redding comp die problems

[nowler]

hi folks

i seated some 120grain b/tips using my new 6.5x55comp seater from redding this morning. first 40 went great, then started encountering some resistance about half way through the press stroke.

next thing, bullets are coming out with scratches and gounges out of the jacket from the ogive and continuing somewhat down the shank.

took the die to bits and it appears that the little sliding bush/shuttle thing that actaully seats the bullet is shaving metal off the inside of the tube that it can slide in. the point where it is stoping at is building up a ridge of this swarf and it is this that is ruining my heads.

this is a brand new die set up as per instructions. i have about 8 other comp sets for all different calibers and have never experienced this before during years of reloading.

any ideas what's happening here folks? i have emailed redding but i won't here back until tomorrow and i am not that patient.....

thanks in advance

derek

 

[Jimm]

Derek ,
It looks like patience may be the very thing necessary here since you probably need to box it up and send it back /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif As you already know from your experience with the same type dies their not supposed to do that .It sounds like some hardness values are not what they are supposed to be and those bits need replacing. Perhaps Redding could be convinced to send new internals without you having to send them back. hoping the best for you, Jim

 

[nowler]

hi jim

thanks for your thoughts. i had a similar train of thought but was wanting to hear the opinions of others on the subject. this is the first problem i have ever had with redding dies, which is a bit of a shame.

cheers

derek

 

[Centre Punch]

Hi Derek
The floating bullet seating stem is hardened whereas the chamber sleeve is not( a simple file test will show this).
Them seating stem has the end ground after hardening and if there is a sharp edge left on the stem it quite possible that this is causing the shaving of tiny slivers in the guide bore.
An easy possible cure would be to: rotate the end of your stem gently on a fine India stone at a 45 degree angle a couple of times, just enough to take away the the sharp edge and leave a barely visible chamfer.
If this does not work, then i think you should consider sending them back to Redding, although i know it is quite difficult for us living here in the UK.
The official importers are not much use, but would it be possible to get them to exchange the suspect die with Reddings authority? Oh i forgot, at the snails pace that these people work you could be waiting for a long time.

Ian.

"I mean't to shoot the pike but the duck got in the way"

 

[3sixbits]

I would look for the cause rather than shipping them back. I suspect you have a burr on the bushing or a nick, a little crocus cloth if inspection proves this to be the case will work wonders. You might want to dry lube the inside of the die and bushing with dry moly. Talk to REDDING first and ask them if it would hurt doing this. Good luck! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[nowler]

thanks for your input guys

i have thought about the cures etc. but the problem is that the burrs now left on the inside of the tube that it slides in are damaging the bullets. the damage is done and i think i want a replacement as opposed to having to get a reamer and ream out the inside of the hole smooth again. we'll see what redding say tomorrow.

cheers again

derek

 

[Trickymissfit]

good luck in dealing with Redding! Every bad die I ever saw had that name on them, and they will fight you tooth and nail to resolve the problem. When you have a good Redding die you have a very good die, but when something's amiss they should be right there to help you.

A buddy of mine bought a 6BR Comp die set from Sinclair along with a couple hundred Norma cases. He brought them to me and asked me to look at the sized cases. They all looked like they had a factory crimp on them! (he had about twenty of them). Redding said he was in error, so he sent them back to Sinclair anyway. They give him another set, and now he has about thirty junk cases (Norma cases are not cheap). Sinclair calls Redding, and gets the same run around. They get another die set off the shelf and use their setup; promptly ruining a dozen or so cases. Now Redding blames the shooter again, but this time saying he has a bad barrel (a Ron Pence barrel job!!!). Sinclair tells them they have a problem after checking every 6BR die they have from Redding. Turns out all were bad! Later I ran into this exact scene again in a couple different calibers.

Now I use a Redding die set in my 38-55 and .450 Marlin, but you can rest assured I checked them very carefully! Everybody can sell something not exactly right, but they also need to stand behind their product line. I know I would
gary

 

[boomtube]

If I were in Scotland I would polish the offending sharp edge of the seating punch and make a small lapping "arbor" with a split dowel and strip of fine grit carborundum paper to smooth the seating chamber myself. Not hard to do and it would be MUCH faster!

I'd also cut Redding some slack on the way they respond to some complaints. Those dies have some moving parts and that seems to be beyond the ability of a LOT of people to deal with. When those people run into difficulties they are certain to blame the tool as defective. That happens occasionally but it's rarely true.

 

[Trickymissfit]

If I were in Scotland I would polish the offending sharp edge of the seating punch and make a small lapping "arbor" with a split dowel and strip of fine grit carborundum paper to smooth the seating chamber myself. Not hard to do and it would be MUCH faster!

I'd also cut Redding some slack on the way they respond to some complaints. Those dies have some moving parts and that seems to be beyond the ability of a LOT of people to deal with. When those people run into difficulties they are certain to blame the tool as defective. That happens occasionally but it's rarely true.

the problem was with poorly ground reamers in the sizing dies. The neck were ground wrong and Redding finally admitted this after the started pulling them off the shelf at their place. My gripe is that you had to jump thru a hoop at dozen times just to get their attention. Then telling the guy that Ron Pence's barrel job was the problem was crap. The cases had not even been thru the barrel's chamber yet. Later I saw almost exactly the same problem in a couple other calibers used by folks that never knew each other. Anybody can screw up, but he also should do his best to make it right.

Now I've used many sets of RCBS dies in the past without a glitch. but I have heard of a couple guys that had a problem. RCBS jumped right on the problem without the slightest problem. I once bought a half dozen lock rings from Forster that had bad threads in the lock screw. Called them about it, and had a new set in less than a week. So if you sell it you have to stand behind it 100%
gary