Setting up your dies correctly.

As a general interst topic (as we need to get some discussion going) the setting up of reloading dies is a very important point in getting the best out of the gear you have.

All reloading dies come with instructions, have a turn here, touch the shell holder, don't etc etc. The true fact is you need to have a fired case out of your rifle and adjust the dies according to measurements you take from this fired case.

Having a great set of headspace gauges and knowing how to use them will assist you greatly when setting your dies up.

I think i would be very interesting to see how shooters do this so i am throwing it over to you to make a comment on how you do it. Then folks can pick and choose which method is best for them. It may mean that some shooters in clubs can get together one afternoon with shared gear and set everything up.

your thoughts

Hi,

It is a good topic & one that has a lot of variables.... What dies, what press, what you want to achieve etc...

But... One that I think probably the most  important is the Full Length Sizing die or shoulder bump die..... Bullet Seating Die & Neck Size only dies are somewhat more forgiving in the setup.

For me, I like the Redding instant indicator as a tool to measure shoulder bump.  It is very accurate and repeatable and you can easily read as little as 1/4 of a thou on the dial gauge ... you can take that case out of the shell holder, put it back and measure it again and get exactly the same reading every time.  The only down side is that to do it properly you need 2 presses....no big deal for me as I have a redding press bolted to the bench that gets used for this as well as a few other tasks.  My main press of choice is the Excellent Forster Co-Ax press (instant indicators don't fit in this press).

Ok, so here is my process for 6BR cases.
1) Set up the instant indicator die in the redding press screwing the die down to where I get a firm "Cam Over" feel onto the shell holder when the press handle is pushed all the way down.  Then insert a fired case and adjust the dial indicator to show zero around 12.00 on the dial, turn the outside of the dial to exactly zero.  Check reference several fired cases, and compare against a new piece of 6BR brass (I know exactly how my fired brass compares to new out of the box brass, but you won't be able to do this for wildcat type cases).
2) Lube the case you are going to size.... don't underestimate the importance of this.... too much lube you will dent your cases and get inconsistent sizing, not enough lube and they will get stuck in the die !.  I use redding imperial sizing wax, and put a tiny little on my fingers and rub it in to my thumb and first finger... then just rub the case with those two, with practice you will be able to leave almost no lube on the case, certainly no visable lube but just enough to work... make sure the case is lubed right down to the base (case head).
3) Put the Full Length Sizing die or shoulder bump die in the forster press, screw it down in the lock ring with the press handle down until it contacts the jaws and back it off half of a turn. and size the lubed case.  Remeasure in your redding instant indicator.... you will probably see that the shoulders have either not moved at all, or indeed gone forward slightly as the die is not contacting the shoulders yet.  Slowly turn the die down (1/8 of a turn at a time) until you see the indicator move about 1 thou (0.001") back from the original position.  Recheck by sizing another piece of brass and measuring it in the instant indicator.

Your die is now set up to resize the brass and bump the shoulder one thou and you can run through the whole batch and size them with confidence that you have set up the die to do its job with minimum brass working.

You can of course do exactly the same with case shoulder gauges and a good pair of  calipers .... the instant indicator is just much quicker and more consistent for me.

Cheers

Anthony

I guess we're all doing it or should be doing it, setting up our full length sizing dies for correct head space that is, but I think  it would also be worth going over why we are doing it?

I was taught that it is preferable to full length size cases after each firing to ensure that I didn't get a case that was difficult to eject while in the middle of shooting for record. And that adjusting for minimal (.001-.002) head space increases the life of the cases while also allowing the bolt to be closed without too much force.

So my understanding is that setting up sizing dies correctly will not have an affect on shooting small groups in itself but let's say if a case gets stuck from not full length sizing or sufficient head space bump and I've got no sighters left with one or two record shots to go. If the wind changes before I can eject the case then the chances of shooting a small group are reduced because the momentum of the string of shots has been interrupted and a new set of wind conditions are in play.

I use a set of Redding competition shell holders and a head space bump gauge with calipers to measure the shoulder set back. I also close the bolt on a sized case to feel how easily the bolt closes.

I'm interested to hear others thoughts.

  It is possible to size cases with "reasonable" accuracy without using shoulder bump gauges, callipers or indicators of any kind.
It wasn't until I acquired a 2nd hand 6 PPC and then bought dies which came with a "bump" gauge that I knew what such a gauge even looked like….I actually had no idea what this thing was until I accidentally fell across an article, with pictures, which explained it's use….
If you don't have bump gauges or indicators you will need to go by "feel".
The object of the exercise is to size your cases by the smallest amount possible to achieve bolt closure with minimal pressure.
It's best to remove the firing pin because a reasonable amount of the tension you feel when closing the bolt is because of the cocking of the firing pin.
If you can't or don't know how to remove your firing pin you must be aware of the tension needed to close the bolt WITHOUT a case in the chamber.
Simply close your eyes and close the bolt multiple times "feeling" how much pressure is required. Then insert a fired case and do the same…closing the bolt with your eyes closed while "feeling" the tension…usually it will require more pressure to close when a fired case is in the chamber because the shoulder of the case is in firm contact with the shoulder of the chamber in the barrel.

If you are able to remove the firing pin you will notice the bolt handle will fall, with no effort required, to the closed position when inserted into the action (with no case in the chamber). Now insert a fired case into the chamber and close the bolt…if the bolt still falls to the closed position without effort the case is probably undersized. If it requires a lot of effort to close the bolt then the case definitely requires sizing as the pressure you are feeling is the case shoulder being pushed into the chamber shoulder.

You must now set up your full length die so that it sizes the cases allowing the closing of the bolt with the tiniest amount of additional pressure. You could wind you die so that it just touches the case holder and then wind it out a good half turn or so. Select a case that is difficult to close the bolt on and size it in the die. Insert the sized case in the barrel chamber and try to close the bolt.If it is still difficult to close you will need wind the die in a fraction further. You might need to repeat this process 5-6 times winding the die in tiny bit by tiny bit until finally the case shoulder has been moved enough for the case to be inserted into the barrel chamber and the bolt closed with minimal pressure.

This not the best method..I now use bump gauges to measure the amount of set back and find it much more comforting to know for sure how much resizing is actually happening but I can say that old method I used for years was still pretty accurate.

Regards,
Belly