Redding 6.5-06 dies won't spec

[IdahoNP]

Wondering if anyone has experience with different brands of dies for 6.5-06.

I put a McGowen 6.5-06 A-Sq barrel on a Savage action. Used Clymer Go Gauge to set headspace. New 25-06 brass works fine.

Bought Redding Deluxe 3-die set in 6.5-06 A-sq. Redding managed to supply the set with two bent extractor rods (the spindles, not the pins). They are sending me two new ones, but that didn't impress me with this set. I can't get a single piece of sized-down 30-06 brass to chamber. I'm not talking finished rounds, with neck thickness issues, etc. This is just the sized brass alone.

Die is set properly, with an extra 1/4 turn, and an extra 1/2 turn tried. The die is fully touching and compressing the shell holder at the bottom of the stroke. I shimmed between the shell and the floor of the shell holder, taking every 1/1000 of free space out (0.012 shim). With the FL sizer out of the press, I put the go gauge in the shell holder and checked sizing. Shell holder fully meets base of sizing die. It isn't loose- the go gauge exactly fits the distance from the shoulders of the die to the bottom of the shell holder. However, it leaves no extra room for the compression you would normally expect, to deal with the elasticity and rebounding of the brass after pressing.

I have tried Winchester, Remmington, Federal, and Hornady brass, all with the same result. The shoulders will not size down to spec. I paid 2-3 times the price of Hornady or RCBS dies, but Redding wants me to send them back the dies on my dime, with my fired 25-06 brass, so they can try to figure things out. I am getting annoyed, and not too happy about the prospect of wasting a substantial amount of time, and more of my money on a die set I already overpaid for.

Anyone else have similar issues with 6.5-06 dies? Anyone else have better luck with RCBS or Hornady?

Thanks,
Jon

 

[el matador]

I have not experienced this problem, but I have made adjustments to dies that were not working exactly as I wanted. I suggest grinding or honing a few thousandths off the bottom of the die if the problem is the shoulder.

Is it possible that the necks are too thick to chamber? I know it's not a loaded round, but the expander ball would still push the neck out to almost the same diameter as a loaded round. You could try sizing one with the expander removed to see if that's the problem.

 

[MagnumManiac]

I think your problem is a short chamber, not a die problem.
Have you measured a fired case?
I have experienced this problem a few times, I turned .010" off the top of the shell holder and fixed the problem by adjusting the die until a case chambered with a slight feel with the firing pin either removed (Rem 700) or the safety in the middle safe position (3 position safety).
If your chamber is at or below minimum, the only fix is as above, or expensive custom dies made to a fired case.

Cheers.
gun)

 

[dkhunt14]

I agree with Magnum Maniac and believe it is short chambered. I have seen bad or mislabeled dies from all the company's. I saw a 300 WSM die that would bump the shoulders 40 thousandths. I have also seen dies that wouldn't size enough and most times it was a minimum headspaced gun. I have also seen shell holders over the .125. Did you measure bump to see if they are moving? Matt

 

[sundance1972]

I had zero issues with Redding dies for my old 6.5-06.
Being that it's a Savage action, could you not just reset the barrel, using a piece of the fully sized brass as your gauge? Not claiming to be a smith or rifle expert of any kind, but I think if the chamber is set to the brass you're using (with a couple thou shoulder clearance), it would be fine.
I only have/use full length dies and was taught to adjust the sizer until there is just a tiny bit of resistance on the bolt when chambering the resized brass. Some of my dies need to touch the shell holder and cam over, some are up to 1/2 turn off.
Maybe I'm way out in left field here, but would this not work, and save the expense of returning the dies?

 

[dkhunt14]

Sundance the best way is to measure a fired case and bump .002. I use a Stoney point on my caliper to measure. They are now made by Hornady and you can get them with a whole set of gauges to measure any case. I usually pick a bushing that goes to the middle of the shoulder and that gives me an accurate measurement of the bump. Matt

 

[IdahoNP]

Lots of great suggestions, thanks.

El Matador. Good idea. I mic'd the necks carefully, and they were in spec, but close. Only about .001 off. Always possible I missed some oversize areas. I will try resizing with the spindle removed.

MagnumMainiac. I need a bit of help understanding that. I have it headspaced to SAAMI on a Clymer gauge, and new 25-06 brass chambers fine, so I am not sure what you mean by short-chambered. I do have it minimum headspaced. It is set for the moment the bolt will close freely, but will tighten up with a piece of scotch tape (0.0023) added to the base of the gauge. I know that is close, but it is the way I was taught, and I have not seen that be an issue with other guns and their reloads. It helps extend brass life as well. I haven't fired any loads yet. Been spending all my time trying to get my sized-down brass to chamber. I considered milling down the shell holder, but I don't think I could do it accurately enough. I'll see if I can find a local guy to do it. Shimming 0.012 wasn't enough, so it would need more than that turned off, and hopefully still have enough metal to stand up to the reloading process.

dkhunt14. I doesn't bump the shoulders at all. The only thing it does is neck size, and the transition from the neck to the shoulder looks a little sloppy. Yes, it is the die marked as a FL sizer, not the neck-sizing die. As I mentioned before, the go gauge will fit into the die and the shell holder will contact the bottom of the die at zero compression. That makes me skeptical of the die's specs.

Sundance1972. That would work, but I'd rather keep closer spec. I don't want to drop new brass in it after I headspaced it to the fired/resized brass dimensions. BTW, I was taught to size brass exactly the way you were.

Thanks for all the information! You gave me some new ideas to consider.

Jon

 

[IdahoNP]

Oh, and sorry my replies take so long. I'm still in Nub Purgatory, so my posts take 12-24 hours to be vetted.



That's weird. My apology beat my response post. It'll appear eventually.

 

[sundance1972]

Forgot to ask if the 30-06 brass you are trying is new, or previously fired in a 30-06 chamber?
Just a thought, but if it is all used brass (and possibly fired in an "oversized" 30-06 chamber), it could be work hardened a little and may need to be annealed.
Is it noticeably harder to size than the 25-06? The die may be sizing to spec, but if the brass if hardened, it may be springing back. Maybe try annealing a few pieces and try again, easy enough to do with a small propane torch.

 

[IdahoNP]

Sundance1972. The 30-06 brass is all once-fired. The 30-06 that fired them was not oversized. Didn't try annealing. I'll give that a go. The 25-06 brass is not sized at all, so I can't compare the two. With those, I was just going to shove a boattail in them and fire form.

 

[Edd]

Why don't you just measure the brass and determine where the issue is?

 

[IdahoNP]

Edd- shoulders

 

[Edd]

Edd- shoulders

What are the measurements?

 

[918v]

+1 on the annealing. I bet that will solve the problem. Case forming is best done using new brass.