Newbie Question - Do I Need the 1/8 to 1/4 Turn Setting up FL Die

[TX_Diver]

Haven't reloaded in years and only did a little bit back then so forgive the potentially stupid question.

I'm loading .223 Rem for a Tikka T3x Lite.

The @Barney88PDC Hand Loading for Precision Rifle Thread made the most sense to me on how to proceed so I'm following that (minus some equipment differences).

Hand Loading for Precision Rifle (Pic Heavy)

Ask 10 different people how they reload and you are going to get 10 different answers. Here is how I do it. This is intended for a new reloader to be able to produce ammo with fired brass that has been resized to their chamber dimensions. It is not intended to be a benchrest, what is possible to...

www.snipershide.com

I'm using an RCBS Rock Chucker Press and RCBS FL dies for .223. My brass is 1x fired FC. I have 30 pieces or so fired 1x in this rifle, and about 150 that were shot through my AR w/ a wylde chamber.

Using my hornady comparator the longest piece fired through my rifle is 1.4590. It chambers with the same resistance as a loaded round in new brass. Most of the 1x brass were closer to 1.4565. The longest piece from a sampling of the AR brass was 1.4600. It also chambers in the bolt gun w/out issue.

Following the logic in Barney's thread, I want to bump the shoulder back 1-2 thou which would be between 1.458 and 1.459.

Not having the competition shellholder set I figured I'd approach this via trial/error to get the right setting. I put the ram all the way up on my press, and then screwed in my FL sizing die til it was touching and set the lock ring. Sizing one of the longest pieces of brass brought it back to 1.2485. Basically exactly what I'm looking for.

Reading the setup instructions on the RCBS die makes it sound like I need to add 1/8 to 1/4 turn AFTER I contact the top of the ram though which seems like it would add a few more thousandths to the re-sizing process?

So my question is if I can just keep rolling as is, or if I am missing anything by not adding that little bit of twist and getting the press to "cam-over"? Seeing as I'm getting steel on steel contact I have a hard time seeing how that 1/8" twist changes anything, but wanted to check before proceeding as I obviously can't go back and make them longer.

Cheers

 

[spife7980]

Since you are measuring with a comparator you can ignore the die instructions which were written for idiots who don’t measure.

 

[TX_Diver]

That makes sense. 1/8" turn seems to be 8 thousandths as far as I can tell from reading on some other sites. Seems like a lot seeing as my longest brass already chambers okay.

There's not zero resistance but there's no more resistance than loading any of the factory ammo.

Reading more on some of the other sites people were recommending to touch the shellholder, then back off an 1/8 turn. Guess the ask 10 people get 10 answer thing holds true.

 

[Rathmatik]

They suggest the additional 1/8 to 1/4 turn to eliminate any play between the ram and die. As spife said, it's not the best way to determine the correct setting, since you're not measuring anything with that method. I typically do a minimal (maybe 1/8 or less) turn so that it removes the play, then use the comparator to get it set correctly for headspace. I always have to lower the die more, usually the headspace is either above or at 0.000" (and I aim for -0.0015" to -.002" less headspace for bolt action, you might go for -.003" to -.004" for an AR) after the initial setting. That means that the die might not even reach the shoulders with the die touching the ram, hence having to lower it further.

 

[TX_Diver]

If my case is short does it matter if I don’t reach the shoulder?

 

[918v]

Your short case will pop the shoulder forward when you run it into the die.

 

[Rocketmandb]

Reading more on some of the other sites people were recommending to touch the shellholder, then back off an 1/8 turn.

That is a 100% completely arbitrary instruction. It's okay to find a starting point, but nothing more.

@spife7980 said it very elegantly in his response.

Steps when setting up the die:

1. Measure the case before sizing.
2. Size.
3. Measure the case after sizing.
4a. Is it less than .002" smaller than before? Screw your die in slightly and with the same case do steps 2 and 3 again.
4b. Is it more than .002" smaller than before? Put the case aside, get an unsized case, unscrew the die slightly (amount dependent on how much smaller) repeat the process.

 

[TX_Diver]

That is a 100% completely arbitrary instruction. It's okay to find a starting point, but nothing more.

@spife7980 said it very elegantly in his response.

Steps when setting up the die:

1. Measure the case before sizing.
2. Size.
3. Measure the case after sizing.
4a. Is it less than .002" smaller than before? Screw your die in slightly and with the same case do steps 2 and 3 again.
4b. Is it more than .002" smaller than before? Put the case aside, get an unsized case, unscrew the die slightly (amount dependent on how much smaller) repeat the process.

Basically I got lucky and my starting point was where I wanted to go I think haha. Can’t imagine I’ll have the same luck seating bullets but I’ll take it for now.

 

[CK1.0]

Erik Cortina put out a good video on youtube a little while back on setting up a FL die using a "somewhat unknown" caliper function to measure and setup/adjust the die. But, if you already have a comparator, then you already have one way to skin that cat. Either way works.

@spife7980 nailed it lol.