The PRC die "problem"
- Thread starter Alex Wheeler
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unless they're cutting it too spec it should be instead of programing to a reamer print.. it will be another DIE that wont work
Alex Wheeler
Well-Known Member
The click does not come from the .2" dimension. It varies based on the brass we are using. So when you measure a case at its fattest point, do not assume its at the .2" do the the math. This very tough brass is a different animal. You just have to figure out the specs trial and error. Even after all of that, if you over pressure a case and expand the head you will still get a click. No die can prevent that. Some actions, like Bats hold pressure like no other and you wont know it until your wrecking brass.
Im not here to help gunsmiths, I have laid out in this thread how to make this work for the end user with ADG brass. Anyone can call Hornady custom shop and give them specs to make you a die for just about anything. You don't have to be a gunsmith.
Im not here to help gunsmiths, I have laid out in this thread how to make this work for the end user with ADG brass. Anyone can call Hornady custom shop and give them specs to make you a die for just about anything. You don't have to be a gunsmith.
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calinb
Well-Known Member
I wish I'd found this thread a couple of days ago when I was debating Bergara B-14 HMR 300 Win Mag vs. PRC with myself! I ended up ordering the 300 PRC. 
When I first started this read, I figured no problem--I'll just chuck-up the barrel in my lathe and open up the aft end of the chamber, as described in early in this thread, but now that I've read the thread to this point, including the recent reports of the chamber sanding/polishing hack not working, I'm bummed.
It seems like the shorty resizer might even work better than sanding out the chamber. Unfortunately, it's tough enough to obtain even one FL sizer these days. I'm still trying to figure out what FL die to backorder (perhaps Redding, based on what I've read here).
Maybe I'll order the Reloading Technologies collet die too (I could use it for my 338 WM and 358 Norma) and then bore, turn and mill a new 300 PRC collet to try. https://www.larrywillis.com/
Of course maybe I'll get lucky with a loose chamber and not have to spend a fortune on short-lived brass but if I make the collet, I'll keep everyone informed.
When I first started this read, I figured no problem--I'll just chuck-up the barrel in my lathe and open up the aft end of the chamber, as described in early in this thread, but now that I've read the thread to this point, including the recent reports of the chamber sanding/polishing hack not working, I'm bummed.
It seems like the shorty resizer might even work better than sanding out the chamber. Unfortunately, it's tough enough to obtain even one FL sizer these days. I'm still trying to figure out what FL die to backorder (perhaps Redding, based on what I've read here).
Maybe I'll order the Reloading Technologies collet die too (I could use it for my 338 WM and 358 Norma) and then bore, turn and mill a new 300 PRC collet to try. https://www.larrywillis.com/
Of course maybe I'll get lucky with a loose chamber and not have to spend a fortune on short-lived brass but if I make the collet, I'll keep everyone informed.
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calinb
Well-Known Member
Forster 300 PRC dies are available so I anticipate little to no backorder delay. Redding online retailers are advising multiple month delivery delays (if quoted and available for backorder at all). Furthermore, Redding seems to me to be a poor backorder wager, given that Redding is in NY state, which has experienced unprecedented economic and manufacturing destruction due to lockdowns.
Unlike Redding, there are no reports here on the Forster dies, good or bad, with respect to this issue. Even though this isn't a die issue, I certainly don't want an over-polished or otherwise oversize FL die that will exacerbate the problem!
Unlike Redding, there are no reports here on the Forster dies, good or bad, with respect to this issue. Even though this isn't a die issue, I certainly don't want an over-polished or otherwise oversize FL die that will exacerbate the problem!
On the facebook prc groups, guys using the forster dies having the same issues.
calinb
Well-Known Member
That's a bummer!
Well it turns out that the Forster website was lying about die availability. I phoned the Forster business office and left a message. A nice lady promptly returned my call and said they had no inventory and I'd be accepting a several months-long backorder.
Creedmoor Sports' website says they have a few types of dies in stock (hope it's not lying too) so I ordered a Redding Type S Full Bushing die and then I ordered an L.E. Wilson Chamber Type Bullet Seating Die from Brownells that was in stock. This should be a very versatile setup. Years ago, I cut a 243 WSSM seater and bushing neck sizer from L.E. Wilson blanks using a reamer and I like them very much. Of course my 300 PRC seater won't be custom cut with a chamber matching reamer, but it should work just about as well, given all the favorable reports I've read about off the shelf Wilson bullet seaters.
If I end up getting clickers, hopefully by then I'll find a cheaper full length or body die that I can buy and shorten it into a ring die. Right now the Creedmoor website claims to have a Redding body die in stock for about $75, but I think I'll wait and see what happens.
There is a gentleman on one of the other forums that used the new spec'd reamer on the 6.5 Prc. today. It fixed this issue. Shot the cases that were sticky and everything looks good. Hopefully the Manufacturers fix this on their end.
calinb
Well-Known Member
The SAAMI case body diameter spec is -0.008. It seems to me that the case manufacturers have plenty of room in the minus direction to fix the "problem" too, but maybe it's a matter of deciding whether they want new cases to fit the chamber well or they want fourth-time reloads to fit the chamber well!
Honestly, I don't have nearly the experience and knoweldge that several members of this forum have obtained, but this notion has crossed my mind.
Honestly, I don't have nearly the experience and knoweldge that several members of this forum have obtained, but this notion has crossed my mind.
calinb
Well-Known Member
I assume that the Hornady design is reflected by the SAAMI spec. Regardless, the Hornady designers no doubt conveyed tolerance values to SAAMI, because tolerances are part of all proper mechanical designs. From what I've read here (I don't have any PRC brass to measure yet), Hornady and other manufacturers hold this brass body dimension to be very close to the nominal value published in the SAAMI spec. Brass could be manufactured down to the minimum (-0.008) value and still be entirely within spec. I suspect that nearly 8 thou additional clearance in virgin brass would eliminate the appearance of the clickers after four (or so) reloadings!
Isn't the release of the Lapua brass expected this spring Lapua's first commercial run of 300 PRC? If so, hopefully we'll soon see where the Lapua brass lies, dimensionally. I backordered the Lapua brass.
Isn't the release of the Lapua brass expected this spring Lapua's first commercial run of 300 PRC? If so, hopefully we'll soon see where the Lapua brass lies, dimensionally. I backordered the Lapua brass.
