Sent my Forster sizers in for Honing

[Dusty Stevens]

Neil jones makes a fl bushing die with the shoulder built into the bushing if you want that.

 

[Clark]

I have sent up to 6 FL dies at time to Forster to get honed, but in 2015 I was building a 6.5-06.....


I called up Forster and went around and around until they sent me a 25-06 Full length sizer die body honed out to a 0.292" neck.

That would make it an ideal 6.5-06 sizer die body, for $57. [double the honing charge]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I called up Lee and went around and around until they agreed to reduce a 270 mandrel from a collet neck die down to 0.262", but leave the top 1/4" alone to fit a 270 collar.

This will make it ideal for turning a 270 Lee collet neck die into a 6.5-06 die.
$20 plus shipping [quadruple the reduction charge]
-------------------------------------------------

 

[Hohn]

Indeed. With some creative customization of certain parts, existing dies can be used for several applications.

I'd imagine a LCD with custom mandrels ODs could be very useful in some instances.

 

[Hohn]

Update: my dies were returned today, marked with the requested size. As I have .223 brass available to size, I tried that die.

I couldn’t be happier. For one, Hornady one shot is now a perfectly sufficient lube— no sticking nor hints of it.

Sizing effort is substantially less. Like 1/3rd of previous. I think this can only help consistency.

I can remove the expander and get just over .002” neck tension. With the expander, tension is just over 0.001”. It’s just snug enough I cannot seat a bullet by hand.

I can’t tell any difference between using the .223 diameter expander ball for the die vs using a Sinclair expander at .223”. It’s nice to be able to skip another pass through the press. I suspect the latter might have slightly better concentricity (which I’m unable to measure), but not much because the actual work the expander ball is doing is only about .001” with this brass. Thicker necks would require more expander work and might favor the mandrel.

The custom honing option is no longer quite the bargain it once was since the price is up to $24/ea now. But it was absolutely essential in the .223 die which was so tight at standard size it’s almost useless as stuck cases were inevitable. 0.240” ID for a .223 die is just to small. Nobody’s factory brass is that thin to where it needs to be so tight. Isn’t a SAAMI minimum chamber neck like 0.254?

Anyway, at .245 neck, the .223 FL die is perfect. I’m very, very happy and can’t wait to shoot this brass.