AckleyHelp! Why are my necks bent?

deerslayer

deerslayer

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I ordered a F/L die for my 280AI from lee last dec. and it sized all cases with the necks slightly bent , bullet runout was terrible , sent die back to lee , lee sent back the same die , tryed to size some brass, same out come. I beleive a full size die should size a case to the correct measurements.What would cause this , I use the same press for my 243 and so it's not the press , swapped the xpander rod with my 280 rem die ,different die adjustments,just can't think of any thing else to do.If I use my 280 rem collet die , no problem the ackley case comes out with a straight neck.:confused:
 
deerslayer said:
I ordered a F/L die for my 280AI from lee last dec. and it sized all cases with the necks slightly bent , bullet runout was terrible , sent die back to lee , lee sent back the same die , tryed to size some brass, same out come. I beleive a full size die should size a case to the correct measurements.What would cause this , I use the same press for my 243 and so it's not the press , swapped the xpander rod with my 280 rem die ,different die adjustments,just can't think of any thing else to do.If I use my 280 rem collet die , no problem the ackley case comes out with a straight neck.:confused:
Click to expand...

Did you sned them a few fired cases when you ordered the die, or did they send you a stock die?
I'm wondering about thee neck length inside the die body.
Have you tried backing the die off a bit first?
cat
 
LEE?
You get what you payed for.
Might I suggest following Cat's recomendations about fired cases, and if the same result go Green, not the dark Green but the lighter green (Redding)
 
It can happen with any company...

If the case after firing rolls true and straight and then after being in the die, something is wrong with the die...

Try sizing another "true" case without any decapper/expander ball assembly... if that case stays true after sizing, then there is something wrong with the decapper/expander ball assembly... if it comes out crooked you have a die warped on heat treatment.

Over 40 years I have had several RCBS dies this way... eventually they were replaced under warranty... sometimes it took a couple of trys..

I have not experienced that problem with Bonanza Benchrest Dies by Forster nor Redding Dies...
 
Check the runout before resizeing, resize without the expander button, and check the runout, then check the runout with the case resized with the expander. This should pin point the source of the problem. I would send the die to the gunsmith that cut the rifle chamber, and get him to chamber the die so it sizes the neck without the expander button (neck thickness X 2 + bullet diameter), with minimal set back to the shoulder, just enough for easy chambering.
 
Just curious, are you sizing brass that's been fired in your AI chamber, or sizing regular .280 brass??
 
Thanks for the intrest guys , after staring and rolling cases on the table I noticed that the extraction groove line on the case looks wobley when the case is rolling , is this a sign of not seating my bullets out far enough into the rifling and strecthing has occured in the web area when I fire formed the 280 cases? Some cases are really bad others are okay ,some cases were factory ammo , others were reloads I put together to just touch the rifling , on the bad cases if you stand them up you see them lean to one side, and since the die does not size this part of the case , die is probally okay , or next theory is my barrel is not square to the action, and I'm hopeing that's not the case.
 
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Fireforming tips for reloads
1.seat bullets into lands to provide backpressure on bolt face
(this tends to center the cartridge and prevents firing pin from shoving case forward leading to case separation or thin spot rings generally near base)
2.Litely lube cases so the Stretch will be uniform
3. if not seating bullets to lands,size up the neck then downsize only partial of the neck to create the false shoulder where needed.This keeps fireforming process uniform on brass .(example for a 6.5 caliber expand necks to 7mm and then size necks only partially to 6.5 down to point wher you can feel slightly snug bolt closing.
4.You can fireform brass without bullets using (I use old tumbling media and paper wadding) and use a Fireforming tube cut with the same chamber dimensions and mounted in an old action.
In reality, a standard case should close snug on Ackley chamber headspacing off the same datum line but have found that this generally doesn't happen on rechambered guns.Usually the Ackley shoulder ends up a wee bit farther forward of standard datum line.Although you can chamber and fire factory rounds in that chamber you tend to get non uniform expansion unless you move bullets forward by pulling and reseating to seat into lands or creating false shoulder.
Don't forget lite case lube as this prevents the case from expanding and grabbing chamber walls and will allow for more uniform expansion(although it will increase bolt thrust during process)
If reloading and not using factory ammo,you may need to work up to a load that fireforms completely on first "hit".Generally a wee bit less that full load charge.
In my experience I have found Redding Dies to work extremely well in ALL my
wildcats and Acklified chamberings.
However I found that in MOST cases Improved cases are far superior to parent case.
 
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