Forster benchrest sizer, What !!?!??

[hart]

When you said " I then put a bit of oil on it, and rotated it inside the die without the decapping assembly." did you remove the whole center stem with expander ball or just the decapping pin off the bottom. Also when you rotated the case, was the case all the way in the die or was it sticking out about 1/2". Try using the die with the whole threaded rod removed from the inside the die. If you can't push in a lubricated case all the way in till the shell holder hits the bottom of the die an then withdraw the case, you probably have a problem with the die.
From the picture of the case mouth it looks like you only had the case in the die far enough that the case mouth was just entering the die neck-shoulder junction.

 

[bigedp51]

holder hits the bottom of the die an then withdraw the case, you probably have a problem with the die.
From the picture of the case mouth it looks like you only had the case in the die far enough that the case mouth was just entering the die neck-shoulder junction.

The case neck can not enter further into the neck of the die because the expander is high inside the neck of the case. With the case neck expanded by the dies expander it is too large in diameter to enter further into the neck of the die.

If the expander is moved downward there will be more slack in the case neck allowing the neck to size normally. Meaning the expander will not cause the case neck to jam in the neck of the die.

It would be much simpler if you do not have any Forster dies to stop guessing as to the OP problem. The OP problem is a simple expander adjustment downward and the cases will size normally.

 

[hart]

bigedp51, I was suggesting he try sizing the case with the expander completely removed from the die.
When he sees the case goes in and out properly he will know the die interior is fine and the problem is in the position of the expander.

 

[L.Sherm]

I collect dies that keep cases, I have 2 and found 2 shooters/reloaders/ collectors that had 2.

WTH are you talking about.

 

[nicholasjohn]

In an effort to visualise the problem for myself, I drilled and tapped one of the stuck cases, and put it on an electric drill.

I then put a bit of oil on it, and rotated it inside the die without the decapping assembly. You can see a brighter section towards the web, that is up to where the case could be inserted in the die. Midway in the body, the brass is scored. And that is not the main problem. This is .

As soon as the case mouth enters the neck sizing area of the die, there is a hard stop. Rotating the brass with just hand pressure made a groove in the neck just below the mouth. This tells me there is a sharp ridge in the die, where there should not be. If they want to size the neck so aggressively, it can't have a sharp step like that, and the inside surface of the die must be polished, which this one appears not to be. With this die, every time a case is sized, material is going to be removed from the outside of the case mouth.

I agree with you that it looks like the case neck ( or case mouth ) is running into a hard stop, possibly a tight spot or constriction in the neck of the die. Forster ought to be able to hone this out pretty handily, since they offer a service for doing this to custom-fit the inside neck diameter of their dies to the brass you're using. ( There has been a video about this done by 6.5guys, and I've seen it on this forum a couple of times. It's still on their website. If you watch it, you will get the idea pretty quick.)

If you have a bore scope, a few pictures of the inside of the neck on the die would be enough to send to Forster, along with the pictures of the de-formed cartridge case. I have to wonder if this one missed a final polishing step in the process at the factory.

 

[JMW67]

I collect dies that keep cases, I have 2 and found 2 shooters/reloaders/ collectors that had 2.

I suggest you determine what qualifies as benchrest dies. I know, we have members that recommend we all do like the benchresters; problem, no one holds them accountable. Bart B. started that stuff years ago and finally he has changed his advise to include full length sizing by moving the shoulder back .002".

I suggest you find a member on this forum that can measure the length of the chamber from the shoulder of the chamber to the bolt face. And then there is that thing about determining the dimensions.

You will not believe this but I was trying to help a couple of reloaders/shooters, one got dizzy and the other one passed out.

F. Guffey

***

 

[25WSM]

I laugh so hard from some of the stuff he says I get dizzy and almost pass out.

 

[25WSM]

In an earlier post I asked if he tried without the expander assembly because it's important on the first die to not be to high with the ball. I've seen it happen with some of my customers.
Shep

 

[Frank Kalisz]

I never had any trouble using my Forster full-length sizer.. But I run mine without the expander spindle. I had the die neck custom honed at Forster factory and I run a separate expander die to fine tune my necks.

 

[WildBillG]

His pictures make no senese the ring is to low for the case mouth to reach the sizer. I am wondering if he ordered a 308 die for his 06. Where does he live that shipping is to much. If he is here in Comada like me the exchange makes sending them back worth it. I wish he would at least try what so many of you have told him to try.

 

[bigedp51]

His pictures make no senese the ring is to low for the case mouth to reach the sizer. I am wondering if he ordered a 308 die for his 06. Where does he live that shipping is to much. If he is here in Comada like me the exchange makes sending them back worth it. I wish he would at least try what so many of you have told him to try.

He lives in Johannesburg, South Africa, how do you say lower the expander in Afrikaans.

 

[kiwikid]

Due to geography, the cost of sending this to Forster is more than what the die is worth to replace.

The time I have to wait on return for it to clear customs means I will need another die in the meantime anyway.

If I return it to where I bought it, I have to take the set back, not just one die. They will first take some time to check it out, then they will refund me the price of the set because they don't carry stock for exchanges, and it's not worth their while to package, ship, and track such a small value item back to the manufacturer.

It's not a total write-off, what I will do is keep it to size the neck after using the body die.

A few years ago I had a similar issue with a set of Forster Dies but mine were in 25-06. With mine the case would not go all the way into the FL die. It turned out that the FL die that was included in the set was for the 30-06 not 25-06.
You may have already checked but just above the thread on your die it states the type of die and the cartridge e,g Forster 30-06 FL.

 

[fiftybmg]

... did you remove the whole center stem with expander ball or just the decapping pin off the bottom.

Yes. Whole decapping assembly removed.

From the picture of the case mouth it looks like you only had the case in the die far enough that the case mouth was just entering the die neck-shoulder junction.

That's where the hard stop begins, it's as far as it will go. Forcing it further gets it stuck.

 

[fiftybmg]

His pictures make no senese the ring is to low for the case mouth to reach the sizer. I am wondering if he ordered a 308 die for his 06. Where does he live that shipping is to much. If he is here in Comada like me the exchange makes sending them back worth it. I wish he would at least try what so many of you have told him to try.

The ring nearer the web marks the point at which case mouth reaches the neck sizing portion of the die.

30-06 has a long neck, and although the camera doesn't lie, it can alter perspective a bit.

I'm in South Africa. Shipping a die to North America is going to cost more than what the die is worth. Plus, the wait for it to clear customs on the return leg means months without the die.