Posted by Anthony Hall on
URL: http://oldforum.flyshooter.com.au/Setting-up-your-dies-correctly-tp5707744p5707750.html

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