SmallCaliberCentral

It works great for the first and second firing, but after that it won't size the case enough, even setting it to touch the shell holder dosnt do it, When its set to touch the shell holder the case still dosnt go all the way in the die. When the bolt gets harder to close accuracy goes away, My gun shoots best with looser fitting cases, I wonder if trimming the brass first would allow it to size a little further. any suggestions? thanks
Ben

I've also got a set of Forster dies, and they work fine on one .204, but the other with a tight chamber doesn't size enough. I even sent in some brass to Forster to see if they could make me a die, and the answer was.......no. However, after a suggestion from Hornady, I tried a set of their dies, and they work for the tight chamber .204. You might try a set of Hornady and see if they will work for you. Hornady even said if their factory dies didn't work, they could make me a new die, after sending them some brass for measurements. Worth a try.......

Ben

Sounds to me like your getting slop in your press linkage. Screw the die in deeper than just contacting the shellholder and try again.

I use a Forster bump shoulder neck bushing die,so can't provide any experience with your exact problem,other than to second the previous reply,by possibly changing to a thinner shel holder (Redding has sizes),and cam over after touching the die.Forster has been receptive when I told them they had the wrong size bushings in their neck sizing kit.They changed out two ov the bushings that were too large.They will make dies.I have shot federl 204 brass 11 times in my LRPV without FL sizing,and recently bought a Redding body die,in case I need it for my G2 contender and Ruger #1 in 204.Hope you get it sorted out.

Hope I didn't give the wrong impression about Forster. They have been very helpful and have bent over backward to help me on reloading questions and issues. They told me they just didn't have the equipment to make a sizing die the exact size I needed. While on a pd trip, I ran out of ammo for my Phoenix, but had plenty for my Varminter.......so thought I would shoot it in my Phoenix. No go, ammo wouldn't chamber, or even come close. At night, we decided to try to find out just what the problem was. We cammed over, trimmed the brass, about everything we could do at the time. Not until I got home and started measuring with the calipers, did I figure out the problem, and answer. First of all, keep the brass separated, one size for each chamber. However, the measurement that was the issue was about 1/4" from the case rim, not the oal of the brass, neck size, or shoulder bump. As I said, the Phoenix has a "very" tight chamber.

I quess I should elaborate a bit. I agree with keith. It is quite possible your problem could be coming from a tight chamber body.
I have a semi custom chamber similar to what Keith may have. Set the headspace between that and a factory tube equal and theres no way brass fired in the factory will fit in the tight chamber.
Chances are good what your seeing is a headspace issue tho. Your brass is still growing/stretching and just now becoming a problem with your FL die not being set up correctly. If indeed your blowing out the webs after just 2 or 3 reloads your way HOT!!

Basically it comes down to this. Anytime Anyone is using a bump,body or FL die they need the capability (tools) to measure shoulder bump.
My original advice should get your brass to chamber. Its up to you to then determine how much your bumping back the shoulders.
Anything more than .002'' and something is wrong and needs fixing. Best advice is buy the tools and set it up right.

Joe O

Just an FYI. Redding comp shellholders come in thicker than standard sizes. If you want thinner you need to make them yourself.
Most of my shellholders have been modified (thinner) to allow me to headspace my Sav barrels tight to virgin brass specs.
Still haven't found a good use for the thick ones. I seem to get along just fine without relying on my shellholders for a dead stop.
Anyway, might save you a few bucks and disappointment if you need a thin shellholder and buy the Comp series looking for it.

Thanks for the tip on the Redding shell holders.I never looked into them,but I believe their main use is to easily control seating depth,without changing the seating die adjustments.I get the thinner for a headspace fix.Works,and cheap to do.

I recently had a similar problem with my hornady .270 WSM die for reloads in my Kimber 8400. The die was new out of the box, but it set the case headspace .007 longer that I wanted it (with the die set as low as it would go). I called hornday, shipped the die to them, and they ground down the die and sent it back at no charge. I use hornady dies for my .204 and have had no prob with the fit in my ruger m77 chamber.

Actually Joe they're designed to set shoulderbump while maintaing contact with the shellholder as a positive stop.

Lets say your FL die set to full contact with a standard shellholder bumps your shoulders back .006". Obviously excessive.
Pick the shellholder +.004" and that would give you .002" bump.
I do believe they come in .002'' increments. Not even sure without looking it up but they had best.

Occasionally you'll get a die that will not bump enough like Cephus 91. Send it back to be reground or thin your shellholder.

Vey good info.Us old farts learn something every day.Of course it may be something we already knew earler in life.LOL

I turned the die in another turn and that solved the problem, even though it was touching the shell holder before it wasnt lettign the case go up all the way, I really dont understand why but its working now. thanks

Joe O wrote:Vey good info.Us old farts learn something every day.Of course it may be something we already knew earler in life.LOL

Joe, your talking to a guy who can lose his keys between the truck and the bleepin front door


Glad its workin for ya Inrut. Go shootin!!!

Inrut24/7 wrote:I turned the die in another turn and that solved the problem, even though it was touching the shell holder before it wasnt lettign the case go up all the way, I really dont understand why but its working now. thanks

It's caused by slop between the shell holder, press ram and linkage, they tell us to set the die down against the shell holder and go a bit more. That's to counter what's called "spring back". Brass sized under compression will spring back a tad when relaxed. Gotta go a bit beyond where it fits to make up for spring back. Kinda like my belly - lean over the truck fender to change the diesel filter and when I stand up - spring back! Gotta really be careful hitting potholes or spring back becomes "fat slap" and that hurts. Worse still is the tsunami of the chins (I got more chins than a Chinese phone book) that wave can knock your spectacles off.