also have a set or reading comp.shell holders I know that it won't with the case bulge thing but will they work with that collet die??

 

[markm87]

I'm knee deep in this. I'm loading several belted mag calibers for my buddy. We're starting to get rounds that are tight in the chamber.

 

[4xforfun]

First things first...I have the Larry Willis die....excellent tool. But, I only use it when I NEED to.

Second....What you need to know about FL sizing is this...as you run the brass into the die...to where it starts to squeeze the brass, but not yet bump the sholder...the brass GROWS in length a little. If you never get the sholder to the bump stage in the sizing process, you will have brass that is tight. Most of the problems I see stems from not getting to the sholder bump part of the prcess ... even with the die turned all the way down to the shellholder.

My process. First, dissasemble your bolt and insert the bare bolt back into your gun. Now, when you push your bolt ahead, it will litteraly fall closed with gravity when empty. Now you can feel the contact between boltface and the brass.

Next, grab a bunch of fired casses, back your die out about a turn and run one lubed case through the die. Clean it up, and insert it into the gun. If the bolt won't close, or is stiff, set that brass aside, grab another piece, lube it up, turn the die in a 1/4 turn and size another case. Clean and run it into your chamber. Repeat untill the bolt will litterally fall 1/2 way down, and you need to just lightly touch the bolt to close it. Perfect. Never use the same piece of brass twice...start with a fresh piece of brass.

Now, if your brass is still to long after you have bottomed out the die on the shellholder, then you need to take your die to a machine shop, have them turn .020 off of the die, which should allow you to get to the "sholder bump" part of the process. It,s a 5 min job. Or they can take some off of your shell holder. Either way is fine. I have seen this problem a bunch, and it is a simple fix.

Now, repete the process!!

When you find that perfect setting, lock that die tight and never change it...it will be perfect for that barrel forever. I have more than one gun or barrel in the same caliber, I simply buy another die for that gun (uless it was chambered with the same die by a top smith).

You can always check your work with some scotch tape...just put one layer on the brass where the brass contacts the bolt face...trim it real good and insert the brass.....you should feel a noticeable difference in what it takes to close the bolt. Scotch tape is about .001 - .0015 inches thick.

You are now headspacing off of the sholder, not the belt.

Good luck,
Tod

 

[eddywitay]

thanks guys that will really help me out...

 

[Darrel Martin]

I bought one of Larry Willis's digital headspace gauges a couple years ago and I now consider it to be a very useful tool.If you load for several calibers, the tool costs less than a drawer full of headspace bump inserts . It works for every caliber I have except 50 bmg.It is very accurate and reproducible, and only takes a few seconds to change calibers.
I have one of his collet dies . I generally find that when headspacing off the shoulder when resizing my belted cases, they seem not to require use of the collet die to decrease the diameter in front of the belt.However, these are hunting guns and the brass has not had many firings so they may very well tighten up with more firings. If nothing else the collet die serves as a measuring tool to tell you when the brass has swollen in front of the beltIf it falls in up to the belt with no resistance, you know it is ok.

 

[coues52]

1+ on the larry willis tools.. I have both..also I bought a forester FL die and sent it to forester to have the die honed for .003 tension & no expander ball w/win cases (18.00 including s&h), work great with my hunting 7 STW..~Danny

 

[eddywitay]

I just orderd the bump insert, now for the wills die

 

[markm87]

I got my LarryWillis collet die yesterday. That thing is cool. I didn't understand the top of the die being a guage until I got my hands on it.

You can tell exactly which brass needs a little squeeze near the belt.... you don't have to just blindly run all your brass through the die. Very cool.

 

[dig]

Great advice and technique 4x4forfun, I will have to try the stripped bolt, been doing it with bolt by feel. I have found normal dies work fine (Redding are the only ones I uses) in fact you can crush the shoulder a bit with these when completely bottomed out. I load for 257, 300 and 338-378 Weatherby and 375 H&H the only one I have ever had excessive expansion near the belt with is the 300 with Remington and Remington Nickle brass. I use redding shellholders or a Forster Coax. There can be a difference in thickness in shellholders just between brands, that may be a simple solution or one of the competition sets. Those collet dies seem like a neat product but for me is a solution for a non-existant problem.