Forster benchrest sizer, What !!?!??

[fiftybmg]

Thread title edited by ADMIN

Recently I purchased a Forster 30-06 benchrest set. My first Forster die set, after Lee, Hornady, RCBS, Lyman, Redding and even some Pacific.

I have a ton of once fired brass waiting for the rifle to arrive, so I decided to start off sizing everything.

First case, stuck. Removed it. Second case, stuck. Removed it. I stopped there.

What does "benchrest" mean ? Are these the equivalent of small body dies or something ?

I have never encountered such resistance to sizing, not even when I used to load .223, which was up to now the most difficult brass I ever had to size. I could not size either case in one pass, I had to size a few millimeters at a time, till the rims ripped off.

It's not the lube. I use pure lanolin.

Looks like I'm going to put this die away, and get something else. I can't even sell it to anyone in good conscience.

Last week I processed all my .243 brass, sizing with a Redding body die, and doing the necks in a Lee collet neck sizer. Same lube, same Redding press. Not one problem. Not even a hint of a problem.

All the hype about Forster , precision this, precision that. This sizing die is total crap.

 

[25WSM]

Send it back and they will send you another one. Obviously this one is defective in some way.

 

[ShtrRdy]

Did you clean the inside of the die real well first?

 

[Dosh]

My Forster dies are my easiest to work with. Call and send it back. Forster will treat you like royalty. I've always had excellent customer service with Forster.

 

[19 Badger]

I love their bullet seater dies but am not overly impressed with their sizing dies... They will make it right with you tho.

 

[Montucky Roamer]

I'd certainly call them first. They have great products but anyone can screw something up. I'll bet they will trip over themselves to make it right.

 

[bigedp51]

Clean the die with a bore solvent like Hoppes bore solvent. Many dies today have a dry film preservative applied to them.
Below from the dies instructions.
3.5
Clean the Die
Clean die inside surfaces using a cloth patch saturated with gun-cleaning solvent

 

[fiftybmg]

Due to geography, the cost of sending this to Forster is more than what the die is worth to replace.

The time I have to wait on return for it to clear customs means I will need another die in the meantime anyway.

If I return it to where I bought it, I have to take the set back, not just one die. They will first take some time to check it out, then they will refund me the price of the set because they don't carry stock for exchanges, and it's not worth their while to package, ship, and track such a small value item back to the manufacturer.

It's not a total write-off, what I will do is keep it to size the neck after using the body die.

 

[Savage 12BVSS]

Five sets and no problems, you either got a bad one or didn't clean it out inside before using IMHO

 

[fiftybmg]

Correction. It is a write-off.

The biggest problem is actually the neck sizing. The case mouth hard stops against the neck sizing part of the die. With force, the case mouth can be made to enter, and on that portion when retracted, there is a very shiny ring around the mouth where it contacted the die.

Looking on the brighter side, I have a working seater from the set.

 

[Kmccord]

When I was in the market for some dies in 6.5 Creed, I originally was going to purchase Redding Master Hunter set. With the price that high, I started to check around at who makes the best or what was considered the best, what I found and read, the Forster Ultra Micrometer seater was the best, but the FL sizer has extreme tight tolerance and people complaining about cases sticking, some report exactly what you mentioned. The second best was Redding dies, so I purchased a FL sizer in the Redding and the Forster Ultra Micrometer seater, this came back cheaper than the Master Hunter set, I am happy with this combo and will probably, moving forward go this route instead of buying a set.

 

[Eagel Builder]

The Forster sizer is tighter diameter to what your chamber diameter. Bench rest means tighter chamber for more precision shooting. Maybe better to stay with the neck sizer die. The brass is fireformed to your chamber.

 

[ericbc7]

As I'm sure you know, If your using spray on lanolin case lube you must let the alcohol completely evaporate before sizing (and get some in the necks). If that is not the problem, the brass should show where and what the problem is. a bore scope comes in real handy for identifying the cause of problems like this. I have chucked a shotgun cleaning mop in a hand drill and polished a slightly rusted die interior with Jb bore paste to help with sticky die syndrome.

 

[Stan Malinky]

About 30 years ago I had a problem with an RCBS 7mm Mag Full length sizing die /seating die when seating the bullets they would just move around in the case after loading no matter what I did. I contacted a sporting goods store about the problem and they said bring them in. When I arrived they had another set of dies at the cash register counter. When I opened the bag and pulled them out the guy reached for the ones on the counter and handed them to me no questions asked. It appaered to me that either the dies were mismarked and they were for a Weatherby or just a bad run of dies. Call Forster.