Full length bushing die questions.

[TheCoyote]

Ok I am 90% sure that I’m doing this wrong but there are 300 YouTube videos on this and none of them are quite the same.

Should the die be touching the shell holder or not?

Pull the “sizer ball” out or leave it in?

I’ve noticed that the shoulder (not the OAL) is getting longer by a few thousands and I think it’s that ball stretching the case on the way out.

What is with all the different size Redding shell holders? Do I need these?

How much of the neck should be sized with the bushing? Current setup only has about half of it getting bushed.

 

[T_Widdy]

Should the die be touching the shell holder or not?

Depends on your chamber headspace, your die might not have to touch the shell holder to get what shoulder bump you desire or it might have to and even have the press handle cam over to get enough bump

Pull the “sizer ball” out or leave it in?

Depends on your bushing diameter, the point of a bushing die is to not overwork the brass by choosing a bushing close to the diameter you’re wanting for neck to bullet interference “Neck tension”. A expander does help get a more consistent inside diameter as not every single case has the exact same neck wall thickness.

I’ve noticed that the shoulder (not the OAL) is getting longer by a few thousands and I think it’s that ball stretching the case on the way out.

I would say its just the brass moving and your not sizing enough to bump the shoulder back

What is with all the different size Redding shell holders? Do I need these

They are for if you can not bump the shoulder far enough and your press and shell holder you are using now is bottoming out

How much of the neck should be sized with the bushing? Current setup only has about half of it getting bushed.

Depends on what brand bushing you are using but most bushing dies will not size all the way to the neck. It also depends how far you have to top stop screw screwed in.

What cartridge, dies and bushing are you using?

 

[TheCoyote]

.300WM

Redding Type S Full Length sizing die

 

[T_Widdy]

.300WM

Redding Type S Full Length sizing die

O that’s a belted cartridge, I’m not sure on that.

Try pulling your expander and running the die down till the press handle cams over and measure your case again to see if its bumping the shoulder back

On the neck part, did you tighten the top screw down till it touched the bushing and then just barely back it off so the bushing will center?

 

[Truck24hr]

Do you need to bump the shoulders? If not, I just use the bushing for neck tension, and nothing else.

When they get hard to chamber, bump the shoulders.

Works for me

 

[wapitibob]

Yes, the die body should be touching the shell holder. That "cam over" will create a repeatable stroke distance. If the die produces too much shoulder bump with that cam over, use competition shell holders to get the desired bump. Those shell holders allow the case head to sit .001 deeper per holder, a total of .010" for the set.

The expander ball "may" pull the shoulder up but my experience is that it doesn't do it enough to really matter. It seemed to provide inconsistent neck dia results so I moved to a different process.

For a belted case, which I reload for, I have found my best results using a set of Redding Competition dies, and a Willis belted case collet die.

I use the Willis die to size the case body at the belt, and slightly above.
I then use the Redding neck bushing die to set neck dia (neck tension) with no expander or mandrel. I do this by stepping down with two neck bushings.
I then use the Redding body die to set shoulder bump and slightly size the case body at the body/shoulder jct (if that area it needs it). I do this as a last step so no other process could influence the bump. With the belted case, I want that belt to register on the chamber and the shoulder to be maybe .001 off the chamber shoulder. You can check the distance by running the case shoulder thru a WAX candle flame. The soot from the wax will blacken the case and you will see when it touches the chamber.

I have "cam over" on every die body that I use including the bullet seating die.

 

[satchamo]

I’m experiencing the exact issue on some 243 brass. It’s getting longer and Im making full contact with the die face.

My issue was my shell holder. I’m running Redding dies with a Lee shell holder and the Lee holder is too tall. I ordered the Redding competition set.

TLDR: match your shell holder to your die brand

 

[TheCoyote]

Ok thank you everyone this is good advice.

@T_Widdy thank you good advice. I tried this the shoulder definitely contacts the die well before the belt even makes it into the bottom.

@wapitibob This is brilliant! I was using dry erase marker! "You can check the distance by running the case shoulder thru a WAX candle flame. The soot from the wax will blacken the case and you will see when it touches the chamber."

If I have the shell holder cam over touching the base of the die it bumps the shoulder way too much. So buy the competition shell holders?

What I am hearing is that it is important to have the shell holder touch so that it is repeatable?
Because I can get a .002 shoulder bump on the case by turning the die out a little at a time. I will say it a bit of an art, a little too much pressure will push you off 5 thousands or so. It is really difficult to get is exact down to a thousandth's. If I have them contact and cam over it is dead nuts 0.001 every time?

I think that I'll just use the "sizer ball" on new brass with bent necks and then go outside diameter neck bushing after that.

Last question:
Does the shoulder smash out to the full chamber size every time you fire?
New Nosler Brass measured with comparator: 2.265"
Once fired: 2.273"
I bumped the shoulder down to 2.71"
After firing them again they still measure 2.71"

Im assuming that if it isn't high pressure load that maybe the case does nothing? I was shooting 1.5gr. under max load.

 

[wapitibob]

I use a 30 caliber expander ball that I turned down and use it like an expander mandrel and run through all of my case next as a first step in case any of them are bent, and it will push the next out to the same size as my fired brass neck so that everything Starts at the same position before I run up through the neck bushings. I’m reloading for a 7 mm STW.