I'm stumped!

[Aussie]

Re: I\'m not stumped

ArthurJ ,
These might seem like stupid questions but as you've only been loading for a year I'll ask them anyway .
Is your press camming over at the bottom of it's stroke when sizing ? How much downward pressure on the handle required to cam over ? Is your shellholder from Redding too ? Forgetting the Wilson die , have you followed Redding's instructions for setting up your die ? Personally don't see the need for the Wilson die if you adjust the sizing die down to the point where you bump the shoulder back just enough so that you feel a little resistance when lowering the bolt handle on a fired case (providing that you can adjust your die to do this).
Partial full length sizing (which is what you are doing at the moment if not moving the shoulder) will actually lengthen your cases and make them more difficult to chamber .

 

[arthurj]

Re: I\'m not stumped

Hey Bushcook, those aren't stupid questions. I was talking about a wilson case guage, not a die. The die I am using is redding. I've tried adjusting the die where the handle will cam over right, when I do that it still isn't sizing the case enough. I followed the redding directions for setting up the die. Even when I thread the die down to contact the shellholder at the bottom of the stroke I can't get enough sizing. I can feel the body being sized but the headspace doesn't change, or it seems to be getting longer. The shells that are run as far into the die as they can go, are harder to chamber than shells that have only been neck sized. The shell holder is redding also, I'm about to call redding to see what they suggest whether it be trimming the shellholder or the bottom of the die.

 

[arthurj]

Re: I\'m not stumped

I certainly feel stupid! If I hadn't been so stubborn this problem would have been solved a long time ago. I screwed the die down to contact and then another 1/8 of a turn, now I'm struggling to adjust it for less sizing! I knew that there was no way that I got 2 defective dies! Thanks for all of the help!

 

[Brent]

Re: I\'m not stumped

Sometimes the case when being sized puts enough added pressure on the die it just keeps the die from coming down as far as it did with just a shellholder against it, as you've found. You'll now find that the smallest increment (read 1/64 to 1/32 of a turn) of adjustment will alter headspace considerably. You should go back to where it was and make very small adjustments until a case just chambers, note the reading to the shoulder and do a few more to verify it is consistant, then possibly set them back just .001, but probably .002 more from this if bolt lift is heavy when you fire them the next time, or do it now to insure they will not be. You will not need to set them back any more than .002 from where the bolt just closes with some felt resistance though. I would set them back in steps of .001 to insure you have not went to far and you know exactly where they are too tight, then you will know by measuring the cases next time if it is indeed tight headspace. Good luck.

After each sizing the cases will work harden more and more depending on the amount of working the brass undergoes each time so you my want to monitor the length to the shoulder on a few each time you size to see if and when you may need to slightly adjust the die to compensate for a change in headspace due to a change in the brass's springback quality gradually being altered.

 

[Aussie]

Re: I\'m not stumped

arthurj ,
Glad it worked for you . The reason I wondered whether your press was camming over was that I had a similar problem a few years ago myself when setting up a FL size die . I had the press camming over before the handle reached the bottom of it's stroke but not by enough to result in the case shoulder being bumped back.
Brent is right . A little bit of adjustment at this point makes a big difference .

 

[arthurj]

Re: I\'m not stumped

Yeah that is the truth, I've been struggling now just making the smallest adjustment bumps it 3 or 4 thousandths. Finally after playing around with it for a while I got it set right. Makes me think about buying some of the redding competitions shell holders for easier adjustment when my brass starts to spring back more in the future.

 

[3sixbits]

Re: I\'m not stumped

[ QUOTE ]
Yeah that is the truth, I've been struggling now just making the smallest adjustment bumps it 3 or 4 thousandths. Finally after playing around with it for a while I got it set right. Makes me think about buying some of the redding competitions shell holders for easier adjustment when my brass starts to spring back more in the future.

[/ QUOTE ] You might want to look at the shim set for dies the Skip Otto makes they work and are a vary cheap alternative to the shell holders. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[arthurj]

Re: I\'m not stumped

Thanks I will check those out.

 

[Guest]

Re: I\'m stumped!

Just need to have a smith machine 10 Thousands from the bottom of the die should solve yuou problem.