6.5 neck size die

Muskyhunter1

Muskyhunter1

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I have a couple of 6.5 rounds I load 6.5 Jap, swed and Carcano. I find the Jap and Carcano are really hard on the brass with full length sizing. Has anyone had any experience with a universal neck size die with these or other cals. I know Lee makes them but not sure about this caliber and Hornady makes them as well.

Thanks
 
Muskyhunter1 said:
I have a couple of 6.5 rounds I load 6.5 Jap, swed and Carcano. I find the Jap and Carcano are really hard on the brass with full length sizing. Has anyone had any experience with a universal neck size die with these or other cals. I know Lee makes them but not sure about this caliber and Hornady makes them as well.

Thanks
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I have never heard of a "Universal" neck sizing die, only caliber specific.
Just because 3 different cartridges use the same caliber bullet it doesn't mean that you will need 1 die to load for all of them since they have different cartridge lengths and diameters.

Keep in mind that some sets of dies come with multiple expander balls.
For example Lee 6.5 Carcano dies come with both a .265 and a .268 expander ball and no instructions on this.

Proper lubrication is also important. I only use Hornady Unique or Imperial sizing wax on tough to size cases.
 
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A Lee 6.5-300 WSM sizing die might work. Depends on the neck diameter of the rounds you're neck sizing.
 
I have a Hornady 6.5 mm neck die. It came with a rifle and I have never used it so I can't say how well it works but it does exist. Part # 044043. Muskeyhunter send me a pm if you are interested as I will never use it.
 
Doubt you'll find anything that isn't high priced for those cartridges. However, your FL die can be set up to neck size only. Takes a lot of fiddling and trial and error, but it can be done.
 
sunray said:
Doubt you'll find anything that isn't high priced for those cartridges. However, your FL die can be set up to neck size only. Takes a lot of fiddling and trial and error, but it can be done.
Click to expand...

Given the fact that Guy JR has one that he is willing to sell and that the catalog price in 2005 was $20.48 I think that 2 reasonable CGNr's can come together at a price that is not cost prohibitive.
 
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I have a Hornady 6.6 Neck size die. Works fine. Just normal type pricing if I recall, maybe even slighly less dollars than F/L size die.
 
Be aware also that the Hornady N/S die came in two different lengths, short and long.
I have the regular ( long) size and it works for 6.5 swede for me.
 
Iceman2 - Yes I have tried to back my die off about 1/8th of a turn but i find it still sizes the base a bit on the 6.5 Jap casings. One of the other members here suggested to use a 6.5 Swed full length size die on the Jap and the Carcano as he has had good luck on his Carcano. It seems to work well on the Jap brass but it only sizes about halfway down the neck (he warned me about this). I tried the Carcano brass in the Swed die but I was getting too much resistance (not sure why) so I chickened out. In the fall I broke my neck expander on my Hornady 6.5 Jap dies. I had to ordered it from US and it just came in the mail last week. Did not want to go back down that road again.

Thump_rrr - I believe Lee makes them too but have since discontinued the one in 6.5 cal. They were called collet neck sizer die or something like that. As you guys have found Hornady makes them also and caliber specific in short and long lengths. Good point about the neck expander .268 dia and the Carcano slugs. Never thought of that. I wounder if I were to put the .268 expander die from my Lee dies into the case neck without going very far into the full length sizing die - just enough to expand the neck to .268 dia. The other thing I could do is just use my Lee Universal case Neck Expander. The .268 dia bullets should push the neck open enough to permit the jacket .268 bullets to be held in place and hopefully without damaging the case shoulder.

Andy - Good idea I bet it would work. Wide base and short overall length.

Sunray - Yup it seems anything to do with the Carcano or Jap gets pretty pricey. I guess it comes down to supply and demand. Not much demand for the 6.5 Jap or Carcano ammo. I guess the guys in the US make 6.5 jap brass of out 220 swift brass (father round to the Swift) and the 35 Remington. Seems like a lot of work but you got to do what you got to do if you want to fire your gun. We are lucky we can get PPU and some Norma brass - so far in those calibers.

Guy JR came thru for me. Thanks Guy. I really appreciate that. Once I get the die from Guy I will post some pics and let you know how it works out.

Thanks for the great feedback lads.
 
I got the 6.5 Hornady Neck Sizing die from Guy JR (thanks Guy) on Friday. Last night I try it on 6.5 Jap and 6.5 Carcano empties and it worked fantastic. It resized the neck, knocks the primers out and it has a neck expander to open the neck too (.264).

The only challenge so far is you have to carefully adjust the die between each caliber. If you leave the decapping pin too low you will break it off (been there). Too high it will not decap the old primer. I found I set the neck sizer up and once that was working correct I set the decapper pin. Once you got going it was fast to size 50 cases. I did find I needed to put a bit of lube inside the case necks for the expander every 4th or so case.

My thoughts are the neck sizing die is a really good edition for every loading bench. It will extend the life of my rare brass and gives you a good chamber fit in loose chambers (6.5 Jap) once the brass is fire formed. Having said this if you could get by with just backing your full length die back I would. Good luck and thanks for the feedback and advice.
 
Backing out your die only 1/8 of a turn won't help much. I think I remember years ago Lee dies came with instructions on how to set your FL die to just size the neck. IIRC they suggested using a dime between the shell holder and the bottom of the die at full stroke.
 
sunray said:
Doubt you'll find anything that isn't high priced for those cartridges. However, your FL die can be set up to neck size only. Takes a lot of fiddling and trial and error, but it can be done.
Click to expand...

Takes hardly any fiddling to turn any FL sizer onto a neck only, lube your case, get a candle, light it, soot the neck and should of the case, raise your die about 1/4 of and inch from where you would do a FL size, the slowly lower the ram and see how much soot is removed, stop and tighten her down when see that the soot is removed 3/4 of the neck. FS
 
I have a Hornady Universal neck die for 6.5 that I had used for 260 Remington.
Took the challenge on loading some 264 Win Mag, and after some fiddling, it worked.
 
Guy JR said:
I have a Hornady 6.5 mm neck die. It came with a rifle and I have never used it so I can't say how well it works but it does exist. Part # 044043. Muskeyhunter send me a pm if you are interested as I will never use it.
Click to expand...
GUY JR. IF YOU STILL HAVE THE 6.5 MM DIE, I WILL BUY IT. JUST PURCHASED A 6.5 CARCANO AND A 6.5 PORTUGEUSE MAUSER.
p.m if its available thank you glenn
 
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