Ok so it is (statement, not question) possible to load 6.5 cm with a 6.5 swede lee loader. i know, why would you?
i have a cm hornady bushing full length sizing die, but wanted to load a handful of rounds neck sized only. i backed the die out of the press - problem was by the time i got the neck sized (with the 0.288 bushing installed), the case had grown a thou or so and wouldn't chamber smoothly. enter the 6.5x55 lee loader.
i deprimed a case, dropped it in the lee, used the depriming rod in the flash hole and arbor press to seat the case into the neck sizer. amazingly, the od came out at 0.287, only a thou or two smaller than with the hornady die (before expanding) and was sized about 0.225 down the neck. a quick short stroke on the expander, and 0.261 id. checked runout, under 2 thou. shoulder wasn't moved.
not satisfied stopping there, i found a 1/2" washer about 0.050 thick, set the loader body on it and was able to seat bullets... quite nice actually. had to shim the body since the cm case sits proud of the loader body by about 0.025 and i didn't want to use the decapping base.
run out wasn't perfect, but we are talking shade tree engineering here. i have managed to make way more crooked ammo in the press *sometimes*.
i have a cm hornady bushing full length sizing die, but wanted to load a handful of rounds neck sized only. i backed the die out of the press - problem was by the time i got the neck sized (with the 0.288 bushing installed), the case had grown a thou or so and wouldn't chamber smoothly. enter the 6.5x55 lee loader.
i deprimed a case, dropped it in the lee, used the depriming rod in the flash hole and arbor press to seat the case into the neck sizer. amazingly, the od came out at 0.287, only a thou or two smaller than with the hornady die (before expanding) and was sized about 0.225 down the neck. a quick short stroke on the expander, and 0.261 id. checked runout, under 2 thou. shoulder wasn't moved.
not satisfied stopping there, i found a 1/2" washer about 0.050 thick, set the loader body on it and was able to seat bullets... quite nice actually. had to shim the body since the cm case sits proud of the loader body by about 0.025 and i didn't want to use the decapping base.
run out wasn't perfect, but we are talking shade tree engineering here. i have managed to make way more crooked ammo in the press *sometimes*.
