Neck sizing issues

E

eddiesorour

Guest
Hi guys

Have an issue with neck sizing my once fired Lapua 243 brass.

Once sized, I get a horizontal 'ridge' on the neck where the die stopped resizing. Just a thin little ridge you can see and feel with your fingernail. Almost as though the brass is being scraped down to form the ridge.

I have tried a standard Redding neck die, as well as a Redding bushing die with a carbide 268 bushing - both have the same effect.

Using graphite lube to lube the cases, even though they say it is not neccessary.

Have attached a picture of the result

Thank you!

Eddie
 

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Hi guys

Have an issue with neck sizing my once fired Lapua 243 brass.

Once sized, I get a horizontal 'ridge' on the neck where the die stopped resizing. Just a thin little ridge you can see and feel with your fingernail. Almost as though the brass is being scraped down to form the ridge.

I have tried a standard Redding neck die, as well as a Redding bushing die with a carbide 268 bushing - both have the same effect.

Using graphite lube to lube the cases, even though they say it is not neccessary.

Have attached a picture of the result

Thank you!

Eddie

That is not all that unusual. It comes from the edge of the neck section (or bushing) being to square and not rounded enough. About 1/3 of my dies did it. Now, I polish the edges of the bushings and it does not happen anymore.
 
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Hi guys

Have an issue with neck sizing my once fired Lapua 243 brass.

Once sized, I get a horizontal 'ridge' on the neck where the die stopped resizing. Just a thin little ridge you can see and feel with your fingernail. Almost as though the brass is being scraped down to form the ridge.

I have tried a standard Redding neck die, as well as a Redding bushing die with a carbide 268 bushing - both have the same effect.

Using graphite lube to lube the cases, even though they say it is not neccessary.

Have attached a picture of the result

Thank you!

Eddie

A horizontal ridge on the neck where the die stopped resizing is something you should see. That's what's suppose to happen.

A bushing floats in its cavity, if the die is designed with a little play and you've tightened it down. You should heard the bushing move if you shake the die. If it doesn't, the cavity built in to the die wasn't designed with play, and you've tightened it too much. Back off your tightening a little so you can hear the bushing move. It doesn't have to move much.

The bushing should size only about 70% of the neck. The other 30% helps align the case in the chamber. The line you see is the demarcation between the sized portion and the unsized portion. What you're seeing is absolutely normal.

No need to lube the neck with a carbide bushing, that's why purchased carbide.

P.S. Hide the neck sizing die in a bottom drawer somewhere and then forget about it ... forever.
Full length size each and every time you reload and you'll be way ahead of the game. :)
 
That is not all that unusual. It comes from the edge of the neck section (or bushing) being to square and not rounded enough. About 1/3 of my dies did it. Now, I plish the edges of the bushings and it does not happen anymore.

There are two interior ends to a bushing. One is beveled and the other is straight edged. Always place the beveled edge down. You may have to use a magnifying glass to see the difference, but it's there.
 
There are two interior ends to a bushing. One is beveled and the other is straight edged. Always place the beveled edge down. You may have to use a magnifying glass to see the difference, but it's there.

Some 12-ish years ago, I was neck sizing 300 WM cases for a 1,000 yard match rifle - it had a great barrel and it was (and still is) extremely accurate, but the fired neck was about ~9-10 thou larger than the loaded neck.

I discovered that if the fired neck was large, in relationship to the bushing, then the neck would come out smaller than the bushing - it was weird :eek:

I called Patrick Ryan about it, and he first said that it was impossible, so I sent him a bunch of cases and my bushing, and he got back to me with the equivalent of, "Well, I'll be damned!!" The O.D. of the sized case necks were 3 thou smaller than the bushing size. The following year's catalogue had an explanation about this phenomena...

My bushing mouths have varied over the years and it is something I had many conversations with Patrick Ryan about. At one time, they were using a 45° chamfering tool on both ends of the bushing, and they were so bad that they changed after 6 months.

So, the Redding bushing openings are something that have paid a lot of attention to over the years...

The current bushings don't have a bevel at one end that can be seen with a jeweler's loupe... they are just slightly rounded. If there is any beveling, it is too minuscule to have any effect...

Their "Beveling" sucks!!
 
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Some 12-ish years ago, I was neck sizing 300 WM cases for a 1,000 yard match rifle - it had a great barrel and it was (and still is) extremely accurate, but the fired neck was about ~9-10 thou larger than the loaded neck.

I discovered that if the fired neck was large, in relationship to the bushing, then the neck would come out smaller than the bushing - it was weird :eek:

I called Patrick Ryan about it, and he first said that it was impossible, so I sent him a bunch of cases and my bushing, and he got back to me with the equivalent of, "Well, I'll be damned!!" The O.D. of the sized case necks were 3 thou smaller than the bushing size. The following year's catalogue had an explanation about this phenomena...

My bushing mouths have varied over the years and it is something I had many conversations with Patrick Ryan about. At one time, they were using a 45° chamfering tool on both ends of the bushing, and they were so bad that they changed after 6 months.

So, the Redding bushing openings are something that have paid a lot of attention to over the years...

The current bushings don't have a bevel at one end that can be seen with a jeweler's loupe. If there is any beveling, it is minuscule...

Their "Beveling" sucks!!

Here is my source for Carbide bushings that are true to the size engraved on them and have a nice, viewable-with-the-naked-eye bevel on one end:

Bud Mundy, NBRSA Mississippi Valley Regional Director, 5956 Old Hickory Trail, Hillsboro, MO 63050, phone: 314 805-1313 or email: bcmundy@earthlink.net
 
I have had the same thing.
Like abintx said about the bushings. Some have a rounded or beveled are on only one side some (that I have) have it on both ends. HOWEVER if it is only on one end and you have it upside down this will definitely happen.
And when I did it my cases looked just like yours.
 
It's perfect.

As long as the resized case fits the chamber and with bullet installed it is the correct dia.

MAC
 
Hi guys

Thanks for the responses!

Redding's response was:

It looks like there may be a sharp edge on the bushing's lead. It's normal to see the line where the bushing stops sizing but the "ridge" that I see in the photo is not common. Can you send the Bushing to me to take a look at? If there is a problem with it, we can repair or replace it under warranty

I have attached photos of the bushing - do I have one of the 45 degree jobs that everyone is complaining about? Considering ordering a steel bushing in the meanwhile - seems like it has round edges at least!

Thanks again!
 

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Hi guys

Thanks for the responses!

Redding's response was:

It looks like there may be a sharp edge on the bushing's lead. It's normal to see the line where the bushing stops sizing but the "ridge" that I see in the photo is not common. Can you send the Bushing to me to take a look at? If there is a problem with it, we can repair or replace it under warranty

I have attached photos of the bushing - do I have one of the 45 degree jobs that everyone is complaining about? Considering ordering a steel bushing in the meanwhile - seems like it has round edges at least!

Thanks again!


Yes... that is one of the 45° bushings. They will replace it.

I used to buy the TiN bushings, but no more.

Now I buy the steel bushings and polish them with a new "feed ramp". When I look at a neck after the bushings have been re-polished, you can't even see that they have been sized.
 

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Wilson bushings used to (prolly still do) have a tapered hole such that one end of the sizing hole was a skosh larger than the other end. This worked out well when victimized by not enough neck tension to hold the bullet still long enough to shoot it. Simply turn the bushing upside down and that usually added enough tension to make it through the agg. That to say this...If I recall, those upside down bushings nearly always (if not always) caused that bitty ridge on the neck as characterized in the photo.
 
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