This is F'ed ,LOADING SUCESS!

I recommend the Forster dies as well. Last year I did a little experiment with my RPR 6.5cm.

I loaded 20 once fired and fully prepped cases sized with a Lee collet die and a 2 thou bump with a Redding body die.

I loaded 20 more that were sized with a Forster FL die, also with a .002 bump.

The bullets for both batches were seated with a Forster die.

I then shot 10 shot groups at 400 yards. The Forster groups were 0.3 moa. The Lee groups were 0.5 moa. The Forster rounds clocked a SD of 7 fps. The Lee rounds had an SD of 12 FPS.

The only difference in the loaded rounds as far as I could tell was the Lee collet die sized the neck to 2 thousandths neck tension, the Forster was a little looser at 0.015.
 
Also if you really wany to control neck tension you can take a few measurements and have Forster hone their FL dies to produce the neck tension (by measurement not trial and error) that you want. I believe the service costs $10 USD and can be performed on either your die sent in or a brand new one purchased from them. Not as tuneable as a bushing die but still better than a one size fits all saami die. Of course out of the box they are still excellent at around 2 thou neck tension IIRC.
 
+1 on the Forster seating die Kelly. I have the micrometer version but I don't think it's absolutely necessary. Forster full length resizing die / design also works well for me.

Good to hear the the Remy brass being a positive. The VLD chamfer helped me out as well...I forgot to mention that.

Keep on it. You'll get it figured out. If it was a cartridge I had, I'd send the Forster stuff for to you to try. :50cal:

Regards
Ron
 
+1 on the Forster seating die Kelly. I have the micrometer version but I don't think it's absolutely necessary. Forster full length resizing die / design also works well for me.

Good to hear the the Remy brass being a positive. The VLD chamfer helped me out as well...I forgot to mention that.

Keep on it. You'll get it figured out. If it was a cartridge I had, I'd send the Forster stuff for to you to try. :50cal:

Regards
Ron

Thank you for the offer Ron ,

I should be getting a call back from Hirsch Precision shortly , he is going to see what we can put together and hopefully get something sent out, he is going to look into options for different sized expanders and get back to me as well as seaters.

Hopefully get this figured before it's time to shoot anything with legs. ;)
 
Got the FL Forster today.

Sized some virgin RP brass, was at around 0.003" to 0.004" interference.

Annealed those same cases, ran them through a second time and now I am at about 0.002" interference fairly consistently.

I'll do some loads for the weekend and if it isn't hot like the surface of the sun , I may head out to give it a go on target.
 
Hope the Forster work out for you. I have been going out early morning to do my load development, one perk of farm life is no driving to shoot.

I'll know for sure when I seat some loads.

I do have to travel a bit to hit the gravel pit but yes, it would be nice to just shoot out the back door.

Could changes loads right then and there!
 
Well, it is a success, so I'd like to thank all that contributed to the problem solving.

I loaded 20 rounds this evening , the COAL deviation was a maximum of 0.002".

SO here is what I did to solve the issue which could be but a few different contributing factors.

I acquired new virgin RP brass as I wanted to start from scratch with brass that I have confidence in.

1.Annealed the virgin brass necks.
2.Sized annealed brass, f/l, with new Forster die.
3.Trimmed necks , some didn't lose any materials some were up to about 60% removal, average wall thickness was approximately 0.010"
4.Sized brass once again, f/l, with new Forster die.
5.Charged and seated with RCBS standard die which I drilled out as to push further down on the ogive.

So, what it wasn't - bad press , compressed load, calipers, or moon phases.

Interference is right around 0.002"

I will head out tomorrow and am optimistic that I will at the very least get 3 shot MOA groups , we know the rifle is 1/2 MOA capable.

I do feel that the finicky nature of the LRAB exponentially contributed to the inconsistencies.

Photos of targets will be posted after my trip tomorrow, if I have bad results I will pacing the northern reaches of Saskatchewan mumbling to myself until i expire from exposure and malnourished.

Again, thanks to the collective brains.
 
So it sounds like the problem was a neck tension issue of the old brass?

Jerry

Yes to the neck tension issue but I’m 99% certain now that it was the sizing die which was most likely squeezing the neck too tight as before I got the Forster die the Hornady and the RP brass suffered the same fate through the RCBS dies.

Expander ball being the same(diameter) on both dies but having 2-3 thou. difference of the ID points me to that conclusion.

I gained approximately 0.002” on the RP from changing the die.

I’ll size some of the Hornady brass in the Forster die at some point to see if the brass holds it diameter the same.
 
Just curious why you annealed new brass? It’s already soft. Also the twice sized with the FL die? That just work hardened the neck some. Glad the new die is more consistent for you.
 
Just curious why you annealed new brass? It’s already soft. Also the twice sized with the FL die? That just work hardened the neck some. Glad the new die is more consistent for you.

I wanted to eliminate the potential that it wasn’t annealed consistently , peace of mind.

As for the second sizing , I just wanted to ensure the necks were consistent after potentially being deformed on the neck trimming pilot.

Range report - S H I T

Now that I have consistent loads I will have to go back a few steps on load development as I based my current load on old tests with the inconsistent brass.Thought I could get lucky.

I may even give Retumbo a try.
 
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I wanted to eliminate the potential that it wasn’t annealed consistently , peace of mind.

As for the second sizing , I just wanted to ensure the necks were consistent after potentially being deformed on the neck trimming pilot.

Range report - S H I T

Now that I have consistent loads I will have to go back a few steps on load development as I based my current load on old tests with the inconsistent brass.Thought I could get lucky.

I may even give Retumbo a try.

... interesting. The second sizing got my attention. I wouldn't have predicted this kind of outcome. Seems like the neck tension might have been worked out however another variable causing inconsistent paper results. Significant case volume or bullet variation?

Regards Kelly,

Ron
 
... interesting. The second sizing got my attention. I wouldn't have predicted this kind of outcome. Seems like the neck tension might have been worked out however another variable causing inconsistent paper results. Significant case volume or bullet variation?

Regards Kelly,

Ron

We will find out once this heat wave comes down a bit.It was 20C the other morning at 8 a.m. , not what I want to load test in.

I've loaded two ladder tests , one for 7828 and Retumbo.Yeah, basically starting from strach but at the very least I have a seating depth that seems like a start.
 
Surprised to hear the moon phases were ruled out. That was a strong contender in my eyes. Now it would be a good idea to test your old brass without annealing to see if it was in fact your sizing die. At any rate I'm happy to hear it worked out.
 
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