Hey reloaders, just curious what everyone’s opinion is on this. Do you like to cam over? Why? Do you avoid the cam over? Why? Anyone found any pros or cons that arent necessarily stated with the obvious?
Cam over vs. hard stop
- Thread starter TirednLost
- Start date
I agree with CLcustom, consistency is key. I prefer a positive stop because I feel like I am more consistent with it. Hit the stop with slow even pressure and if anything on the bench wobbles (lightweight bench) I hit it too hard and need to double check the round.
Hard stop doesn’t size the case as consistently as cam over, but cam over puts too much stress on the linkage. The best thing to do is to set up the die so the shell holder comes to a hard stop on the bottom of the die. This requires you to screw the die even further than the cam over point, way past it. And you have to use Redding competition shell holders to control shoulder bump.
I set my dies to only bump the shoulders 0.002. This minimizes the brass working and still allows reliable feeding in the bolt gun the round is measure for. Doing this means I am not likely getting the shell holder to contact the die body in most calibers. This makes Cam-over not possible. I am at the mercy of the hard stop of the press's ram action. CLC is still correct, consistency is key.
This is the first time in years on this site that multiple people are like "yeah what that guy said"
I feel the love from all directions.
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And to elaborate on the details of my personal setup.
On my Lee press, I basically bring the shell holder all the way up, then screw in the die until it contacts the shell holder, then a 1/4 turn more so when I bring the ram up, there's a c-hair of resistance and it takes the slack out of the linkage, die, shell holder.
For the Dillon, its essentially the same because that last 1/4 turn allows for a c-hair of cam-over to, again, take the slack out of all parts involved in the transaction.
Whether it's a Lee, Hornady, Dillon, etc, you shouldn't be actually using muscle to accomplish the cam-over or final tension of the press parts. That little bit of extra pressure has a lot of mechanical advantage.
Does that make sense?
I feel the love from all directions.
??????
And to elaborate on the details of my personal setup.
On my Lee press, I basically bring the shell holder all the way up, then screw in the die until it contacts the shell holder, then a 1/4 turn more so when I bring the ram up, there's a c-hair of resistance and it takes the slack out of the linkage, die, shell holder.
For the Dillon, its essentially the same because that last 1/4 turn allows for a c-hair of cam-over to, again, take the slack out of all parts involved in the transaction.
Whether it's a Lee, Hornady, Dillon, etc, you shouldn't be actually using muscle to accomplish the cam-over or final tension of the press parts. That little bit of extra pressure has a lot of mechanical advantage.
Does that make sense?
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Thanks for the replies. Everything definitely makes sense. Fairly new on the site. Glad I could bring out the love in everyone! ???
It depends on the dies being used. The Whidden Gunworks brand resizing dies are designed to be backed out a 1/4 turn after making contact with the shell holder. This means you will not be able to have a cam-over as there is a small gap that is created since you unscrewed the die one quarter of a turn.
on Redding Full length dies (I use type-S series) I always cam over. In many cases it is needed in order to get the case far enough up into the die.
-TH
I attempted to use the stop method with my lee cast when sizing for longish chambers, consistency was shit. Broke down and bought the redding comp shell holders, used them one time and ordered 2 other sets for 223 and mag base. These should be the rule, not the option. I have found nothing as consistant as shellholder touching die.
Too much stress in the linkage?
My Dad's rock chucker from 79 is still going strong (and broken a few benches along the way), my garage sale 60's era Pacific Tool and Die is still going.
I don't think you can wear out a quality press either way. If you wear out a press you have way, way too much time on your hands.
Now I’m a brand new reloader, but doesn’t your chamber/headspace tolerance come into play? If you have a loose chamber or larger headspace, wouldn’t setting the die up to cam over possibly be bumping your shoulder back too much and possible decrease the life of your brass? I haven’t tried cam over on my MEC Marksman but I know that if I screw my Redding body die down until it touches my shell holder I have a long way to go before “cam over” is reached.
With Lee collet dies for neck sizing, cam over is a no-no. You actually get better feel for what the collet die is doing with a positive stop press like the Lee presses.
With some experience the Lee collet will tell you when you need to anneal with a hard stop press.
I only use a coax but across the 11 different die sets I’ve owned I can’t say I have ever noticed one touching either.
I assume the cam is dictated by the press design, use it how it gives you the proper results, don’t worry about how other designs get there.
I notice I get consistent results over time when I use premium brass. Even with annealing shit brass is still shit.
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I think it is more about the length you are going for. Some combinations will allow you to cam over and get the case length you are looking for. Other times you can't let it cam over or your cases are sized to short. I say set you dies to give you the optimum case length you are after. Otherwise, cam over may make your cases shorter than they need to be.
There’s a ton a person could add to this thread as far as sizing die setup etc
I’ll just add I use a RCBS rock chucker, it does cam over and one of my favorite neck sizers is the lee collet die
Set up properly it works excellent with the cam over. Been using this for 10 years
I’ll just add I use a RCBS rock chucker, it does cam over and one of my favorite neck sizers is the lee collet die
Set up properly it works excellent with the cam over. Been using this for 10 years
If you use Redding competition shell holders you can cam over and achieve any shoulder length within spec.
I try to set the chamber up so when I cam over on what ever die I have, i am bumping the shoulder .02-.04. Its pretty easy with all the barrel nut barrels out there.
