straight wall sizing?

[x_wrench]

how do I set up my straight wall resizing dies to work the brass as little as possible? do I simply just keep adjusting them until the case will hold a bullet? of course, all the brass would have to be the same length to make this work.

 

[mcb]

What cartridge? Most straight wall cartridges want to be sized all the way down. Trying to size less it not going to make your brass last much longer and with a few straight wall cartridges it might actually shorten life.

 

[WeekendReloader]

The dies should have come with instructions.

My LEE dies say to raise the ram, screw the die in to touch the shell holder, then a little more (don't have them in front of me at the moment). Look online for your die manufacturer and they should say how they expect their specific dies to work. It should be quite clear.

 

[243winxb]

RCBS news letter has said neck sizing can be done to straight walled pistol brass. Have the carbide ring size just below the base of the bullets. Didnt work for me.

do I simply just keep adjusting them until the case will hold a bullet?

A steel die, like 45-70 GOVERNMENT has a taper. , so yes, should work. Reduced neck tension may allow other bullets in a revolver cylinder to jump crimp. No issue if a single shot.

 

[buck460XVR]

Where most straight walled brass fails the most from work hardening is at the mouth, mainly from belling and crimping. This would be worked and needs to be worked, regardless of how your dies are adjusted for neck tension. Using minimum flare and as little as crimp as needed for bullet retention/feeding is the key, but even then, after a while, if you use the brass long enough, you will get splits/cracks at the case mouth. Just the price of doing business.

 

[Charlie98]

Bad idea... at least for straight-wall revolver brass. Fireforming rifle brass for your specific chamber is one thing, but a revolver has 5, 6, or more 'chambers,' sometimes very different from each other. It's likely you'll run into problems trying to chamber cartridges that have not been fully sized.

My experience has been opposite of XVR's... the majority of my pistol brass has failed from cracks in the side of the case, not necessarily fatigue of the case mouth, but he is correct... it's just the price of doing business. Brass is a wear item.

 

[Catpop]

Yeap- full length resize, use minimum belling for your application, shoot them till they split, whack with a hammer as soon as you see split ( so you don’t forget, BTDT), carry to recycling yard.
That about sums it up

 

[lightman]

On the straight wall cases that I load I try to size the full length of the case. With steel dies I adjust the die to touch the shellholder plus about 1/8th turn. With carbide dies I adjust them to be about the thickness of a business card away from the shellholder.

Experiments with partial sizing didn't work well for me.

I don't worry about the wear and tear on the brass. Like Charlie said above, its the cost of doing business.

 

[dredd]

If your goal is to extend the case life, there is also the option of Annealing.

That is another can of worms in itself.
You'd have to determine if the effort & expense are worth the reward.

I Anneal my 45 Raptor Brass.
There is no telling how long this brass will stay on the market, so I plan on keeping it healthy for as long as I can.

 

[mcb]

If your goal is to extend the case life, there is also the option of Annealing.

That is another can of worms in itself.
You'd have to determine if the effort & expense are worth the reward.

I Anneal my 45 Raptor Brass.
There is no telling how long this brass will stay on the market, so I plan on keeping it healthy for as long as I can.

I though you could form 45 Raptor from 30/06, 270 Win and any other cases based on 30-06?

How do you like that cartridge? Seem like it would be a fun cartridge, 450 Bushmaster bigger meaner brother for the AR-10 platform

 

[dredd]

Back when this round first came out, there wasn't enough info around yet on the success of making your own brass.
I bought a bunch of brass and moved on.
There used to be a Raptor Forum, but it's not around anymore.

I really like this cartridge.
Using the Hornady 300/gr XTP Mag (Bowling Ball), I am getting Sub-2.00" Groups.
It settled in at 2,150/fps for me.


To the OP.... Sorry about the Hijack

 

[9mmepiphany]

how do I set up my straight wall resizing dies to work the brass as little as possible? do I simply just keep adjusting them until the case will hold a bullet?

Redding Dual Ring Carbide Sizing die.

One ring for optimal neck tension, the other to correctly size the body without over working the brass. Only available for straight wall cases...not 9x19mm

 

[Riomouse911]

If your goal is to extend the case life, there is also the option of Annealing.

That is another can of worms in itself.
You'd have to determine if the effort & expense are worth the reward.

I Anneal my 45 Raptor Brass.
There is no telling how long this brass will stay on the market, so I plan on keeping it healthy for as long as I can.

Ya, like brake pads and wiper blades, brass is going to eventually wear out. Babying brass like your .45 Raptor that is either limited in number or pricy makes really good sense...and annealing the case mouths just may give you more life from them.

.38/.357/.41/.44/.45C? Not so rare, easy to replace. As you said; is it worth the extra cost. time and effort?

Stay safe.

 

[rfwobbly]

It's not the Sizing process that works the brass which ultimately leads to case failure.

• More often than not, it's the "belling process" (in preparation for bullet seating) that over-works the brass. Reducing your belling, or case mouth "flare", to a minimum amount will go a long way toward saving your brass. And then, roll crimping works the brass in the opposite direction. Minimize both.
• The second common way brass is "over worked" is by the Load. High power loads simply work the brass harder. Often times you can double or triple average case life by simply using lower "target loads" for target shooting.

Hope this helps.