How would you bump a shoulder without a fl die?
A problem with current head space concerns is some smiths are pushing past zero headspace and actually going negative. This can cause a problem where the FL die is not short enough. The only fix is to shorten the die or the shell holder a bit.
You can bump with a neck sizer (so long as it has the shoulder taper which most do)(look inside with a flashlight).
I don't use any neck sizers all my die sets are FL.
Incidentally, all my FL dies are ground off anywhere between 0.003 and 0.010 at the base to allow for the bump. Contrary to what die makers will tell you (seat the die against the shellholder and 1/4 turn more, which cams over the press linkage), I never do that. I set my dies with a headspace gage using a previously fired case from that chamber and 'bump' the shoulder back 0.001 to 0.002 on a reload.... Which incidentally, is nowhere close to a 'cam over' or a zero clearance fit between the die base and the shell holder.
Doing that does 2 things. One, it allows the case to load without a hard closing bolt and two, the cases don't 'grow' as much, which means less trimming eventually.
My only departure from that is in 223-5.56 NATO semi auto rounds which need the full bump to cycle. Those dies are always cammed over to achieve the maximum set back because an auto loader needs a sloppy feed to function.
I own a 223 bolt rifle too. Those rounds get the first treatment.
I suspect quite a bit of the 'hard to close bolt' and the 'brass on the boltface' and heavy bolt lift' is attributable to insufficient headspace. Always keep in mind that a bottleneck indexes (for lack of a better word) on the shoulder. If the shoulder isn't concentric with the body or neck, the cartridge lies cocked in the chamber so the pill enters the lands at an angle, not good. Likewise, ant shoulder deformation (like too much lube when resizing causing a dimple in the shoulder is detrimental to concentric loading.
My suggestion is get a Hornady Headspace gage that adapts to your caliper and use it. They are cheap and you get a good, quick reference as to where your headspace is and what it should be.
Every chamber is dimensionally cut slightly diffreent because tooling wears and no spindle is perfect (has no runout), at least not in an ordinary shop.
I just had a poster on this site send me 3 shell holders that he wants to be dimensionally reduced just for the above scenario. In some ways, it's easier to reduce the shell holder dimension than the die base. For me, either works.
I load a lot of straight wall cases and candidly, they are much easier to work with. They never grow, you can reload them upteen times with no cracking (so long as you are prudent when bell mouthing a case for bullet insertion). I've never annealed a straight wall case either. The only issue is primer pockets. Loose pockets cause the brass to get scrapped.
