.223 resizing
Quote from Reloader on March 27, 2018, 10:58 amAfter some frustrating jamming problems, which showed up immediately when trying out a new upper. I tried different ammo and found out that factory ammo did not jam. Going back to close examination on my reloads, I discovered that the head space was off by just a few thousandths. Re-adjusting the die did not solve the problem, so I tried sliding a piece of aluminum foil under the base of the cartridge and resized it once again. This step lifted the cartridge into the die enough to meet the headspace requirements, subsequent firings of the adjusted cartridges demonstrated no jamming issues. Unfortunately the foil was only a temporary solution as the aluminum compressed with just 3-4 cartridges being resized on top of it, thus rendering the problem unresolved. I called Dillon tech support and received the over-camming suggestion, which is unacceptable since it puts such stress on the press that it would be damaged by over time. I took the shell plate to a machinist friend of mine, and had him shave 0.008 off the shell plate where the die bottoms into it. He did a perfect job! The results are that I now have what is necessary to set the head space on my .223 reloads to the requirements given by my head space gauge. This small adaptation has given plenty of room for varying the adjustment without unnecessary stress on my press. The machinist still has the jig he made for this mod if anyone is interested.
After some frustrating jamming problems, which showed up immediately when trying out a new upper. I tried different ammo and found out that factory ammo did not jam. Going back to close examination on my reloads, I discovered that the head space was off by just a few thousandths. Re-adjusting the die did not solve the problem, so I tried sliding a piece of aluminum foil under the base of the cartridge and resized it once again. This step lifted the cartridge into the die enough to meet the headspace requirements, subsequent firings of the adjusted cartridges demonstrated no jamming issues. Unfortunately the foil was only a temporary solution as the aluminum compressed with just 3-4 cartridges being resized on top of it, thus rendering the problem unresolved. I called Dillon tech support and received the over-camming suggestion, which is unacceptable since it puts such stress on the press that it would be damaged by over time. I took the shell plate to a machinist friend of mine, and had him shave 0.008 off the shell plate where the die bottoms into it. He did a perfect job! The results are that I now have what is necessary to set the head space on my .223 reloads to the requirements given by my head space gauge. This small adaptation has given plenty of room for varying the adjustment without unnecessary stress on my press. The machinist still has the jig he made for this mod if anyone is interested.
Quote from Reloader on March 27, 2018, 4:41 pmI'm not sure why you feel the overcamming suggestion was unacceptable, as this has been the standard for die adjustment for rifle sizing dies since the early 1950s. The machine was designed for this.
As long as your machinist removed material from the top of the die recesses in the shellplate, your alteration will work fine. A headspace gage is another very important tool for the reloader.
I'm not sure why you feel the overcamming suggestion was unacceptable, as this has been the standard for die adjustment for rifle sizing dies since the early 1950s. The machine was designed for this.
As long as your machinist removed material from the top of the die recesses in the shellplate, your alteration will work fine. A headspace gage is another very important tool for the reloader.