Re: Modifying Factory Sizing Die
I did something similar last week. I'd ordered custom dies for my 338 Lapua Rogue. The first set of dies I received, the FL sizing die was larger in diameter than the ID of the bullet seating sleeve. That causes me to investigate further and conclude that the FL sizing die was manufactured defectively, compared to my chamber reamer spec sheet.
So I contacted the die manufacturer and they make another FL neck bushing resizing die - to the same exact dimensions as the original one!! Say what?? I'm telling them this isn't going to work, and they tell me to send in the die and they'll check it out. So I send one of the two oversized FL dies back to the manufacturer, and include the sleeve for their bullet seating die so they can see that the FL sizing die is larger in diameter than the bullet seating die sleeve.
The company rep is polite, and professional, but a little frustrated. Anyhow, they manufacture a third FL neck bushing sizing die, AND and an additional sleeve for my bullet seating die. This time the FL sizing die is a couple thousandths smaller in diameter than the first two (about the same ID as the bullet seating sleeve), and the 2nd bullet seating sleeve is an exact clone of the original bullet seating sleeve. So now I've got two bullet seating die sleeves and two FL custom sizing dies. I've still got serious doubts that even the 3rd FL sizing die is small enough in ID to properly resize fired cases for free chambering in my rifle. Sure enough, the 3rd FL resizing die is unable to size down the web area of my full pressure fired cases. So as I'm trying to decide whether or not to contact the manufacturer a 4th time, I remember I have an extra FL bushing sizing die.
What to do??? Innovate... I fill a container with cold water and grab my Makita hand-held grinder with a 4 1/4" course grinding wheel. I submerge the die in the water and grind 1/4" off the base of the die. Next I grind all the way thru the die just below the shoulder joint of the die. The water bath maintains the heat treated hardness of the FL sizing die while I'm grinding away for a good 10 minutes to cut off the top of the FL die. Next I grind the two ends of the die relatively flat and square. Then use a Dremel tool with a diamond burr to remove the rough inner edges that would scratch the cases while resizing them. I also used some emery paper to smooth up the entry edges on the die, and I run the two cut ends of the die back and forth over a carborundum sharpening stone to flatten each end so it doesn't look like a Jed Clampett tool.
Long story, but the bastardized body stub from the original FL sizing die works like a charm to properly size down the web area now. The trouble is, I paid $300 for a custom die and I still don't have a custom FL resizing die that properly resizes my cases with a single resizing step. So that remains a bummer, but at least I'm able to resize fired casings, as I think about whether or not to contact the manufacturer a 4th time, in the effort obtain a FL neck bushing sizing die of the proper dimensions.
I did something similar last week. I'd ordered custom dies for my 338 Lapua Rogue. The first set of dies I received, the FL sizing die was larger in diameter than the ID of the bullet seating sleeve. That causes me to investigate further and conclude that the FL sizing die was manufactured defectively, compared to my chamber reamer spec sheet.
So I contacted the die manufacturer and they make another FL neck bushing resizing die - to the same exact dimensions as the original one!! Say what?? I'm telling them this isn't going to work, and they tell me to send in the die and they'll check it out. So I send one of the two oversized FL dies back to the manufacturer, and include the sleeve for their bullet seating die so they can see that the FL sizing die is larger in diameter than the bullet seating die sleeve.
The company rep is polite, and professional, but a little frustrated. Anyhow, they manufacture a third FL neck bushing sizing die, AND and an additional sleeve for my bullet seating die. This time the FL sizing die is a couple thousandths smaller in diameter than the first two (about the same ID as the bullet seating sleeve), and the 2nd bullet seating sleeve is an exact clone of the original bullet seating sleeve. So now I've got two bullet seating die sleeves and two FL custom sizing dies. I've still got serious doubts that even the 3rd FL sizing die is small enough in ID to properly resize fired cases for free chambering in my rifle. Sure enough, the 3rd FL resizing die is unable to size down the web area of my full pressure fired cases. So as I'm trying to decide whether or not to contact the manufacturer a 4th time, I remember I have an extra FL bushing sizing die.
What to do??? Innovate... I fill a container with cold water and grab my Makita hand-held grinder with a 4 1/4" course grinding wheel. I submerge the die in the water and grind 1/4" off the base of the die. Next I grind all the way thru the die just below the shoulder joint of the die. The water bath maintains the heat treated hardness of the FL sizing die while I'm grinding away for a good 10 minutes to cut off the top of the FL die. Next I grind the two ends of the die relatively flat and square. Then use a Dremel tool with a diamond burr to remove the rough inner edges that would scratch the cases while resizing them. I also used some emery paper to smooth up the entry edges on the die, and I run the two cut ends of the die back and forth over a carborundum sharpening stone to flatten each end so it doesn't look like a Jed Clampett tool.
Long story, but the bastardized body stub from the original FL sizing die works like a charm to properly size down the web area now. The trouble is, I paid $300 for a custom die and I still don't have a custom FL resizing die that properly resizes my cases with a single resizing step. So that remains a bummer, but at least I'm able to resize fired casings, as I think about whether or not to contact the manufacturer a 4th time, in the effort obtain a FL neck bushing sizing die of the proper dimensions.
