"Precision honed dies"

wagspe208

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Joined
Jan 10, 2013
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So... on another forum a JCL precision guy was mentioned that would precision hone a die for you.... sooo....
Let's back up...
I will start with my .22-250
Redding will "custom make" a die for you if you send them 5 fired cases. Ok, they are obviously taking dimensions from your case and making a die "x" smaller than case size to fit your chamber?? Right??
So, I have a sunnen hone. It is a precision hone used in automotive, and many other industries.... In the automotive world we deal with .0001 tolerances all the time...
SOOOOO... why could I not take any regular FL die, hone the chamber area larger (in the die) effectively allowing the case to be larger than the normal "fits all spec". AND hone the neck area larger also (to fit my chamber).
This won't effect the shoulder angle or area.... so
******* in the wind?
Am I missing something?
Worst case scenario... toss a 20 dollar die in the trash.
Wags

(yes, I am capable of honing a straight hole, bottoming hole, etc. Valve guides are open on both ends, but .0001 straight is no huge task)
 
Even if your Sunnen hone can do as Ed describes above. 99% of the time they are making a custom die that has "smaller dimensions" than a standard SAAMI spec die.
 
The hole for the case body in your 22-250 die isn't straight. The diameter difference between the ends is about .050".
That is what I wondered.... the drawing I saw did not show any taper in the body.
Wags
 
Even if your Sunnen hone can do as Ed describes above. 99% of the time they are making a custom die that has "smaller dimensions" than a standard SAAMI spec die.
Meaning the die would make the case sloppier in the chamber.... soooo I hone die out, this makes case bigger.
 
I think a lot of the custom dies they make are for match chambers and such that sometimes have tighter specs than SAAMI. The chamber will be cut to SAAMI minimum or something and the resulting issue is that a SAAMI off the shelf dies will no size the brass down enough to fit in the tight chamber.
 
Got it.
Found it.
The .050 taper would be a pain, but doable... but more of a PITA than paying someone.
Thanks
Wags

What kind of a hone do you have that will maintain a taper? All the hones I'm familiar with are designed to remove the taper.
 
What kind of a hone do you have that will maintain a taper? All the hones I'm familiar with are designed to remove the taper.
You would have to modify the "guide shoe" (it is a wear item anyway) to have the .050 taper...
Easy enough to do on a mill... mill in taper, stone will rapidly wear and follow taper....
Wags
 
Don't be cheap - send Harrells $75 and two fired cases. In 10-14 days you will have a die fit to your chamber
 
That is what I wondered.... the drawing I saw did not show any taper in the body.
Wags


Most chamber drawings and reamer drawings don't show taper on the drawing its self, but the dimensions are there and will indicate the body taper, shoulder angle, case length from case head to most any point, throat length and lead angle and much more.

I personally would never hone or polish a chamber or a die because it improves the chances of getting it out of round or changing the taper making a fired case harder to extract.

The best way is to have a set of dies made after you buy a new reamer with the dimensions you want and fire form cases in it.

J E CUSTOM
 
I bet Skip is having a good laugh over this one!

It's pretty near impossible to hone a taper, unless your built to do it (machine). Even then you'll need a set of stones and the holder for each setup. If I were to want to recut the bore in a die to say shrink the case diameter .0025", and yet allow for spring back. I would do it on a B&S #13 or a gauge quality internal (Studer or a Heald). Cutting something very hard takes practice, but if your on your game it's a piece of cake. Getting the correct taper is a bitch (forget CNC anything), and if correctly done you blue it in with a male master.

gary
 
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