Thread: More Learnings and Questions Using Redding Competition Shell Holders.

Greetings All,
I posted a while back about moving to Competition Shell Holders for my rifles. I have worked through my .223 and .308 rifles without any problems as reported. Now the time has come to move on to the 6.5 x 55. I had initially intended to size my 6.5 x 55 cases by setting back from the shell holder and this has worked OK but there is a bit more variation between case length to datum than I would like. This may just be me being OCD but I thought that I could get a bit more precision using the Redding Comp Shell Holders. They arrived the other day and I sat down with my dial calipers and new toys. Unfired Lapua cases measured 44.85mm ot the .375 dia datum and fired cases in my T3 just about the same. A good result. Cases from a friends Ruger 77 6.5 x 55 measured 44.95 to 45.00 mm. Finally I got out the Redding +.010" shell holder and FL sized a case with the expander removed. This measured 44.7mm WTF? To be honest I knew that the die produced cases shoter than the chambers of either of my rifles just not how much. Cases have mostly been neck sized to date.
This leaves me considering options. I could go back to setting the die back from the shell holder but this would leave my fancy new shell holders unemployed or I could buy a new FL die and hope that the yanks have learned how long 6.5 x 55 chambers are in the last 30 or so years. This does have a downside in that my Lyman dies do not oversize the case necks for my Lapua and Norma brass as would likely be the case with new dies cut for the undersize US cases. Or I could try to find some 0.2 mm thick washers to fit between the die and shell holder or get a Redding body die. First step is to borrow some more recent dies and do some measurements with them.
At the time I bought the T3 the 6.5 Creedmoor was just becoming available and I thought about waiting for one. This would have eliminated all of the above problems but I would not have learnt anywhere near as much.
Regards Grandpamac.

It’s far easier to get a set of feeler gauges from super cheap, $6-$12 and 40 to 80 different thicknesses

Check the actual thickness matches the printed value then use the appropriate feeler gauge in the right place.

Beer/coke cans are almost exactly 0.1mm. Be easy to cut a couple of washers from that to test the idea and then wrangle up something a little harder as the permanent fix.

Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greetings All, I had initially intended to size my 6.5 x 55 cases by setting back from the shell holder and this has worked OK but there is a bit more variation between case length to datum than I would like. This may just be me being OCD but I thought that I could get a bit more precision using the Redding Comp Shell Holders.
Regards Grandpamac.

When you shoot these cases can you tell the difference @grandpamac?

My experience is that there are bigger sources of error in the shooting environment.
Unless you're a benchrest shooter you probably won't the differenc

I'm a minimalist reloader. u
There's many more reloading steps I could do, but until I can shoot more accurately I don't/won't invest the effort.

I mainly reload .308, full length every time, ultrasonic clean, prime, load shoot. Repeat.
Have recently started to trim and anneal when my cases got to 2.025 - 2.030 long after 15 firings. The SAAMI spec is 2.015.

Originally Posted by Cyclops

When you shoot these cases can you tell the difference @grandpamac?

My experience is that there are bigger sources of error in the shooting environment.
Unless you're a benchrest shooter you probably won't the differenc

I'm a minimalist reloader. u
There's many more reloading steps I could do, but until I can shoot more accurately I don't/won't invest the effort.

I mainly reload .308, full length every time, ultrasonic clean, prime, load shoot. Repeat.
Have recently started to trim and anneal when my cases got to 2.025 - 2.030 long after 15 firings. The SAAMI spec is 2.015.

Thanks fror that @Cyclops,
I fully appreciate that this may be a lot of busy work for not much (if any) return and I have had a pretty minimalist approach in the past. These days the handloading is becoming the main event rather than a means to an end and I offer a window on my fumblings for others enjoyment rather than emulation. I probably have enough ammunition already loaded to see me out for hunting if I am brutally honest. I just follow my nose through most of this stuff. The case headspace measurement has led to a better understanding of tolerances and the shell holders will help in loading more than one rifle in each calibre. At least it keeps me out of the saloons. A selective OCD does have something to do with it.
Thanks and regards Grandpamac.

Greetings All,
I have pondered a little more on my results with the 6.5 x 55 with the following results. The headspace dimension for the minimum chamber and the maximum case are often close together. Quite by chance my T3 seems to have a minimum chamber and the Lapua cases seem to be close to or at maximum. I probably shouldn't be surprised as both are made in Finland. The tolerance for chambers seems to be about 0.25mm (0.010") from min to max and the three rifles I have checked all fall within this range with the M77 and M38 close to max. The case tolerance seems to be a bit less, about 0.15mm (0.006") which would mean that a minimum case should measure about 44.7mm where it actually measures 44.45mm. This tells me that the dies are my problem. The dies are Lyman made in the late 1980's when 6.5 x 55 cases were not made in the US. I'll check some more modern dies to see if things have imoproved,
Before anyone has a spastic fit about the Hornady Headspsce Compariter not mesauring headspace I do know that but it does let me compare headspace which is what I have done here. The point is to warn other handloaders that some significant adjustments may need to be made to get your cases to fit the chamber. Short neadspace cases can easily separate and usually at the most inconvenient time.
Regards Grandpamac.