Thread: Can The Lee FL Die Do A Shoulder Bump?

Resize and then trim to length


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Lee loaders only neck size

@Rn-85 if you send me a pm we can do a video call and I can help you out with your reloading if you want.

Your Lee F/L die will be just fine for what you're wanting to do. Which is full length resize to the shoulder being 0.002" shorter than your chamber to avoid chambering issues.

look up partial length resizing...thats what you are doing now.....using full length die but not pushing things right back..just enough to chamber properly. as to if shoulder has moved??? in theory,just a little bit,same with squeazing side walls... when doing this on the tiny 7.62x39mm we can see a double shoulder EG can see the die doesnt go all the way down the neck as it would if die was wound right down.

I've only had tough chambering when I was neck sizing only with the lee loader.

308
Starline brass.

I'm doing it in batches so I've got 20 cases where I've reloaded them about 3-5 times so need to resize and reset them. Those ones I was trying to bump.

I've started a new batch of 20 which are new unfired brass.

I'm not running a super hot load only 42 grain of 2206h behind a 165sst.

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Originally Posted by Rn-85

I've only had tough chambering when I was neck sizing only with the lee loader.

308
Starline brass.

I'm doing it in batches so I've got 20 cases where I've reloaded them about 3-5 times so need to resize and reset them. Those ones I was trying to bump.

I've started a new batch of 20 which are new unfired brass.

I'm not running a super hot load only 42 grain of 2206h behind a 165sst.

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aha got you now...neck sizing using lee whackamole set??...... so do the full length resize back to spec...it will grow back on next fireing and then will be whackamolable for the next 5-6 times again LOL. so in effect youve only done the large growth once....not a big deal.

If I were you I'd leave the 3-5 fired cases for now, they probably need annealing so may be giving you measurement issues.

Shoot the 20 new pieces of brass and measure them all after on firing with the Hornady tool.
If they are all measuring the same then set the FL dies up so that it's just setting them back .002" off the fired size.
This should give you the most accurate measurements using what you have at hand.

The idea behind bumping the shoulder is that you do that after ever firing. The older method was to neck size only for 2-4 firings and then FL size before they start get difficult to chamber. But you really want to be avoiding them ever being difficult to chamber, so FL sizing them the bare minimum is the beat way to ensure consistency while not over working the brass.

The 3-5 fired cases probably need trimming, which may be contributing to your difficulty in chambering.
You should trim the cases after resizing.

Originally Posted by Beetroot

If I were you I'd leave the 3-5 fired cases for now, they probably need annealing so may be giving you measurement issues.

Shoot the 20 new pieces of brass and measure them all after on firing with the Hornady tool.
If they are all measuring the same then set the FL dies up so that it's just setting them back .002" off the fired size.
This should give you the most accurate measurements using what you have at hand.

The idea behind bumping the shoulder is that you do that after ever firing. The older method was to neck size only for 2-4 firings and then FL size before they start get difficult to chamber. But you really want to be avoiding them ever being difficult to chamber, so FL sizing them the bare minimum is the beat way to ensure consistency while not over working the brass.

The 3-5 fired cases probably need trimming, which may be contributing to your difficulty in chambering.
You should trim the cases after resizing.

You can also achieve great consistency by annealing every time and you avoid being a gorilla when sizing.