Redding competition shell holders

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ryanthace

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Just curious if anyone has had success using these or are they a waste of money? I am starting to reload for my tikka in 308 and I would like an easy repeatable way to resize brass. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
 
They are made to adjust headspace by being of different height. No fiddling with adjusting the sizing die. Great if you use a single stage. Not needed if you use a turret press and keep your sizing die adjusted. Shim of know thickness over your actual standard shell holder will also do the job.
Both will keep the sizing die square with the shell holder. Make repeatable set up of the sizing die a snap.
Nice to have but not a necessity...
 
I use them for all my cartridges as well. It gives a consistent shoulder bump because you can cam over with the press handle removing all the sloop in the linkage.
 
If your brass is very consistent and your press is rock solid on top out you get consistent shoulder bump with the die backed out. I had a big uncomfortable discovery when I found a batch of 100 556 brass were anywhere from the 5 thou I set my die at to right at the same headspace they left the chamber at. The first 3 were all bang on so I assumed. I had to decap and resize 20 or 30 pieces and some took 2 trips and extra force. I realized my press wasn't stopping dead at top out, more handle pressure equaled more ram travel past the stop. This was on a Lee Breechlock Challenger, an admittedly wimpy press. Nevertheless when I switched to Redding Comp shell holders I was very happy to find every case bumped to the same measurement. The hard contact with the die prevents a difficult case from causing a problem. So for me, they are worth it for the cals I reload the most.
 
Lead hammer said:
They would be better if they were in 0.001" increments. I do not understand why they are not.
Click to expand...


Your brass spring back varies with the brand of brass and how many times the case is reloaded. Meaning the .002 increments between the five shell holders is good enough.

Pausing at the top of the ram stroke for 4 to 5 seconds will make the shoulder location more uniform with far less brass spring back.
 
Yup, I have two sets, one for standard cartridges and for magnum. Best thing for headspace and bumping the shoulder back to have a custom fit in the chamber. It also saves on brass life. Go purchase them!
 
bigedp51 said:
Your brass spring back varies with the brand of brass and how many times the case is reloaded. Meaning the .002 increments between the five shell holders is good enough.

Pausing at the top of the ram stroke for 4 to 5 seconds will make the shoulder location more uniform with far less brass spring back.
Click to expand...

I do a 3 second pause with mine. However I find when I set up the die, I'm more often than not am getting numbers in odds, when I need evens, if that makes sense. Example set die up with 0.010, use 0.006, get a 0.001 above or below the target bump, now you have to adjust the die to a different number. rinse/repeat. If they were in 0.001" increments, easy peasy.
 
Skip`s Die Shims from Sinclairs will do the same thing and are a fraction of the price for a package. I`ve used them for a while and would recommend them.
 
An option is Whidden's click-adjustable lock rings which have been evaluated locally with positive results:
With our Universal Click Adjustable Lock Ring (Patent No: 10,393,488) you can instantly turn your sizer die into a Click Adjustable Die. Our ring works with any 7/8 OD sizer of any brand with adjustable shoulder bump. Simple in design the inner and outer ring can rotate independently of each other. Each click is metered in true 1 thousandths adjustment and has .100’’ total available travel. Those loading for two rifles with different headspace can easily optimize the shoulder bump for each rifle.

We have also been asked if this lock ring will work with a seating die. All Whidden Gunworks Seater dies are Micrometer Adjustable however other Seaters that are not micrometer adjustable will benefit from this lock rings adjustable design. Even the simplest seater dies are now easy to adjust for different bullets or easily adjusted for testing different seating depths.
 
One of the handy side benefits is if you shoot two or several rifles of the same caliber. Setting dies constantly is a pain, and anything that can be set can be set wrong. That could lead you to sizing all your cases to fit the smallest chamber, or buying a set of dies for every rifle.

Maybe you don't want to buy more dies, or maybe you already have neck and full length, the same in bushing guise, small-base, body dies of both flavors and assorted boutique dies that are spoken of in awe and whispers. Suppose the thought of setting some or all of them is keeping you up at night is a state that is like a nightmare that you can't wake up from?

Well; all is not lost. Set your sizing dies and just change the shell holder instead of looking for your Allan wrench. Grampa's old rifle and that one from Sloppy Seconds Gun Smithing take the .010 over. That custom from Tightern Hades takes the standard. The last two and the next two factory rifles will take something in between (( pppssstttt, its going to be the 6, bet on it ;) )

Write the magic number down on the shell box and if you want on the label of your dies. Try to get some sleep. You're welcome. :)
 
The trouble with shims is you are working with an air-space and are at the mercy of press flex and linkage slop. The Comp shellholders pre-load everything and eliminate that variable.
 
peterdobson said:
An option is Whidden's click-adjustable lock rings which have been evaluated locally with positive results:
With our Universal Click Adjustable Lock Ring (Patent No: 10,393,488) you can instantly turn your sizer die into a Click Adjustable Die. Our ring works with any 7/8 OD sizer of any brand with adjustable shoulder bump. Simple in design the inner and outer ring can rotate independently of each other. Each click is metered in true 1 thousandths adjustment and has .100’’ total available travel. Those loading for two rifles with different headspace can easily optimize the shoulder bump for each rifle.

We have also been asked if this lock ring will work with a seating die. All Whidden Gunworks Seater dies are Micrometer Adjustable however other Seaters that are not micrometer adjustable will benefit from this lock rings adjustable design. Even the simplest seater dies are now easy to adjust for different bullets or easily adjusted for testing different seating depths.
Click to expand...

That looks great, thanks!!! I wish the set screws were tall with a knurled top. I may get one for my body die to try out. That in conjunction with the comp shell holders I have should be good.

Edit: $70 plus shipping, ouch
Skip's are $26 plus
 
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I find them a very worthwhile investment espically if you do not anneal your brass. As brass ages from repeated sizings the properties of the brass change and so does your shoulder bump. If you do not have these shell holders you a forever adjusting your sizing die. These shell holders eliminate this chore. As mentioned die shims are also another way to go. JMO
 
Dogleg said:
The trouble with shims is you are working with an air-space and are at the mercy of press flex and linkage slop. The Comp shellholders pre-load everything and eliminate that variable.
Click to expand...

Yes, and they force the die - and the case being resized - to be square to the shell-holder. I like them and use them for a lot of cartridges.
 
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