While I was in South Africa a few weeks ago I managed to pick up a new sizing die that's made there. I actually got to meet the man behind the magic through an introduction by a mutual friend. I got to see and use the die and I was super impressed. So impressed I had to have one. They have a standard (though still super precise) die for SAAMI/CIP chambers and a "Custom Collection" version for those of us with more persnickety requirements. I got the custom collection version made to my specs while I was in country. I also got to have a nice chat with Jaco, the man behind the magic, about how the things were made and some general chit chat. Turns out, the level of precision they craft these with apparently required a ton of effort just in building testing instruments so they could measure sufficiently precisely to hold their amazingly tight tolerances.
The box is nicely jointed and finished wood.
Inside everything is set in custom cut foam. Given the precision, cost and purpose, you'll want to keep things orderly and clean and not bumping into each other.
All of the little bits from the die kit.
All the mechanical stops are in the die itself so it's a little different to use than I'm used to but dramatically different. It does mean the die can move from press to press without readjustment of the die. One tiny bit of note, it's not a standard 7/8" die body. It's a 1"-14TPI body so a different press bushing is on order for my RCBS Rockchucker and I'm having a local machine shop cut one of my Dillon tool heads for it.
The benefits for me are setting of neck tension & head spacing very precisely. It came with 5 neck bushings at .0005" increments. Normally I neck size only until I have to bump the shoulder back but that causes issues with rounds that decides they won't chamber without a lot of force to close the bolt. Slows me down in a match and breaks my concentration. There are click adjustments on the die for the shoulder bump which I've seen and measured to be extremely accurate. Want to knock the shoulder back .0015, 3 clicks. It works just that easily.
The cost is fairly high (retail is almost $600 shipped to the USA) but real precision costs real money. If I can't magically be a better shot, I can pay to take a little more slop out of my ammo.
It's a little different in how it works to other dies I've used in one nifty respect, the body sizing and shoulder bump happens first without touching the neck, then the neck sizing operation happens as its own part of the stroke and neck sizing depth is controlled by virtue of a shim pack that adjusts it in .0020" increments.
Hopefully I'll be processing brass by the weekend. Gotta check with the machine shop today.
The box is nicely jointed and finished wood.
Inside everything is set in custom cut foam. Given the precision, cost and purpose, you'll want to keep things orderly and clean and not bumping into each other.
All of the little bits from the die kit.
All the mechanical stops are in the die itself so it's a little different to use than I'm used to but dramatically different. It does mean the die can move from press to press without readjustment of the die. One tiny bit of note, it's not a standard 7/8" die body. It's a 1"-14TPI body so a different press bushing is on order for my RCBS Rockchucker and I'm having a local machine shop cut one of my Dillon tool heads for it.
The benefits for me are setting of neck tension & head spacing very precisely. It came with 5 neck bushings at .0005" increments. Normally I neck size only until I have to bump the shoulder back but that causes issues with rounds that decides they won't chamber without a lot of force to close the bolt. Slows me down in a match and breaks my concentration. There are click adjustments on the die for the shoulder bump which I've seen and measured to be extremely accurate. Want to knock the shoulder back .0015, 3 clicks. It works just that easily.
The cost is fairly high (retail is almost $600 shipped to the USA) but real precision costs real money. If I can't magically be a better shot, I can pay to take a little more slop out of my ammo.
It's a little different in how it works to other dies I've used in one nifty respect, the body sizing and shoulder bump happens first without touching the neck, then the neck sizing operation happens as its own part of the stroke and neck sizing depth is controlled by virtue of a shim pack that adjusts it in .0020" increments.
Hopefully I'll be processing brass by the weekend. Gotta check with the machine shop today.
