SmallCaliberCentral

I have a Redding body sizing die on the way and I'm looking for any tips/suggestions for bumping back the shoulder. I'm also considering the Hornady headspace gauge kit so I can establish a reference point. Any do's or don't would be appreciated.

I use Redding body dies for most of the rifle calibers I load for. When I use the body die, I use a Lee collet die to size the neck. You don't mention how you are going to do your neck sizing.

I keep a record of my rifle datums for each rifle. I keep track of: length after firing, length I can feel the bolt close on the sized brass, and what I want to size to. As you measure (and I also use the same Hornady Lock-N-Load headspace gage) you will find there is variation in the fired case length. Depending on how hot you load, it can take 3 firings or so to stretch the brass enough so feel the bolt close on it. So establish what your rifle chamber size is.

For bolt action rifles, I normally size to set the shoulder back 0.001" from the as fired condition (kind of the middle average of what I measure). For semi autos I set the shoulder back 0.002 to 0.003".

You can either use the Redding body die, or use the Redding FL type S sizing die without the neck bushing. Both will provide the same function of only sizing the body of the case without touching the neck.

Jepp2, thanks for your input. Most of what you have laid out I have been doing, I just needed some validation so I knew I was pointed in the right direction. I use RCBS dies and neck size only for the 204, 22-250, 25-06 and 30-06. Everything else I F/L size. I guess I'll be ordering more Reddings down the road as the other calibers start to show signs of a tight bolt. The Redding was very easy to set up and adjust. I think it was $32 well spent.