Problems with body die after annealing

[tgwh]

After far too long in the corner of the reloading room, I finally plugged the AMP annealer in, took a cross section (middle weight) of 50 odd cases and set about annealing.

Process is incredibly quick and almost (!) foolproof.

I use Redding competition shellholders with a Redding body die. No issues getting 2 thou shoulder bump….until I tried the body die after annealing.

AMP make it clear that sizing dies will likely need to be adjusted due to no spring-back.
Now that should mean slightly less adjustment, yet I could not bump the shoulder at all after annealing.

I was forced to resize with a full length die (somewhat self defeating you might say) to proceed.

Any thoughts / fixes would be appreciated.

 

[PddPdd]

How did you determine the AMP settings to use for your brass?

 

[338 dude]

The amp cannot be your problem

 

[Mikecr]

You could stop annealing shoulders until every ~30 reload cycles or so.

 

[QuietTexan]

yet I could not bump the shoulder at all after annealing.

Did you NEED to bump it back to have the case fit in the chamber?

 

[eschafer]

slip a 0.002" feeler gauge between the case and shell holder, then try using your body die again.... increase feeler thickness until desired shoulder bump.....

 

[RegionRat]

Any thoughts / fixes would be appreciated.

For any useful advice, I would suggest adding the relevant details.

Brass type and brand?
AMP code used?
Redding shellholder number?
Any impression of the actual shoulder datum dimensions before and after?
Did the cases chamber?
ETC...

Ahead of hearing the story details, I will suggest that the AMP and annealing isn't what it wrong.
There is far too much history of folks annealing for that to be the cause.

Something else is going on and it is probably down in the details...
A "small" adjustment to the shoulder datum and neck diameter can come from a change like annealing, but it usually isn't dramatic. Drama is caused by other issues which are typically mistakes that can be corrected.

I would take a step back and start over with some annealed and non-annealed cases and I'm betting you will find the reason for the issue.

 

[tgwh]

How did you determine the AMP settings to use for your brass?

My version has the AZTEC setting - I took a mid-weight (average) case and ran the Aztec function to determine the setting.

 

[tgwh]

You could stop annealing shoulders until every ~30 reload cycles or so.

Do you mean 3, or 30? not sure Winchester WSM cases will last 30 reloads…

 

[tgwh]

slip a 0.002" feeler gauge between the case and shell holder, then try using your body die again.... increase feeler thickness until desired shoulder bump.....

Good suggestion. I suspect I'll need to turn down a shell holder in due course.

 

[tgwh]

Did you NEED to bump it back to have the case fit in the chamber?

Cases were a tight fit - could have neck sized but some were marginal with chambering.

 

[Bob Wright]

Did you try different Redding competition shell holders with the body die?

 

[victor3ranger]

Following this

 

[tgwh]

For any useful advice, I would suggest adding the relevant details.

Brass type and brand?
AMP code used?
Redding shellholder number?
Any impression of the actual shoulder datum dimensions before and after?
Did the cases chamber?
ETC...

Ahead of hearing the story details, I will suggest that the AMP and annealing isn't what it wrong.
There is far too much history of folks annealing for that to be the cause.

Something else is going on and it is probably down in the details...
A "small" adjustment to the shoulder datum and neck diameter can come from a change like annealing, but it usually isn't dramatic. Drama is caused by other issues which are typically mistakes that can be corrected.

I would take a step back and start over with some annealed and non-annealed cases and I'm betting you will find the reason for the issue.

Yes, agree.
Winchester WSM brass
AMP code Aztec setting 0135
Redding comp shellholders 0.010-0.002
Cases wouldn't chamber - indicating only the base has been resized.
Don't recall any indent on the shoulder datum. I only measured shoulder bump = there was zero change (may have even increased?) despite bad language and numerous attempts at adjusting dies.

This suggests a shell holder issue. What I'm trying to understand is what change has happened to the case to stop the body die engaging the shoulder - as was easily the case prior to annealing with the 0.006 shellholder.

Any input greatly appreciated.