Custom Sizing Dies

[AllenP]

I have some questions.
I know you send the people who make these a few pieces of fired brass from the chamber you have right now.
I have a few questions.

Aren't these dies only custom to the chamber you sent fired cases from and not custom for your next re barrel?

How much variation exists between reamers in the body area. I know they are all SAAMI spec, but being within spec must mean there is a range with an upper and lower limit. I understand the neck can be ground at the dimension you want it.
What about the body of the case?
If a person orders a custom sizing die, must he use the same reamer for each re barrel to justify doing it?
I know you can get a lot of life out of a reamer but I know they don't last forever either.

 

[30SMK]

Re: Custom Sizing Dies

I am curious to your reasons for wanting a custom sizing die?

Honestly the only reason I would go custom is if it is a wildcat cartridge that dies are not usually available for.

If you truly want a die mated to your rifle chamber you would need it to be cut with the same reamer and then there is a chance that you would be screwed for your next barrel if it was cut with a reamer with drastically different dimensions.

If it were me and this is what I would do just get a Redding bushing FL sizing die and be done, you can customize your neck tension from lot to lot of brass and that is really all I want to do.

I am not sure the exact tolerances but there is enough of a difference between sloppy SAAMI spec chambers and tight target chambers.

 

[Fuzzball]

Re: Custom Sizing Dies

Custom dies sound kool but they offer very little real benefit. Custom means custom for a given rifle, meaning the chamber and bolt. If you change anything it's no longer custom and the die may or may not work next time but no one can tell you that ahead of time. Neck sizing makes the ammo about as custom a fit as is possible to obtain.

Even a 'sloppy' chamber is pretty tight. Asking how much tolerance is in the 'body' without specifying what cartridge and dimension you want is impossible, each dimension has its own tiny specification range that, in effect, is meaningless to us.

Chamber reamers do 'wear out' but no one is going to wear one out rebarreling his own rifle.