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As per the title. I have access to a lee press and die setup. I've tried to bump buck the shoulder 20 thou but found the results slightly inconsistent.
I am setting the die up different to the instructions as I have a gap between the case holder and the die.
Maybe these dies only do a full length resize and I should neck resize a few times before doing another FL resize.
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If you set it up differently to the instructions it probably wont work?
If the die is sitting too high off the shell holder then you aren't even touching the shoulder.
I assume you are trying to bump the shoulder 2 thou not 20 thou?
Bumping more than .002" is unnecessarily over working the shoulder and neck.
What are you using to measure the shoulder bump? How do you know it's inconsistent?
Yeah, I have to start too high and slowly adjust the die till it is 2thou ( my bad, not 20thou) less than original. I use the hornady comparator tool. There is always a slight variation.Quote:
Originally Posted by Beetroot
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Might be getting a bit of spring back. Has it been annealed
Thats a real possibility. I do anneal but I try to only anneal the neck.Quote:
Originally Posted by blip
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You need to anneal neck and just past the shoulder.
So do most of you shoulder bump or fl resize? And can it be done with a standard lee die?
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I used to fl size now I just neck size. Seen the flavour of the month change a few times since Ive been reloading
Doesn't the case get too long for the chamber after 3 or 4 firings? Or the case get too hard to chamber?Quote:
Originally Posted by blip
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I trim the cases. Once they get hard to chamber I anneal and fl size
I dont actually measure. Having a good feel for mechanical stuff through my job I can tell by feel when things need doing. Others will rely on measuring etc
I think I'll go to that method after all I really like using my lee loader.
Is the correct process to trim before fl resize?
Sorry for the newbie questions.
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.
Its a good question and Dicko is correct. Folk do seem to confuse it tho. Just remember the case is length stretched in two actions. First is when you fire the round and the case expands to the form of the chamber which is always larger and longer to allow the round to be chambered. Second is when the case is sized forcing it back to original dimensions. Both instances cause the case to lengthen. The brass walls thin a tad under firing pressure and sizing. The brass has to go somewhere and it flows into extra length. You can test this by trimming to length say 50 cases before FL sizing. Then gauge again. A few will require retrimming. It won't be consistent because cases still vary in wall thickness in the body. And it will be a very marginal amount. Nevertheless it is enough to affect accuracy to some degree. In very tight chambers it may cause difficulty closing the bolt. In a tolerant chamber it probably makes little difference for hunting.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rn-85
FL sizing and bumping the shoulder is the same thing, bumping the shoulder the method of trying to work the brass as little as possible, rather than sizing it back to Sammi specs which would be unnecessary if using the brass in only one rifle.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rn-85
What brass are you using?
How many firings?
What cartridge?
Depending on all the above would help diagnose the issue.
Personally if you have slowly adjusted the die so that you have minimal bump and they all chamber, and the brass has only be used a few times, I'd just load them up and see what happens. Slight variations in brass wil make next to no difference for most shooters anyway.
So long as they reliably chamber that's all the really matters.
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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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.
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rn-85
You can also achieve great consistency by annealing every time and you avoid being a gorilla when sizing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Beetroot