Redding FL 9MM Sizing Die

[243winxb]

Thoughts

Looks great. If anything, the col may be a little long? Less crimp.

Remember, this is a steel die. It will maintain the case taper when sizing.

 

[Dudedog]

If you are considering another sizing die I can say I have 3, 2 Lees and 1 Hornady.
The Hornady is soother becaus ethey use some kind of fancier carbide ring (TI something maybe??) but both my normal Lee dies size tighter so I use them.

 

[Mark_Mark]

This thread is amazing! I read every post here like it was a mystery novel.

 

[NMexJim]

Mystery?!? There are times during reloading that a mystery will indeed crop up. I've had to scratch both my head and my butt, go away, come back, read, re-read, research, and then, bam, the answer has been there all along right in front of me. Mostly w/ rifle.

Always there is an answer and a better way to do things. That's what makes this such an entertaining pursuit. I learn something every time I sit down at the bench.

 

[murf]

do your loaded rounds pass the "plunk" test? if so, i don't see a problem here.

luck,

murf

 

[NMexJim]

Ahh Jeeze. After my incorrect die info last night, I went red-faced into the loading room this morning. I measured an un-fired case and then took it through the FL and the Expander without trying for a bullet flare. Here are my measurements using all Winchester brass:

• Fired case
  • Mouth .384 OD
  • Mouth .357 ID (.355 bullet should drop-in)
  • Down at the web/head .391
• Through FL Sizer
  • Mouth .377 OD (so your dies are right on at this point)
  • Mouth .350 ID
  • Web/head .390
• Expander
  • Mouth .380 OD (expanded out .003)
  • Mouth .354 ID (expanded out .004)
  • Wed/head unchanged

The "expander ball" is actually called the "case plug" and is part of the expander die. The upper part of the expander plug is where you flare out or bell the case mouth for ease of placing a bullet prior to seating.

So, a three-die pistol set is kinda like a two-die rifle set in that you compress down and expand back out to desired dims, but the rifle only needs two dies to get the job done. No flare required. I don't know how I got off on a rifle die last night other than it was late. Anyway.

The two dies - FL and Expander are required to take a fired case back to a reloadable condition with the case plug re-profiling the case after FL compression which also gives enough neck tension to hold the bullet.

I can't remember ever noticing the taper as in your photo, but the mic shows it's there. SAAMI calls for .391 at the web and .381 at the mouth as you've shown in the drawing.

As far as final loaded OD dims, I was taught way back to mic the bullet, then mic the thickness of the wall at the mouth x 2. So, .355 bullet + (.012 wall x 2) = .379. Note that your case and bullet may be different. This would be the dim I would shoot for. I think .373 is too much crimp. Adjust your seater die to relieve this. Some use .375 and some .379. It's what works for you. I don't like to have so much crimp that I engrave the bullet. I think it messes with accuracy.

I'm enclosing a scan of my Redding die instruction in case you don't have one.
Also a picture of a flared case.

These days, I just take out the flare at seating. In fact, I use .380. I happened to have mic'ed the taper crimp for all the factory ammo I have. Here's what I found.
1. Winchester white box - .379
2. UMC - .382
3. Federal - .380
4. Amerian Eagle - .381
and:
1. Rem Golden Sabre - .382
2. Fed HST - .381
3. Fed Hydra Shok - .381
4. Win Ranger T - .380

Hope this helps. Keep plugging away.

Jim

I was in my loading room after this thread died down, and I was wondering just how your cases came out the way they did. I've never had an issue w/ any Redding die, and I've always felt their quality was second to none. So, I started re-reading the instructions (I attached a copy for you in the original post) over again. Under Resizing and Decapping, there is a section with an asterisk, and it says:

** This adjustment (meaning touching the die to the shellholder) works best for most cases. However, you may find that adjusting the die away from the shellholder slightly may produce better appearing cases. **

My guess is that there is some dimensional aspect involved with your press that would require you to back off the die a bit to get the correct resize. I would also guess that doing so will bring the head area back to SAAMI spec rather than being undersized as shown in your measurements.

Of course, if you've got the Lee dies working well for you, then that's fine too.

I've used about every die out there. I've settled on Redding for rifle and Hornady for pistol. I just don't have any problems anymore. I sold off all of my Lee, Lyman and RCBS dies because I didn't use them anymore. I did hang onto the Lee Powder Dippers though. There is something to be said for volumetric measuring and they come in handy with working on powder density loading.

Anyway, thought you might be interested.