Neck thickness checker???

Hey Dave, on the bumping question....

I was having a b!tch of a time getting my Redding FL die to bump my 6.5 shoulders more than .001 yesterday before the case holder would hit the bottom of the die. The brass chambered fine so I gave up and carried on. Was I doing something wrong??
 
Gunneegoogoo said:
Hey Dave, on the bumping question....

I was having a b!tch of a time getting my Redding FL die to bump my 6.5 shoulders more than .001 yesterday before the case holder would hit the bottom of the die. The brass chambered fine so I gave up and carried on. Was I doing something wrong??
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you using a rcbs shell holder? not all shell holders are created equal, the height of the ears varies from time to time so even though your shell holder is tight to the die the case is lower in relation to the die then it should be, screw the die down so you have a bit of compression, the slack between the shell holder and ram can be the distance your looking for to get the shoulder back. I tighten the die until it hits the shell holder and then give it another quarter turn just to ensure there is mo movement in anything (links and shell holder)
 
Gunneegoogoo said:
It was RCBS.... What is the best kind??
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screw your die down a bit first, if you still have a issue then order a redding shell holder. I have only had real issues with the newer production RCBS shell holders, the older ones seam to all be within spec and I haven't encountered a issue........yet but with that said I run number 3 shell holders on my primer, sizing press and bullet seater press all at the same time, but I don't mix my shell holders up from opperation to opperation as one of them is wonky, or more wonky then the other 2
 
Gunneegoogoo said:
I decapped a bunch it once fired .338 yesterday too....some were sticky as hell. Wonder if it was the same problem.....
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I am having issues finding a shell holder that works with my 338 LM brass, it seams that not all 338 LM brass is made the same and the extractor groove and dimensions vary from brand to brand, from what I have read redding is the best for the 338 out of all the offerings. some S&B will fit my RCBS shell holder, but only 1 of the 2 that I have, the other one will not fit any of it......so to those who always say they are made to saami specs.......I beg to differ
 
yodave said:
I am having issues finding a shell holder that works with my 338 LM brass, it seams that not all 338 LM brass is made the same and the extractor groove and dimensions vary from brand to brand, from what I have read redding is the best for the 338 out of all the offerings. some S&B will fit my RCBS shell holder, but only 1 of the 2 that I have, the other one will not fit any of it......so to those who always say they are made to saami specs.......I beg to differ
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Seems that way to me too. All of the brass I was doing yesterday was Lapua. I have a few S&B factory loads left that were given to me, and I think they're complete sh!t. The tolerances were brutal.

I have an order in with x-reload, so I'm going to get some redding shell holders......

-J.
 
If your in a rush and dont feel like being OCD these lil handy guages will let you feel and sort thicker necks. Not as good as ball mic with multiple sample points but works pretty darn good! The same company also makes primer pocket guages to see when your pockets are finished. The company that makes them is called Ballistic Tools.
 
thickness

I have the Redding Case Neck Concentricity Gage and with one twist of the case it tells you all you need to know. Meaning it much quicker than a ball mike taking severial readings. The Redding gauge quickly tells you if the case is even worth the effort of neck turning. Cases with wide variations in neck and body thickness will expand more on the thin side and warp.

Below the Redding gauge and a Remington .223 case with .004 neck thickness variations, and the reason why many reloaders buy Lapua brass. Some of these Remington cases had as much as .008 neck thickness variations.

IMG_2136_zps079ece9b.jpg


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Below you can't make a silk purse from a sows ear, meaning if I neck turned and neck sized the Remington case above it would still cause .004 misalignment with the bore. I full length resize these Remington cases and just use them in my AR15 carbine for practice at 100 yards or less.

neckcenter_zps94286f86.jpg


As a side note I have been buying once fired Lake City 5.56 brass because of its quality and cost.
 
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Thank you!!! My turning stuff should be here before new years, so I'll see how much time I have to get turning....

I'm excited to see how tight I can get the groups....!!!

-J.
 
Gunneegoogoo said:
I have jewellers scale that I'm going to play with to see if it matters over and above my chargemaster.
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I played around with all the neck turning, flash hole uniformity, primer pocket uniforming, etc and using a jewellers scale is where I saw the most improvement with group sizes at extended ranges.
 
JayCarver said:
I played around with all the neck turning, flash hole uniformity, primer pocket uniforming, etc and using a jewellers scale is where I saw the most improvement with group sizes at extended ranges.
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Hmmm....interesting. I read somewhere once that some guy doing load development with a rail gun found that it actually didn't matter - but I'm going to try it anyway!!!!

-J.
 
Gunneegoogoo said:
Hmmm....interesting. I read somewhere once that some guy doing load development with a rail gun found that it actually didn't matter - but I'm going to try it anyway!!!!

-J.
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it's more about the rifle then the brass prep, your action and barrel are what make the group size. Doing the berger VLD bullet seating tests I have shot more then 4 5 shot groups under MOA, just some end up better then others and or you tune out the vertical. But what does help is the mental aspect when you shoot, you know you treated the brass right and used extreme OCD when you reloaded the ammo.......
 
Related question:

If I'm going to turn my neck (which I am), to let's say .012", can I then assume that I should get a .330 bushing for my Redding die??

For my .300WSM

.308 + 2(.012) - .002 = .330

Does that make sense, or is that impossible to assume?

-J.
 
Gunneegoogoo said:
Related question:

If I'm going to turn my neck (which I am), to let's say .012", can I then assume that I should get a .330 bushing for my Redding die??

For my .300WSM

.308 + 2(.012) - .002 = .330

Does that make sense, or is that impossible to assume?

-J.
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your math is spot on, but then here lies the question of how much better will it shoot with either a .329 or a .331 bushing???
 
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