Whidden sizing die questions

[dgeesaman]

I am loading 6BRA using no-turn Lapua brass and a Whidden FL bushing die. The die and my reamer are made to the same chamber dimensions on paper but they have not matched this die to my actual fired brass.

I have the shoulder bumping .001.

1) The expander mandrel pulls on the neck when my bushing is .267 or smaller, but it appears the mandrel holds in the decapping pin. The pin doesn’t fall out though so I’m tempted to leave the expander off. Bad idea?

2) The die is sizing the body near the shoulder junction down from .4625 to .4590. This seems excessive. Thoughts?

David

 

[243winxb]

Go look at Whidden videos on Youtube. In general- unturned necks, use expander. Turned necks, no expander. Do your own testing to know what works best.

The expander can be replaced by a "pin retainer" if it came with your die. Its included with Reddings.

I find my Redding 243 die is smaller also at body/shoulder junction. I think it should be. The unsized part of the neck centers the round in the chamber.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Take the expander off and hold the pin with the other knurled piece in the box

 

[dgeesaman]

Gah, you're right I do have the plain pin retainer hiding in plain sight.

Still open question about the amount of body sizing. I'm not worried about centering effect - I'm simply thinking about brass life.

 

[dgeesaman]

This raises so many issues that it begs for a major reloading intervention, I'm not sure where to start.

Joe

Name one or two please. I suspect a communication issue.

 

[spclark]

Still open question about the amount of body sizing. I'm not worried about centering effect - I'm simply thinking about brass life.

John Whidden knows what he’s doing selling sizing dies.

There’s far less to worry about working brass at case body/shoulder junction (where it’s thicker, much better supported from adjacent brass as well as case design itself) than at the open-ended necks.

Besides, you want case bodies reduced in diameter enough that pressures generated by subsequent firings don’t cause cases to get stuck in your chamber.

If’n you don’t trust me on this, you can trust John’s expertise in knowing what works & what doesn’t.

 

[jimmymac]

I think you are good to go now. Just make sure that .001 shoulder bump allows for smooth bolt operation.

 

[boltfluter]

David,

You are sizing down about .002 per side on the brass at the shoulder. That is just about perfect to me. Happy shooting.

Paul

 

[243winxb]

I'm simply thinking about brass life

Necks go first for me , using standard dies. . The bushing die has fixed the problem.

I have the shoulder bumping .001.

This will stop a lot of case stretching , helps eliminate case head separations. Brass shoud easly go 20 loadings or more with midrange pressures.

 

[dgeesaman]

I think you are good to go now. Just make sure that .001 shoulder bump allows for smooth bolt operation.

It does. I used factory Lapua 6BR (105 Scenar) box ammo to fireform. The brass unchambered tightly, and in a way that's fortunate because I could find the right shoulder bump on the very first time. The shoulder is currently .002" shorter than a snug fit, and didn't get tight so now it's moving .001" between firings.

David,

You are sizing down about .002 per side on the brass at the shoulder. That is just about perfect to me. Happy shooting.

Paul

For comparison, the Tony Boyer book suggests about half of that (.0013" if you run the numbers on his diagram). I figured PPC is close enough to 6BR(A) that a .0025" sizing was worth asking about. From the responses so far, it seems this is a trivial matter.

 

[SmokinJoe]

I would not be concerned about the body shoulder being sized down .003 - .004. I have several Whidden custom dies plus many more factory dies and that is not out of the typical range in my experience. My main concern would be that the base sizing be correct with the .200 datum part of the case being consistently sized down .001 - .002. This should prevent bolt click. I actually had a Whidden die that turned out to not size the base properly and when I finally figured that out, I returned the die and they replaced it with one that works great. You can't ask for better customer service than Whidden's provides.