What dies for a 6.5 SAUM

[Deleted member 25294]

I'm getting a 6.5 SAUM put together and am a little confused on what to do for dies.
I was originally going to use a type s 7 SAUM bushing die and neck down with s .291 bushing, and for the seating die I planned on just swapping out the seater stem with a 6.5 caliber stem.
After doing some research it looks like changing the seating stem won't work, and using a bushing die will cause issues when neck turning.
Has anyone found this to be true?
I've been looking at the whidden 6.5 SAUM full length bushing dies but am wondering if I should go non bushing.

 

[sedancowboy]

GAP has Redding dies for the 6.5 Gap 4s.
and Whidden has a article on their web site about how to choose between Bushing on non Bushing dies.

 

[orch]

I started out with a redding 7mm saum bushing die and had no issues with turning the necks. Got a whidden 6.5mm rsaum FL bushing die set (mostly because I wanted the micrometer seater die) but found I was getting considerably more neck run out with it compared to the redding... turns out whidden cuts the FL die short so you can push the shoulder back more if you have a short chamber or something along those lines, which means you won't get the die touching the shell holder if your chamber is normal length and you just want to bump the shoulder back 1-2 thou.... so I went back to the redding 7mm FL bushing die and seat with the whidden micrometer seater... I'm sure the whidden die would work fine if I took more time to fiddle with it but I like the idea of being able to have contact with the shell holder to "square things up"....

my buddy is using his redding 7mm saum bushing die and redding 7mm saum seater die with no problems on his 6.5 rsaum that he just made....

I am sizing nosler 300 saum brass down to 6.5 and turning necks to 15 thou and run the turner so I take a bit off of the shoulder at the neck junction as per instructions that gap posted on snipers hide "care and feeding of the 6.5 gap 4s" have over 10 reloads on some of my nosler brass and no signs of failing yet...

Orch

 

[Deleted member 25294]

I started out with a redding 7mm saum bushing die and had no issues with turning the necks. Got a whidden 6.5mm rsaum FL bushing die set (mostly because I wanted the micrometer seater die) but found I was getting considerably more neck run out with it compared to the redding... turns out whidden cuts the FL die short so you can push the shoulder back more if you have a short chamber or something along those lines, which means you won't get the die touching the shell holder if your chamber is normal length and you just want to bump the shoulder back 1-2 thou.... so I went back to the redding 7mm FL bushing die and seat with the whidden micrometer seater... I'm sure the whidden die would work fine if I took more time to fiddle with it but I like the idea of being able to have contact with the shell holder to "square things up"....

my buddy is using his redding 7mm saum bushing die and redding 7mm saum seater die with no problems on his 6.5 rsaum that he just made....

I am sizing nosler 300 saum brass down to 6.5 and turning necks to 15 thou and run the turner so I take a bit off of the shoulder at the neck junction as per instructions that gap posted on snipers hide "care and feeding of the 6.5 gap 4s" have over 10 reloads on some of my nosler brass and no signs of failing yet...

Orch

Thanks orch, I'm not sure why some are reporting issues with the bushing dies and neck turning. Maybe they aren't sizing correctly, good to hear that the Redding dies and seaters can be used.
I've also been looking at the hornady 6.5 gap dies for around $100,
I've asked About using them before and may do some more research.
My reamer is not the gap version but I can't see how there would be any chamber differences compared to other 6.5 saum's ...

 

[orch]

Thanks orch, I'm not sure why some are reporting issues with the bushing dies and neck turning. Maybe they aren't sizing correctly, good to hear that the Redding dies and seaters can be used.
I've also been looking at the hornady 6.5 gap dies for around $100,
I've asked About using them before and may do some more research.
My reamer is not the gap version but I can't see how there would be any chamber differences compared to other 6.5 saum's ...

Mine isn't the gap reamer either, it's a Dave Manson reamer, 0.100 free bore, 0.301 neck diameter... I think the only difference on the gap reamers is the freebore and neckturn/no-neckturn variations otherwise the rest of the dimensions should be the same..
I don't have too much experience with Hornady dies but for $100 it'd be worth a try... do they make a bushing die? If you are starting with 300rsaum headstamped brass I would go with bushing dies because you will have to neck down in steps.. if starting with 7mm saum brass you might get away with a non-bushing die and size in one step... if you are starting with the Hornady gap 4s headstamped brass non-bush is good enough... I still like the ability of the bushing to fine tune neck tension and not over working the brass... I have also developed a disdaine for expander buttons but that's just me...

I think the worry with the bushing dies and neck trimming is that the bushing might not completely size the neck all the way down to the shoulder junction, especially on virgin brass that may have a minimum overall headspace length, and it'll leave a bit of a step at the junction that would end up being cut thinner if you cut down onto the shoulder... if this is a concern you could always turn down to that step, fireform then do a "clean up" turning after it's formed to the chamber...if you have a .301" neck you could just not turn the necks as there is enough room on a loaded round for it to properly expand to release the bullet on firing, then trim after that if you want to clean up the necks for uniformity... that's just my take on it... hope it helps... let us know what way you decide to skin this cat and how it works for ya...

Orch

 

[Deleted member 25294]

That makes sense about not fully sizing the neck with a bushing die, and thus turning a thin spot near the shoulder junction.
I think I'm going to give the Hornady dies a try, I'll be using Norma 7 SAUM brass so one step sizing should be no problem. I may pick up a bushing die for sizing once the brass is fired.
Thanks again for the detailed info

 

[65WSM]

Why aren't you interested in a Wilson seating die? Have it reamed with your reamer.

You will want to use VLD bullets and you will need a VLD seating stem on any of the seating dies. You will need to test this by seeing if the bullets are bottoming out and seating by the tip.

 

[65WSM]

Sorry did not load the photo properly the first try:

 

[CrimsonSplash]

I started out with a redding 7mm saum bushing die and had no issues with turning the necks. Got a whidden 6.5mm rsaum FL bushing die set (mostly because I wanted the micrometer seater die) but found I was getting considerably more neck run out with it compared to the redding... turns out whidden cuts the FL die short so you can push the shoulder back more if you have a short chamber or something along those lines, which means you won't get the die touching the shell holder if your chamber is normal length and you just want to bump the shoulder back 1-2 thou.... so I went back to the redding 7mm FL bushing die and seat with the whidden micrometer seater... I'm sure the whidden die would work fine if I took more time to fiddle with it but I like the idea of being able to have contact with the shell holder to "square things up"....

my buddy is using his redding 7mm saum bushing die and redding 7mm saum seater die with no problems on his 6.5 rsaum that he just made....

I am sizing nosler 300 saum brass down to 6.5 and turning necks to 15 thou and run the turner so I take a bit off of the shoulder at the neck junction as per instructions that gap posted on snipers hide "care and feeding of the 6.5 gap 4s" have over 10 reloads on some of my nosler brass and no signs of failing yet...

Orch

Hey Orch, still have that whidden die that is too short? I got a redding fl type s bushing die that won't bump the shoulder on my 6.5 saum brass before hitting the press and bottoming out.

 

[eshorebwhntr]

That makes sense about not fully sizing the neck with a bushing die, and thus turning a thin spot near the shoulder junction.
I think I'm going to give the Hornady dies a try, I'll be using Norma 7 SAUM brass so one step sizing should be no problem. I may pick up a bushing die for sizing once the brass is fired.
Thanks again for the detailed info

Up to you but I would not go Hornady. I've not used their dies for the saum but have in other instances and I don't like them.