According to tests posted on You Tube, the S die with an SAC bushing cut the conentricity variance to about half the value of S die with the Redding bushing.
Erik Cortina also did a video showing that run out is not nearly as important as people make it out to be. I personally run these dies and have never checked run out because I see the accuracy and SD results I’m after. 1/4” I’m my 6.5 PRC, 1/2” moa with my 7rm, 300 rm, and 270 wsm, single digit SDs in all of them. I anneal, FL size with the S die and finishing with an expander mandrel. It make not work for everyone BUT it works for me.
Im sharing this experience with you because its what it is, experience that I wish I would have known about far before I found out. Dont believe that run out is not as important as people think. Eric is a hell of a shot but some of his video are just his speculation and opinion and though I like Eric and he is very skilled in our profession, some of his videos are not 100% accurate. I shoot benchrest in both light gun and unlimited as well as build custom rifles for people. I've been loading for a very long time and about 15yrs ago really started discovering issues with concentric necks and seated bullets with a custom 264win I built which short neck cases have more of an issue with this. I machined a piece of bar stock perfectly square on both ends that for all dies that don't use a floating sleeve to put between the die and shell holder, put pressure on the ram and snug the lock ring, aside from the arbor press I use for both bench rifle calibers I use (7saum, 6xc) I switched to a MEC for the floating shell holder which aides in this but I still square up the dies every time because die threads are so coarse. This is why 60 years ago lyman had the true line press with much finer die threads. I have separated before solving the concentric issue rounds that were out 0.003 and more and even though it does not make a difference on my lab radar (back then it was a lyman acoustical chrono) for fps, sd, and es it has shown on paper many times as fliers from 100yds out . After all in benchrest what makes an accurate set up is a straight square action face, square bolt face, properly sized firing pin for the hole for consistent ignition (partly why I like to bush firing pins to 0.070" and turn the pin to match), lugs making full contact, a straight barrel that is chambered straight and true, the scope mounted straight as far as left and right go then straight consistent concentric handloads. If you have all that then you and your rifle will preform. Im not underminding you or being rude, Just trying to help you out a little here as someone did for me once.
My findings exactly! FL best for concentrisity. Then FL,S. Then NO,S. Then I neck size with arbors. What I dont understand is how an arbor holds concentrisity when no part of the arbor holder touches the case...but it does.
Subscribed and just want to say thank you for all the information and data!!! I just drove from South Texas up to Michigan and back over the last 5 days and no joke I watched roughly 20 hours of your videos and man I learned a absolute wealth of knowledge thanks a lot
For some time now, LE Wilson has been my bushing die choice. If they cost more it isn't by much and you get one hell of a quality die. I just turned my necks, resize to point 002in tension while keeping an outside neck tolerance with my barrel that is as close to maximum as possible. And then expand just to make sure I'm concentric. Also, more often than not I load the bullet out to the point of just touching the lands. This helps to be sure I'm concentric. Mostly I've had luck with my groups doing exactly this.
Thank you this is a timely subject. I had just sorted my Lapua brass, I have been reloading for my 243, for run-out and ended up with more that was closer to 4 thou out than I expected to see. It was a head scratching moment to say the least. Just like magic, your video was here. I have been resizing with a Widden bushing full sizer. I dug out my RCBS standard set ( I don't use the ball/rod either) and sized a few of my close to .004 sorted brass and bingo. Pushed the mandrel through them and still bingo. I feel better now thank you sir. :)
I have been using the Redding body dies and Lee collet neck die combo for a 2 step process of like loading pistol for the least amount of run out. I do like the cheaper Lee and Hornady dies. They work as well as any other full length dies. The expander plug is always the culprit to cause runout in any die brand. I need to get rid of expander plug in FL dies and try the the expander dies.
bushings verses mandrels, can be left at one less step. A honed die neck will be at the top of the list. However, once you get new brass then it may change and a new die will have to honed again. A honed die also prevents neck turning.
I have used rcbs, Forester , l.e. wilson, redding, and whidden full length bushing dies and i have found redding and whidden full length bushing dies to be about the best. For my 6xc 1000yd benchrifle i use a redding and seat bullets with l.e Wilson chamber die with arbor press. For my 7saum unlimited class benchrifle i use a whidden before seating with an arbor press
I will never use Redding again. First time I bought a die that was full of micro cracks internally, looked like a problem with the steel or hardening. After a few sizing operations the case would seize up in the die. The second problem with Redding is their horrible primer pin that keeps being pulled out by those tight flash holes. I would recommend RCBS every time now.
Hi Antony, I am not making excuses for a company, but I think no company has been immune to a faulty product sneaking out the door somehow. I would hope that Redding would be happy to warranty any issues that they recognized. As far as the decapping pin they do have the "Redding Decapping Pins Undersized (0.057")" that work with the small flash hole brass options. Certainly if you are happy with one brand over another no reason to change.
Redding makes a good FL sizer die, no doubt. I own several as well, amongst others. Who is the best for me? I'd have to say that I like the John Whidden bushing die the most. Those suckers are beautiful. They are Type S compatible so it was an easier choice for me to buy his die. But I have found that for my 6.5CM, I get almost zero runout using his die with the button removed and then a mandrel to set the neck. His die is a few bucks more but more than worth it. Great video!
Personally I measure the inside of case because it the part of the case that touches the bullet. Measuring from the outside, your including the thickness of the case twice.
You can add me to the swear by the Type S die list. I have had great success using it with my 6.5 CM. After watching some of your other videos, I was going to try a Forster custom honed full length die with my 6.5 PRC, but I couldn't find one in stock for over 6 months and the Type S die became available.
Forster (along with others) have certainly struggled keeping up with demand. Whichever option you got if your happy with your results that is what is important. I try not to be a specific fan of a particular brand over another but I don't blame anyone for having brand loyalty to a option that has worked for them over the years either. I have had such good luck with just the regular forster die and a expander mandrel I haven't bothered to get one honed.
I've got a Redding Type S Match die set with a TiN .336 bushing and a Sinclair expander in .307 to try out. I'm going to decap using the Redding universal decapping die. Interesting to see the results!
If you're going to use an expander mandrel to set final tension to 2 thou, I'd think you could get away with one bushing that is 4-5 thou under loaded dimension. That shouldn't work the brass too much and is most likely better than a standard FL die. I measured some brass from my RCBS FL dies for 308 and 243. The 308 was 13 thou tension, and the 243 was 15 thou. So getting to 4-5 thou would work the brass a lot less.
I've been using Redding competition bushing dies with very good results. Run out on my finished rounds is typically less than .001" and I occasionally get everything right and have even less run out than that. I size about 1/2 the neck and tune for .001 to .0015 tension. Different brands of brass may (will) require different size bushings to get to the same neck tension. Is it worth all that? For me, it is because I'm obsessed with sub 1/2 MOA accuracy and those green box dies definitely ain't gonna get you there. Awesome video as usual!
do you specifically not use a quick change die holder?? have you ever compared sizing consistency and accuracy with and without one on the die?? i use them on all my dies, but wonder if it isn't worth the convenience. cheers, and keep up the good work.
So I've been doing a lot of research lately on donuts. I've noticed that I've started to get them in some of my 223 rem brass. FC brass, 5x reloaded, sized with RCBS standard FL die expander button removed, expanded with mandrel. I used a .222 mandrel but it looks like when I gauge with a .222 pin gauge, they aren't really fitting in. In fact, a .2215 fits in, however right when I get to the neck shoulder junction the pin gauge won't go in any further. This appears to be a donut. Is this a result of using the standard FL die which resizes the entire neck? Would an expander button pull this donut out and push it to the outside of the neck? If I switch over to the S die, will it prevent this donut from forming as that bottom portion of the neck isn't resized?
At least with a bushing die, it can be used with more than one brand of brass, the Forster honed die spooks me a bit, in that your die could possibly become somewhat useless with a different brand of brass. Same reason why a std FLS die can cause havoc with mixed brass and neck tension due to neck thickness. I got to measuring different brands of loaded rounds, all factory, and came up with .004 to .005 spread from min to max on 4 different brands, none of which were the brand I was going to use to reload for that gun. Likely why they make 6-8 different bushing sizes.
Thank You, maybe someday I'll by a rifle that deserves this much attention, for now I am applying some of this to my loading. I find the expanding arbors work great to center cases when priming on my progressive and have noticed my range loads are grouping better. P.S. bowtie3 thanks you for the donations on twitch. You and JRB have to do a collaboration video on precision loading.
Correct me if I’m wrong but wouldn’t this only be accurate if you have neck turned? If your using cheaper brass and the neck thickness isn’t consistent I would think you are setting yourself up for more inconsistency.
Got a question for the community. I'm afraid to go the range for practice, as I don't want to expend all my ammo. Looking at getting into reloading. Many have said it is cheaper to buy the pieces, rather than a "complete" kit. Where can I find a list of all the individual parts and pieces I will need? Thanks in advance
I think it's going to be very interesting, but I am biased. I hope you guys give feedback early for what you want to see that I didn't cover to make sure I answer as many questions as I can.
Pretty sure you have 2 options. You can back out the stem plug, or you can size the body in 1 step, back the die out and then size the neck. Realize that even if you don't do either you still will not size the entire neck with this combo.
@@BoltActionReloading I removed the decapping pin and the expander ball. Is the stem plug what goes on top of the bushing? Sounds like I will be bumping the shoulder without the bushing and in a separate step back out the die to size the neck. I’m also looking at buying expanding mandrels to set up the final neck tension.
Yes the plug holds the bushing in place. Usually you make it finger tight and then loosen like 1/16 to 1/8 turn so you can hear it move around. If you want to size less you have to back it out further.
@@BoltActionReloading i will try to turn it further more and see what happens. So it’s possible not to do 2 different steps and still be able to size no more than 75% of the neck?
The looser you have the plug the less it will size. I have never really used it that way so I am not sure if you will run into issues if it is too loose
Yeah so I was gone for about a week and a half an forgot to clean, lube, and store away my 6.5cm type S die which was a big mistake because its been really humid here in Louisiana and so when I got home yesterday I saw the rust build up all in the inside of the die. Any recommendations on how to get it off or should I just get another die?
If it's only light surface rust, I've used fine steel wool & WD 40 or similar wrapped around a plastic or wood dowel with the WD soaked wool up into the die & give it a light slow spin from a drill or, you can work it around by hand. Be gentle with it & monitor it very regularly. The die steel is much harder than the steel wool but, don't go over board & keep the pressure fairly light. It's just kind of polishing the rust off. When you think the rust is removed, you can swap to a course linen with some very fine metal polish & give it a polish up in the same manner.
I normally soak my unplated steel dies (like L.E. Wilson) in white vinegar in the past to remove rust spots. Then I coat them down with that cheap green surplus weapons oil, put them in a zip lock, and back into storage. I have a house in New Orleans, and DO NOT store my dies in the garage! Way too humid.
@@Duke_of_Prunes I'm on the westbank and I normally clean an oil them when I don't use them for a few days but I was in a rush to leave and forgot all about the die
Stressing about bullet concentrically and run-out I think your going down the wrong rabbit hole. People I follow say it doesn't really matter. The bore has a way of straitening things out.
I see this debated rather frequently. I believe that people that say it doesn't matter still think that there is a number that is "too much", their reloading process just never gets there. When I first started reloading with a Hornady press and lee dies I could very easily see numbers of total run out of .009" now my numbers are basically never over .002"
I have had far too many Redding dies that are substandard. I will not buy any others. I have lots of Redding die boxes for sale if anyone wants them, from the dies I have kept.
Im Sure you are a salesman by profession. You have just shown us colors, shape, sizes and prices. Confused the crap out of 90% of the veiwers and give no valuable information. bye now
According to tests posted on You Tube, the S die with an SAC bushing cut the conentricity variance to about half the value of S die with the Redding bushing.
Excellent as usual. Makes me want to get back to my bench, rather than sit by this pool on vacation.
🙄😳😳 Drink your beer and chill - bench ain’t going no where 🤣
@@cjtathome I feel their pain though. I have buckets of 9mm that I have no hope of finding primers for..... Sometimes reloading IS the hobby.
I'm surprised to not see your runout info, but hopefully it in your neck tension video. I love your stuff!
Erik Cortina also did a video showing that run out is not nearly as important as people make it out to be. I personally run these dies and have never checked run out because I see the accuracy and SD results I’m after. 1/4” I’m my 6.5 PRC, 1/2” moa with my 7rm, 300 rm, and 270 wsm, single digit SDs in all of them. I anneal, FL size with the S die and finishing with an expander mandrel. It make not work for everyone BUT it works for me.
Im sharing this experience with you because its what it is, experience that I wish I would have known about far before I found out. Dont believe that run out is not as important as people think. Eric is a hell of a shot but some of his video are just his speculation and opinion and though I like Eric and he is very skilled in our profession, some of his videos are not 100% accurate. I shoot benchrest in both light gun and unlimited as well as build custom rifles for people. I've been loading for a very long time and about 15yrs ago really started discovering issues with concentric necks and seated bullets with a custom 264win I built which short neck cases have more of an issue with this. I machined a piece of bar stock perfectly square on both ends that for all dies that don't use a floating sleeve to put between the die and shell holder, put pressure on the ram and snug the lock ring, aside from the arbor press I use for both bench rifle calibers I use (7saum, 6xc) I switched to a MEC for the floating shell holder which aides in this but I still square up the dies every time because die threads are so coarse. This is why 60 years ago lyman had the true line press with much finer die threads. I have separated before solving the concentric issue rounds that were out 0.003 and more and even though it does not make a difference on my lab radar (back then it was a lyman acoustical chrono) for fps, sd, and es it has shown on paper many times as fliers from 100yds out . After all in benchrest what makes an accurate set up is a straight square action face, square bolt face, properly sized firing pin for the hole for consistent ignition (partly why I like to bush firing pins to 0.070" and turn the pin to match), lugs making full contact, a straight barrel that is chambered straight and true, the scope mounted straight as far as left and right go then straight consistent concentric handloads. If you have all that then you and your rifle will preform. Im not underminding you or being rude, Just trying to help you out a little here as someone did for me once.
My findings exactly! FL best for concentrisity. Then FL,S. Then NO,S. Then I neck size with arbors. What I dont understand is how an arbor holds concentrisity when no part of the arbor holder touches the case...but it does.
Some of the best concentriciti I ever managed on my .308 was with a Lee collet die .
Brilliant. Have subscribed.
Subscribed and just want to say thank you for all the information and data!!! I just drove from South Texas up to Michigan and back over the last 5 days and no joke I watched roughly 20 hours of your videos and man I learned a absolute wealth of knowledge thanks a lot
That's a lot of me talking. Hope you enjoyed it. Welcome to the channel.
For some time now, LE Wilson has been my bushing die choice. If they cost more it isn't by much and you get one hell of a quality die. I just turned my necks, resize to point 002in tension while keeping an outside neck tolerance with my barrel that is as close to maximum as possible. And then expand just to make sure I'm concentric. Also, more often than not I load the bullet out to the point of just touching the lands. This helps to be sure I'm concentric. Mostly I've had luck with my groups doing exactly this.
Thank you this is a timely subject. I had just sorted my Lapua brass, I have been reloading for my 243, for run-out and ended up with more that was closer to 4 thou out than I expected to see. It was a head scratching moment to say the least. Just like magic, your video was here. I have been resizing with a Widden bushing full sizer. I dug out my RCBS standard set ( I don't use the ball/rod either) and sized a few of my close to .004 sorted brass and bingo. Pushed the mandrel through them and still bingo. I feel better now thank you sir. :)
Whidden dies are my favorite. Gorgeous dies and plenty precise.
I have been using the Redding body dies and Lee collet neck die combo for a 2 step process of like loading pistol for the least amount of run out. I do like the cheaper Lee and Hornady dies. They work as well as any other full length dies. The expander plug is always the culprit to cause runout in any die brand. I need to get rid of expander plug in FL dies and try the the expander dies.
bushings verses mandrels, can be left at one less step. A honed die neck will be at the top of the list. However, once you get new brass then it may change and a new die will have to honed again. A honed die also prevents neck turning.
I have used rcbs, Forester , l.e. wilson, redding, and whidden full length bushing dies and i have found redding and whidden full length bushing dies to be about the best. For my 6xc 1000yd benchrifle i use a redding and seat bullets with l.e Wilson chamber die with arbor press. For my 7saum unlimited class benchrifle i use a whidden before seating with an arbor press
I found a Redding 6mm cm s type full length die set (with a tin bushing) for $80 at a pawn shop today.
I will never use Redding again. First time I bought a die that was full of micro cracks internally, looked like a problem with the steel or hardening. After a few sizing operations the case would seize up in the die. The second problem with Redding is their horrible primer pin that keeps being pulled out by those tight flash holes.
I would recommend RCBS every time now.
Hi Antony, I am not making excuses for a company, but I think no company has been immune to a faulty product sneaking out the door somehow. I would hope that Redding would be happy to warranty any issues that they recognized. As far as the decapping pin they do have the "Redding Decapping Pins Undersized (0.057")" that work with the small flash hole brass options. Certainly if you are happy with one brand over another no reason to change.
Redding makes a good FL sizer die, no doubt. I own several as well, amongst others. Who is the best for me? I'd have to say that I like the John Whidden bushing die the most. Those suckers are beautiful. They are Type S compatible so it was an easier choice for me to buy his die. But I have found that for my 6.5CM, I get almost zero runout using his die with the button removed and then a mandrel to set the neck. His die is a few bucks more but more than worth it. Great video!
i have 0.0005 to 0.001 run out with these dies for years. That is with 10 different rifles!
Personally I measure the inside of case because it the part of the case that touches the bullet. Measuring from the outside, your including the thickness of the case twice.
You can add me to the swear by the Type S die list. I have had great success using it with my 6.5 CM. After watching some of your other videos, I was going to try a Forster custom honed full length die with my 6.5 PRC, but I couldn't find one in stock for over 6 months and the Type S die became available.
Forster (along with others) have certainly struggled keeping up with demand. Whichever option you got if your happy with your results that is what is important. I try not to be a specific fan of a particular brand over another but I don't blame anyone for having brand loyalty to a option that has worked for them over the years either. I have had such good luck with just the regular forster die and a expander mandrel I haven't bothered to get one honed.
I love my Forster honed die, then a mandrel for neck tension
GREAT video. This answered a lot of my questions. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I've got a Redding Type S Match die set with a TiN .336 bushing and a Sinclair expander in .307 to try out. I'm going to decap using the Redding universal decapping die. Interesting to see the results!
How was your neck tension?
Was your neck tension enough?
By that .336 bushing I assume you are loading .308 win
Love these videos
If you're going to use an expander mandrel to set final tension to 2 thou, I'd think you could get away with one bushing that is 4-5 thou under loaded dimension. That shouldn't work the brass too much and is most likely better than a standard FL die. I measured some brass from my RCBS FL dies for 308 and 243. The 308 was 13 thou tension, and the 243 was 15 thou. So getting to 4-5 thou would work the brass a lot less.
I've been using Redding competition bushing dies with very good results. Run out on my finished rounds is typically less than .001" and I occasionally get everything right and have even less run out than that. I size about 1/2 the neck and tune for .001 to .0015 tension. Different brands of brass may (will) require different size bushings to get to the same neck tension. Is it worth all that? For me, it is because I'm obsessed with sub 1/2 MOA accuracy and those green box dies definitely ain't gonna get you there. Awesome video as usual!
Thanks for another outstanding review.
Glad you enjoyed it
do you specifically not use a quick change die holder?? have you ever compared sizing consistency and accuracy with and without one on the die?? i use them on all my dies, but wonder if it isn't worth the convenience. cheers, and keep up the good work.
I have some "what the heck really matters" style videos in the works. Maybe I will add this to the list.
So I've been doing a lot of research lately on donuts. I've noticed that I've started to get them in some of my 223 rem brass. FC brass, 5x reloaded, sized with RCBS standard FL die expander button removed, expanded with mandrel. I used a .222 mandrel but it looks like when I gauge with a .222 pin gauge, they aren't really fitting in. In fact, a .2215 fits in, however right when I get to the neck shoulder junction the pin gauge won't go in any further. This appears to be a donut. Is this a result of using the standard FL die which resizes the entire neck? Would an expander button pull this donut out and push it to the outside of the neck? If I switch over to the S die, will it prevent this donut from forming as that bottom portion of the neck isn't resized?
At least with a bushing die, it can be used with more than one brand of brass, the Forster honed die spooks me a bit, in that your die could possibly become somewhat useless with a different brand of brass. Same reason why a std FLS die can cause havoc with mixed brass and neck tension due to neck thickness. I got to measuring different brands of loaded rounds, all factory, and came up with .004 to .005 spread from min to max on 4 different brands, none of which were the brand I was going to use to reload for that gun. Likely why they make 6-8 different bushing sizes.
Thank You, maybe someday I'll by a rifle that deserves this much attention, for now I am applying some of this to my loading. I find the expanding arbors work great to center cases when priming on my progressive and have noticed my range loads are grouping better. P.S. bowtie3 thanks you for the donations on twitch. You and JRB have to do a collaboration video on precision loading.
Correct me if I’m wrong but wouldn’t this only be accurate if you have neck turned? If your using cheaper brass and the neck thickness isn’t consistent I would think you are setting yourself up for more inconsistency.
U need to do a review on the exact die from south africa.
Thanks for the information.
You bet!
Got a question for the community. I'm afraid to go the range for practice, as I don't want to expend all my ammo. Looking at getting into reloading. Many have said it is cheaper to buy the pieces, rather than a "complete" kit. Where can I find a list of all the individual parts and pieces I will need? Thanks in advance
Thanks.
Can’t wait for the new series about neck tension
I think it's going to be very interesting, but I am biased. I hope you guys give feedback early for what you want to see that I didn't cover to make sure I answer as many questions as I can.
Nice video
the expander button in dies is the culprit
I recently bought these FL sizing bushing dies. How can I control how much of the neck gets sized. Let’s say I just want to size 3/4 of the neck?
Pretty sure you have 2 options. You can back out the stem plug, or you can size the body in 1 step, back the die out and then size the neck. Realize that even if you don't do either you still will not size the entire neck with this combo.
@@BoltActionReloading I removed the decapping pin and the expander ball. Is the stem plug what goes on top of the bushing? Sounds like I will be bumping the shoulder without the bushing and in a separate step back out the die to size the neck. I’m also looking at buying expanding mandrels to set up the final neck tension.
Yes the plug holds the bushing in place. Usually you make it finger tight and then loosen like 1/16 to 1/8 turn so you can hear it move around. If you want to size less you have to back it out further.
@@BoltActionReloading i will try to turn it further more and see what happens. So it’s possible not to do 2 different steps and still be able to size no more than 75% of the neck?
The looser you have the plug the less it will size. I have never really used it that way so I am not sure if you will run into issues if it is too loose
I use Redding S Dies because most brands won't do 6mm Rem Improved lol
Yeah so I was gone for about a week and a half an forgot to clean, lube, and store away my 6.5cm type S die which was a big mistake because its been really humid here in Louisiana and so when I got home yesterday I saw the rust build up all in the inside of the die. Any recommendations on how to get it off or should I just get another die?
If it's only light surface rust, I've used fine steel wool & WD 40 or similar wrapped around a plastic or wood dowel with the WD soaked wool up into the die & give it a light slow spin from a drill or, you can work it around by hand. Be gentle with it & monitor it very regularly. The die steel is much harder than the steel wool but, don't go over board & keep the pressure fairly light. It's just kind of polishing the rust off. When you think the rust is removed, you can swap to a course linen with some very fine metal polish & give it a polish up in the same manner.
I normally soak my unplated steel dies (like L.E. Wilson) in white vinegar in the past to remove rust spots. Then I coat them down with that cheap green surplus weapons oil, put them in a zip lock, and back into storage. I have a house in New Orleans, and DO NOT store my dies in the garage! Way too humid.
@@Duke_of_Prunes I'm on the westbank and I normally clean an oil them when I don't use them for a few days but I was in a rush to leave and forgot all about the die
Powder valley's got powder,aka dadsalive
Stressing about bullet concentrically and run-out I think your going down the wrong rabbit hole. People I follow say it doesn't really matter. The bore has a way of straitening things out.
I see this debated rather frequently. I believe that people that say it doesn't matter still think that there is a number that is "too much", their reloading process just never gets there. When I first started reloading with a Hornady press and lee dies I could very easily see numbers of total run out of .009" now my numbers are basically never over .002"
I have had far too many Redding dies that are substandard. I will not buy any others. I have lots of Redding die boxes for sale if anyone wants them, from the dies I have kept.
First!
Congratulations!! LOL
You talk just a little too rapidly; like you're in a hurry. No need! Relax! Nice video.
Nothing's perfect
Im Sure you are a salesman by profession. You have just shown us colors, shape, sizes and prices. Confused the crap out of 90% of the veiwers and give no valuable information. bye now