stupid reloading ?

[slappomatt]

ok, so Ive shot through my 500 rnds of virgin 6br lapua in my .272 neck rem700. now its time to neck size and reload. being a total newb at reloading a have a question. when I run the brass,untouched neck once fired lapua) in the forster 6br NS die, the neck comes out just a tad too loose to allow me to remove a seated bullet. im currently seating a small amount into the lands ~.015 or so and it will pull the bullet out of the case uppon extraction. so i want more neck tension than that. if i remove the expander ball when i NS it comes out way too small to be able to seat well. about .010 under what i want.

so my question is what do i need? it seems no matter what size the die is the neck will always be the size of the expander if i use it. if i where to stop using it and had the dies honed out about .010 i think that would work.

now ive been told by several people i need a bushing die. which is about 4X the cost of the forster die, but if thats what i really need ill get it. but it still seems ill have the same issue with the expander ball. thanks for any info.

 

[bmx]

Measure the diameter of a case with a bullet seated as you would shoot it and then call Forester and talk to them about honeing the neck of the die to give a case sized to the dimension you want.

I don't use a sizing plug or button ...if the case neck is dented I use a pair of needle nose pliers to round up the case mouth and then run thru the sizing die

IIRC the charge is $10.00 plus S&H. I have several sets of Forester dies for my hunting rifles that I have don.me this too and they work great.

 

[Forum Boss]

Measure the diameter of a case with a bullet seated as you would shoot it and then call Forester and talk to them about honeing the neck of the die to give a case sized to the dimension you want.

I don't use a sizing plug or button ...if the case neck is dented I use a pair of needle nose pliers to round up the case mouth and then run thru the sizing die

IIRC the charge is $10.00 plus S&H. I have several sets of Forester dies for my hunting rifles that I have don.me this too and they work great.

+1 on this treatment. Assuming your loaded round neck diameter is .2695,average for 6BR), then a .267 neck would give you about .0015 neck tension,after .001 spring back) and a .266 would give you about .0025. Either can be very accurate. Forster will take your Full-length die and hone it. I had the same thing done by Redding with their FL die and it works great. I asked for a .2665. NOTE: if you shoot moly bullets you need more neck tension, and a .265 would be called for.

 

[ReedG]

This is one of the reasons why I still favor bushing dies. It seems to me that if the Forster die is not sizing the neck down enough already that "honing" it can only make it larger -- or did I miss something here?

You can have Forster make you a FL die to your specifications and they are excellent. But if you want to try different neck tension with a variety of bullets I personally think the bushing dies are the only way to go.

I run a .272" neck on by 6BR and for most bullets use a .267" bushing,t-d coated bullets) and just kiss the necks with a neck turner to take of any high spots.

Good luck.

 

[jdavis62]

just remove your expander ball and turn off .002 with
a file and a drell

 

[slappomatt]

so then if I do order a bushing die. what size will the expander ball be? my ball diamiter is .2423 I have some diamond files and a dremil and a drill. I would think it would take a looong time to actually remove a measureable amount from it. it seems to be pretty hard if not carbide than at least heat treated steel. i guess ill call and see if they have other size buttons? I should probably still have the die opened up a bit. i tried to size it without the expander and it came out way small. like .010 small.

 

[StephenPerry]

Slap
If you buy a Redding bushing die you can custom tailor your BR necks to what you want by buying a couple bushings. You can continue to use your Forester dies for full length sizing even consider have the neck portion of the die opened up so your bushing die only does the neck sizing. Using your reloading press with these dies will be the cheapest and best way to go. By the way dump the expander button in your Forester die, they pull crooked necks for accuracy work. You can use the decapping rod without the pin.
Stephen Perry

 

[AlNyhus]

When we're working with precision loading techiques, being able to size the neck in incremental amounts is one of the most valuable tools we have...why eliminate this option by using a die with a fixed neck diameter? I see this being recommended and strongly disagree with this advice...your situation is a perfect example of whay not to go this way. But, the good thing is that the fix is an easy one.

At this point you really have two good choices: get a Redding bushing die,either neck or full length) or send your Forster die,assuming it's sizing your fired cases correctly) to JLC Precision and have it modified to accept a bushing. If you have JLC modify your die, he'll turn the expander ball down so that it doesn't touch the inside of the neck.

Good shootin' -Al

 

[vmthtr]

I use the Redding bushing dies. I have had JLC do some of my 17 cal dies that were not offered in bushing dies and he does great work. With being jammed into the rifling I am not sure more neck tension will get your bullet out. I am using pretty good neck tension on my HBR rifle and still get bullets that stick in the bore when I have to reopen the bolt.

Mike

 

[bmx]

Whoops........

I totally misread the original question. Please disregard my 1st posting on this subject.

Again I apoligize

Dave

 

[Shooter32]

Send three fired cases to Harrells and let him fix you up with a die for $70 plus shipping and dont look back . He does not use an expander ball and you can use Redding or Wilson bushings the size that you neeed to fit your chamber with the right amount of bullet grip . Get bushing sizes in .267'', .268'', and .269'' one of them sould work out just perfect no matter what bullet you shoot .

 

[BoydAllen]

Ditto what Shooter32 wrote....much better choice.

 

[AlNyhus]

Yep...the Harrell's dies is another excellent choice. -Al

 

[Forum Boss]

Send three fired cases to Harrells... Get bushing sizes in .267'', .268'', and .269'' one of them sould work out just perfect no matter what bullet you shoot .

Harrell's is a great option. However, unless you're shooting super-fat bullets, a .266" and .267" are more appropriate--maybe even a .265" if you use moly. Loaded neck on these cases is typically a little over .269 and you have to figure about .0012" springback.

 

[slappomatt]

im currently shooting 107 smk's and if i run out of those its either those again. they seem to work well. or the 105 berger vld's. when i was using the virgin lapua brass there has been no problems with bullets being pulled out on extraction. could someone recomend exactly what size neck's and all i would need if i where to go with a adjustable high end die? If im going to spend money on this I'd like to do it once and do it right. I'm only shooting a pac-nor barreled rem 700 but its still alot of money in a single gun for me. at this point im sure i have over 3k in it with optics and all.
and thanks so much for all the great advice!

:edit, does anyone have contact info for harrels? I did a quick google and looked around the site and couldnt find it.

 

[AlNyhus]

Here's the link to Harrels if you want to go that way. Harrels die
Also, here's the link to JLC who can modify the die you already have. JLC die


For bushings, I'd measure the diameter of the case neck with a bullet seated and order Redding bushings .002,.003 and .004 smaller. I use the standard Redding bushings, not the TiN coated ones. You can also use Wilson bushings. They are tapered .0005.

Hope this helps. -Al