sequins
Member
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2014
- Messages
- 1,478
Hello friends,
I recently purchased a Redding small base sizing die in .223 Remington and I'm getting some weird results. I have the standard Redding shell holder as well as the competition Redding set (which increases the shell holder vertical dimension in 0.002" increments from 0.002" to 0.010", essentially pushing the die "farther" from the shell- this is meant to allow for precise shoulder bump without adjusting dies), and I'm comparing my datum line readings using the Redding Instant Indicator tool and the supplied brass milled SAAMI minimum dummy casing.
I'm prepping range pickup brass and I'm going to be firing it in an AR-15 so I got the small base die to get everything to minimum spec. When resizing "known" brass I use the competition body and neck sizers for a more precise fit to my specific chamber, but this is all off the floor at the range fired by who knows what rifle so I wanted to size it to minimum regardless of the cost to brass life. Most of my brass is about 0.010-0.014 above SAAMI minimum on the datum dimension and while I don't expect to get exactly minimum I do want to get close so I purchased the small base die.
Now, here's where it gets interesting: Using a random piece of brass I zero my comparator, then I size that brass, and then I put it back in the comparator to see how much I reduced it by. What's throwing me off is that my shoulder measurement is not moving like I'd expect... With any of the competition shell holders my shoulder measurement is actually increasing, and with the standard shell holder it's holding steady. I seem to be getting about as much shoulder "growth" as the measurement of the competition shell holder, ie. if I use the 0.002" shell holder my shoulder grows 0.002". If I use the standard shell holder I get the same measurement coming in as I get going out.
I find this quite odd and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.
Is there something I have incorrectly adjusted? Do I have a faulty SAAMI dummy cartridge perhaps? This seems unlikely because unless that fired brass landed on the ground at SAAMI min I'd expect to size it down some. Is something wrong with my sizing die, perhaps the die body is too long and I'm not contacting the shoulder properly? I'm unsure exactly what to troubleshoot but I expected to be significantly resizing my shoulder and if anything I was expecting it to be sized too much to start, not sized zero / growing.
Thanks in advance for the help!
I recently purchased a Redding small base sizing die in .223 Remington and I'm getting some weird results. I have the standard Redding shell holder as well as the competition Redding set (which increases the shell holder vertical dimension in 0.002" increments from 0.002" to 0.010", essentially pushing the die "farther" from the shell- this is meant to allow for precise shoulder bump without adjusting dies), and I'm comparing my datum line readings using the Redding Instant Indicator tool and the supplied brass milled SAAMI minimum dummy casing.
I'm prepping range pickup brass and I'm going to be firing it in an AR-15 so I got the small base die to get everything to minimum spec. When resizing "known" brass I use the competition body and neck sizers for a more precise fit to my specific chamber, but this is all off the floor at the range fired by who knows what rifle so I wanted to size it to minimum regardless of the cost to brass life. Most of my brass is about 0.010-0.014 above SAAMI minimum on the datum dimension and while I don't expect to get exactly minimum I do want to get close so I purchased the small base die.
Now, here's where it gets interesting: Using a random piece of brass I zero my comparator, then I size that brass, and then I put it back in the comparator to see how much I reduced it by. What's throwing me off is that my shoulder measurement is not moving like I'd expect... With any of the competition shell holders my shoulder measurement is actually increasing, and with the standard shell holder it's holding steady. I seem to be getting about as much shoulder "growth" as the measurement of the competition shell holder, ie. if I use the 0.002" shell holder my shoulder grows 0.002". If I use the standard shell holder I get the same measurement coming in as I get going out.
I find this quite odd and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.
Is there something I have incorrectly adjusted? Do I have a faulty SAAMI dummy cartridge perhaps? This seems unlikely because unless that fired brass landed on the ground at SAAMI min I'd expect to size it down some. Is something wrong with my sizing die, perhaps the die body is too long and I'm not contacting the shoulder properly? I'm unsure exactly what to troubleshoot but I expected to be significantly resizing my shoulder and if anything I was expecting it to be sized too much to start, not sized zero / growing.
Thanks in advance for the help!
Last edited: