Is there any real advantage to using sizing and seating dies made from the reamer that was used to chamber the barrel?
Frank Murphy
A true sizing die cannot be made from the reamer that made the chamber--all you can do with such a die is push the shoulder back. Not a bad thing, but not complete sizing either, because such a die does not reduce the diameters without also producing excessive shoulder push-back. The ideal neck sizer is made with the chambering reamer, so that you get a perfect fit of the case in the die, though over repeated firings this may become too perfect. So, using the chambering reamer you can make a neck die and a bump die, but not an FL die, which requires an undersized reamer.
If you try to make a bump die with an oversized reamer, then you risk the shoulder spreading when you push the shoulder back. If you use an undersized reamer, then it'll act like an FL die.
The optimum bullet seating die is also made with the chambering reamer, also for the sake of a good close fit with the case.
Th is does NOT mean that you cannot make bump dies, neck dies and seating dies from reamers other than the one used for the chamber in question, but doing so does open the door for mis-matches between die and chamber that you can avoid by using the same reamer.
To me, the deluxe setup goes like this:
--the gunsmith makes you a hand-held Wilson-type seater using the same reamer that was used to chamber the gun
--he makes you a threaded bushing-style FL die using a slightly undersized roughing reamer that matches the chambering reamer but is 1.5 thou undersized. This is not as radical an undersize as usual, but is sufficient and does not overwork the brass or destroy accuracy. Jim Borden introduced me to this concept and it has worked very well for me.
--if you want to screw around with a bump die, have that made at the same time. You can use the bump die as a neck die by having it stop just short of touching the shoulder.
This set of dies will let you carry out any or all of these operations as the spirit moves you:
--neck size only
--push the shoulder back or not
--body size only (take the bushing out of the FL die and it becomes a body die)
--partial FL size (stop short with the FL die)
--FL size but not over do it
--seat bullets straight
When this is all done, buy the chambering reamer and keep it for all subsequent barrels.
Yes, this costs money, but you will forevermore nevermore have anymore of the "can't get this damned die to work with this brass and this chamber down and dirty handloader's blues," and that's gotta be worth something. If you are getting a 22-250 to shoot 6 groundhogs a year, then clearly this isn't cost effective, but if you expect to use two to four PPC barrels each season, this can be a very smart move and will keep you from gathering a large collection of various dies, to suit (or not suit) various barrels made with various reamers and at various times.
Much less costly and nearly as effective is to get three dies. The first two are the Wilson hand-held neck die and bullet seater, bought off the shelf. If there is any kind of misfit with either die, they'll make it work for you--just call them and be prepared to send in some fired brass and the dies for modification. The third die is a Redding body die, so you can control the headspace and the various diameters of the cases as they age. If you have an oddball chamber, you may need to work with Redding to revise the die, but I've never had any problems with standard chambers.
A third way to go, suggested by Dick Heisen (AKA the Long Ranger) is go get a set of Redding dies with neck bushings and have your chambering reamer ground to suit. This way, the only custom part you have to pay for is the reamer and all will work well.
A fourth way that reaquires even less investment requires that you find the right gunsmith. Rick Picaretta (advertizes here) uses 6BR reamers that are sized to work with Redding dies. No muss, no fuss and no need to buy custom dies or reamers.
Off the shelf dies will work pretty well most of the time, but if you want to take the next step up you have to be prepared to do quite a bit of trial and error or to get the parts made to fit each other. If you think about it, for everything to work really correctly, the three chambers that the cartridge case encounters in its life cycle (in the gun, in the sizing die, and in the bullet seater) need to fit one another better than you can expect with random purchases of tools and guns made by different folks. It's a miracle that we do as well as we do, and a tribute to SAAMI and to the people who make these things, that you can buy a .30-06 made in Europe this year, some brass made by the U.S. government 50 years ago and fired 20 years ago in a now obsolete semiautomatic service rifle designed 65 years ago, process the brass in a die made 40 years ago by a company in California, and have it all work as well as it does.
