Any Area419 M-Series Die users?
- Thread starter NiteQwill
- Start date
I have one for 6.5 CM and have resized some fired test brass. I'll do a batch once I have enough fired brass to make it worthwhile. The test brass I resized was not annealed, but still resized easily and finished case mouth size was right on at .002" under caliber size. Concentricity of the neck was .001 or better.
The hybrid turret was a bit of a pain since all my other dies are 7/8". I found the Lee die bushing adapter works to take the 1 1/4" slots back down to 7/8".
The hybrid turret was a bit of a pain since all my other dies are 7/8". I found the Lee die bushing adapter works to take the 1 1/4" slots back down to 7/8".
Looking forward to a future review
If you owned SAC dies, I was wondering how the Area419 die "feels" compared to SAC. In my experience, SAC dies are extremely smooth to size with.
I do have the older (non-modular) SAC bushing 6.5 die. I'd say they require roughly the same amount of force to size. If you already have the SAC die, I'm not sure it you'd see any improvement with the A419 die. The only advantage I can think of at this point would be the ability to finely adjust shoulder setback on the A419 die.
I may change my mind once I actually make ammo and shoot it. I also may just reinstall the SAC die for making 6.5 CM AR-10 ammo and use the A419 die for my precision rifle. The shoulder setback is different between the two rifles.
I may change my mind once I actually make ammo and shoot it. I also may just reinstall the SAC die for making 6.5 CM AR-10 ammo and use the A419 die for my precision rifle. The shoulder setback is different between the two rifles.
I took have a gen 1 6GT and a modular 6.5 SAC dies.
I guess my gain that I wanted to see is improvement in sticky bolt... Which allegedly the Area419 dies completely get rid of.
Is the sticky bolt due to base to shoulder being too long? If so you could just get the A419 modular shellholder system that allows you to adjust shoulder bump - can adjust base to shoulder longer or shorter - mostly shorter. There are traditional and Zero press versions.
ETA - I see you were probably referring to the "Reamer Cut to Exacting Dimensions for a TRUE Size (no more sticky bolt after the second firing)" feature.
Yep, I have a Zero with all the additions (shell holder, etc). I actually really like the press. Which I can't say about the 10's of other presses I have or have owned.
While the SAC dies are absolutely steller, I do get 1 or 2 cases every 100 rounds that has a sticky bolt. Not a big deal but definitely slows things down at a match by pulling me off target if I'm not expecting it.
While the SAC dies are absolutely steller, I do get 1 or 2 cases every 100 rounds that has a sticky bolt. Not a big deal but definitely slows things down at a match by pulling me off target if I'm not expecting it.
I measured brass sized by both the SAC and A419 dies and it measured exactly the same just below the shoulder and also at the base.
The only time I had a sticky bolt was when I sized the brass a bit too long (with the SAC die). That wasn't the fault of the die - I was trying to get exactly .002" of shoulder bump and it was slightly sticky on bolt open after firing. It seems I need at least a .0025" bump for my chamber.
I just sized 70 pieces of 6.5 CM brass with the A419 die. It worked very well, but the one thing I didn't like was needing to lube the interior of the case mouth so the mandrel wouldn't stick on the upstroke when it sized the case mouth. I didn't need to do that with the SAC die.
On the good side it was very consistent and I measured runout after bullet seating on all 70 rounds and the max runout was .001" (measured .002") on three rounds. Runout on most of the other rounds was .0005" or less and about 10% of them had zero runout - the indicator needle didn't move at all. Runout was measured on the ogive with a Sinclair Concentricity gauge.
On the good side it was very consistent and I measured runout after bullet seating on all 70 rounds and the max runout was .001" (measured .002") on three rounds. Runout on most of the other rounds was .0005" or less and about 10% of them had zero runout - the indicator needle didn't move at all. Runout was measured on the ogive with a Sinclair Concentricity gauge.
I just received mine yesterday and got it setup last evening so far it's great! Which is what I expected considering it cost $700+ to get it and a new hybrid turret. I am using Hornady Unique case lube and applying some on the inside of the neck with a bore mop. On thing I will say is HEAVILY lube both the Mandrel and sleeve with One Shot on the first use. The first piece I sized got stuck on the mandrel on the downstroke.
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