BrotherRockeye
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Rural Saskatchewan
I think he had you pegged as a mark an was gonna try to fleece ya...or he was lonely and wanted you to come back an hang around so he could feed you more BS 
Buying dies. Mystery procedure?
- Thread starter zimbu
- Start date
OK I maybe mixed up that bit of BS. He probably said that when he buys a new reamer he gets it made larger so he can get 40 chambers out of it instead of 30 and then resharpens it. Since it's tapered it seems plausible that it could be sharpened and shortened back to spec??
Either way, completely irrelavant to my reloading endeavor.
If you want to pay any of us $20 for telling you to get a regular set of FL 270 dies, just remember the only guy you quoted twice
Any set of RCBS, LEE, Redding, Hornady, etc, etc, etc, dies, will do just fine. Unless he personally reamed your rifle, he really has no more connection to it than I do, and I'm just some guy on the internet (who you can feel free to send $20 to). It is true that rifles can have different sized chamber than the dies, but that's kind of a bad luck thing more than a worry about it thing. If you're only going to be neck sizing for the most part in your bolt Tikka, then so long as you know how to set the FL dies to do so (trial and err, it's fairly easy), then exact size of the die doesn't particularly matter so long as the chambering is correct, of course.
I'm in the same boat, I only typically neck size for a pair of bolt action rifles, unless brass gets difficult to chamber, then I give it full length resizing. I don't obsess over little details, I get .75 inch groups at 100y, and that's good enough for anything I do (if I can bust clays at 200, I'm happy). If you're going for more than that, you'll be batching your brass, by brand, by number of firings, and possibly by weight/capacity. Even if you DO need more than I do, you still don't need any custom reamed dies, just more attention to detail will get you where you'd want to be.
You said he has a set of dies set aside, fell free to buy them, unless you really want to find someone else to buy from. So long as they are 270 Win FL dies, they'll work. He doesn't need to measure your rifle, doesn't need to check any brass, just so long as he's willing to separate with the dies, all is well
Any set of RCBS, LEE, Redding, Hornady, etc, etc, etc, dies, will do just fine. Unless he personally reamed your rifle, he really has no more connection to it than I do, and I'm just some guy on the internet (who you can feel free to send $20 to). It is true that rifles can have different sized chamber than the dies, but that's kind of a bad luck thing more than a worry about it thing. If you're only going to be neck sizing for the most part in your bolt Tikka, then so long as you know how to set the FL dies to do so (trial and err, it's fairly easy), then exact size of the die doesn't particularly matter so long as the chambering is correct, of course.
I'm in the same boat, I only typically neck size for a pair of bolt action rifles, unless brass gets difficult to chamber, then I give it full length resizing. I don't obsess over little details, I get .75 inch groups at 100y, and that's good enough for anything I do (if I can bust clays at 200, I'm happy). If you're going for more than that, you'll be batching your brass, by brand, by number of firings, and possibly by weight/capacity. Even if you DO need more than I do, you still don't need any custom reamed dies, just more attention to detail will get you where you'd want to be.
You said he has a set of dies set aside, fell free to buy them, unless you really want to find someone else to buy from. So long as they are 270 Win FL dies, they'll work. He doesn't need to measure your rifle, doesn't need to check any brass, just so long as he's willing to separate with the dies, all is well
actually setting up dies is pretty easy, I'd say five step process for the resizing die:
-higher shellplate
-screw in the die till it contacts shell plate
-lower shell plate
-screw in the die furthermore 1/8 of a turn
-lock the die with the lock ring
For the bullet seater well, that is up to the cartridge over all lenght you want.
that's what RCBS instructions advocate anyway
I'm still a newb too.
-higher shellplate
-screw in the die till it contacts shell plate
-lower shell plate
-screw in the die furthermore 1/8 of a turn
-lock the die with the lock ring
For the bullet seater well, that is up to the cartridge over all lenght you want.
that's what RCBS instructions advocate anyway
I'm still a newb too.
no i really mean furthermore, read RCBS instructions which can be found here:
http://www.rcbs.com/downloads/instructions/ReloadingDieInstructions.pdf
it's on page 5 of the pdf document, and noted page 7
"lower the shell holder and set the die 1/8 of a turn lower"
My ABCs of reloading advocated the same process
http://www.rcbs.com/downloads/instructions/ReloadingDieInstructions.pdf
it's on page 5 of the pdf document, and noted page 7
"lower the shell holder and set the die 1/8 of a turn lower"
My ABCs of reloading advocated the same process
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Interesting, as I commented to edmond privately, the directions for Carbide dies are different both in the Lee and RCBS manuals. I also just checked my Dillon manual and it also states just to come up to the plate.
I guess RCBS figure the higher friction of the steel dies requires the preloading as you state.
About 5 years ago I was loading some 243 on my Dillion with RCBS dies I had a case stick in the die
The shell plate ripped the extraction groove off the shell case
I found by raising the die 1/8 everything worked well
The brass was returning to the same gun it came from and worked well
The shell plate ripped the extraction groove off the shell case
I found by raising the die 1/8 everything worked well
The brass was returning to the same gun it came from and worked well
Carbide is inflexible and can crack, hence the recommendations are different than for all-steel dies. Nothing to do with friction.
OneBarfly
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Slightly off topic: Some dies for some calibers should touch or even rebound slightly off the shell holder when full length resizing. This practice with other dies/caliber will push the cartridge shoulder back too far: in this case, you want to be just off the shell holder. I had this problem with Lyman .303 brit dies, but not with any other of the 20 or so calibers that I reload for.
The reason that you preload is to make up for the extra resistance encountered when actually sizing a case.On a press that flexes under load or that has some slop in the linkages,you might not be able to fully size the case without some preload.
It sounds like the dealer wants to show you how set your dies up to minimum FLS and just kiss the shoulder. For a full length die, that is the perfect set-up. Depending on your chamber full length sizing can over-work your brass, and partial sizing with a full-length die can actually move the shoulder forward because the body brass has to go somewhere. Partial sizing is not the same as neck-sizing which requires a neck die.
If this is the case, then everything the dealer said about reamer wear, tolerance in dies, sloppy chambers and asking you to bring in 20 cases and your rifle makes perfect sense. It seems that he should just let you learn to walk before you run, and not concern yourself with "best" when you can have "good enough".
If this is the case, then everything the dealer said about reamer wear, tolerance in dies, sloppy chambers and asking you to bring in 20 cases and your rifle makes perfect sense. It seems that he should just let you learn to walk before you run, and not concern yourself with "best" when you can have "good enough".
If you want to pay any of us $20 for telling you to get a regular set of FL 270 dies, just remember the only guy you quoted twice
The cheque is in the mail buddy.
Thanks for the help!Back on topic, I say go back there to get your set up and dies and if he asks about your rifle tell him the CFO wouldn't issue an ATT for your .270 and thus you couldn't bring it, but you want the equipment anyway.
I may very well do that!
Maybe I'll take a picture of the look on his face and post it!Unless he changes his tune the next time I go back (sans the rifle), I'll likely buy from WSS up in Kamloops or Cabelas, unless I happen across something used in the meantime.
