Ran out of travel on my sizing die - Help!

[glock24]

I'm running a Redding, full-length, S-type sizing die with 248 bushing. The caliber is 223 Remington (Lapua Match)

After I adjust the die body height for the proper amount of shoulder bump, I am noticing that I can turn my bushing stem all the way down into the die body and actually pinch the bushing itself against the stem. Even at this point however, I can only size about 70% of the case neck.

I'm not using the sizing button that came with the die, but I have left the decapping pin assembly in the die, which essentially gives the bushing stem as much length as possible.

1. Does this sound right, or should I be able to size more of the neck?

2. Is it wise to pinch the bushing against the stem, or should the bushing be allowed a bit of play so it can center itself with the case neck?

It seems like my bushing should sit deeper in relationship to the case, and my bushing stem should be longer to keep the bushing at this deeper distance. The only way I can see getting the bushing deeper in relation to the case is by screwing down the die body. This of course will give me more shoulder bump which I don't want.

Help! Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[427Cobra]

Re: Ran out of travel on my sizing die - Help!

Yes the bushing needs to float, and it's somewhat normal that the entire neck is not resized

 

[Trental]

Re: Ran out of travel on my sizing die - Help!

A lot of folks only resize around 50% of the neck. Only the section that is in alignment with the bullet itself needs to be sized.

 

[littlerascal56]

Re: Ran out of travel on my sizing die - Help!

If you look at your sizing bushing, you will see that there is a chamfer at the bottom (numbers to the top of bushing). This is why you only size 70-80% of the neck on your brass. It is normal with Redding bushing dies.

 

[Fuzzball]

Re: Ran out of travel on my sizing die - Help!

There is no point in neck sizing below bullet contact. And the brand of your brass won't matter, it will all go in the die the same.

 

[glock24]

Re: Ran out of travel on my sizing die - Help!

Understood. I guess I feel better. This is my first FL S-type die, and I was concerned because I've always had more adjustment range with my other die setups.

I'll back off my bushing stem to give the bushing a bit of wiggle room and not worry about the amount of sized neck for now. It's going to be close to the right amount of sized area per my bullet's seating depth, but since I don't have a final load yet, I won't know for sure right now.

Thanks

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Re: Ran out of travel on my sizing die - Help!

Partial length neck sizing can be used as a kind of "Redneck" neck tension management method where multiple bushing diameters are not an option.

The shorter the neck resizing length is, it will usually result in the less neck tension, due to reduced bullet/neck contact area.

Also, the unsized portion can have a better cartridge centering effect between the neck and chamber.

Greg