Setting up sizing dies

[AKM]

should I just screw it down till it touches the shell holder or do that plus a quarter turn? I keep seeing both and don't want to ruin close to 2k rounds .

 

[grasshopperglock]

Cycle the press to where the shell holder/ram is in the up most position. There's an arch to where the shell holder will reach dead top and then it'll lower back down on full stroke.

Once you locate the top of the stroke. Screw the sizer die down until it touches the shell plate. Back it out about 1/4 turn. You'll have to hold the crank arm in the top position while you adjust the die.

Now gently crank the press and check the clearance between the die and shell plate. They shouldn't touch but it'll look like they do.

Size away.

 

[mcunningham615]

should I just screw it down till it touches the shell holder or do that plus a quarter turn? I keep seeing both and don't want to ruin close to 2k rounds .

I bring my sizing dies down just enough to feel my press cam over at the end of the press stroke, about 1/8 to 1/4 turn pass touching the case holder. Been doing it that way for decades and have never ruined a die.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[Vaquero]

should I just screw it down till it touches the shell holder or do that plus a quarter turn? I keep seeing both and don't want to ruin close to 2k rounds .

Dies are made different.
Go by manufacturer instructions.

 

[mcunningham615]

Since I shoot the same caliber from multiple firearms the shoulder area is critical for me. Not all chambers are cut the same so I always try to bring the shoulder area back to spec that way they will fit all firearms I shoot my reloads from. By bringing my dies (RCBS and Hornady) down to the point of a light cam over of the press I'm assured that the shoulder area is brought back into specifications.

I bring my sizing dies down just enough to feel my press cam over at the end of the press stroke, about 1/8 to 1/4 turn pass touching the case holder. Been doing it that way for decades and have never ruined a die.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[Dawico]

I always go for a light cam over action on the press.

 

[mcunningham615]

This sounds like the set up for the bullet seating die, not the sizing die. In order to resize a cartridge to spec, the cartridge must go to full depth in the sizing die and the only way to assure this is happening is to bring the cartridge holder in contact with the sizing die. Presses are designed with the cam over feature to assure you are at the end of the stroke. Bullet seating dies should not touch the shell holder. If a seating die does touch, you run the risk of smashing the throat of the cartridge or putting a very heavy crimp on the bullet. Both could cause pressure problems when firing.

Cycle the press to where the shell holder/ram is in the up most position. There's an arch to where the shell holder will reach dead top and then it'll lower back down on full stroke.

Once you locate the top of the stroke. Screw the sizer die down until it touches the shell plate. Back it out about 1/4 turn. You'll have to hold the crank arm in the top position while you adjust the die.

Now gently crank the press and check the clearance between the die and shell plate. They shouldn't touch but it'll look like they do.

Size away.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[vmax]

should I just screw it down till it touches the shell holder or do that plus a quarter turn? I keep seeing both and don't want to ruin close to 2k rounds .

Have you read the instructions?

Everything is spelled out in the instructions
If you bought the set used without them , you can download a set

 

[TheMailMan]

Not all presses drop back. Also it's not needed to cam over.

http://www.mssblog.com/2016/04/14/cam-over-dont-do-it-just-dont/

 

[benenglish]

Not all presses drop back. Also it's not needed to cam over.

http://www.mssblog.com/2016/04/14/cam-over-dont-do-it-just-dont/

I find Zediker's writings useful. His Handloading for Competition was the first book I reviewed for a national gun magazine and I suggested it to the editor simply because I believed it was a credible source of good information.

On this subject, he makes a couple of points, one more valid than the other.

I agree that camming over probably isn't strictly necessary. I've always considered that dies should be locked in place while under load to help with alignment. Camming over makes that easy but there are other methods to achieve the same end.

I'm not sure that I can agree with him that it makes any difference, though. He cites wear on the presses and I think that's silly. In his books he points the the utility of cast iron presses being bound up in the fact that they don't bend (much). If you over-stress them, they'll snap. They don't, however, get bent out of shape and stay that way.

But let me quote him on the subject, from page 58 of his Handloading for Competition in the section on choosing reloading presses under "Construction", he says:

Good old cast iron. That's probably best. It's a brittle metal with a memory that doesn't fail: all that means is that it will spring and return or crack if it can't. That's good for press material and skillets, but not much else. A reloading press has to flex, and will, but should never, ever become deflected (stay flexed). Let it crack before it gets out of whack. Cast iron will perform that way and in the same way for years and years and years.

As an aside - If the structure and punctuation of that quote bother you as much as they bother me, here's another quote from the introductory section of the book:

I have a degree from Ole Miss in English (which certifies me to butcher the language as freely as I do because I know better.)

Indeed.

Over the years, he has often promoted allloy presses such as the original Harrell's C-press and the Harrell's turret. Both are wonderful but both can be overstressed and bent, theoretically. The turret is sturdy but I'd hate to envision the muscle it would take to hurt any of the standard single-stage presses that Harrell's has made. In practical terms, it's not really possible. However, they may have helped him form his opinions.

Personally, though, I've never seen a broken standard cast-iron O-ring press from any manufacturer. I think I've seen two pictures of broken linkages but never heard of the body breaking. So I think Zediker is wrong to worry about damage to the press.

He also cites damage to the dies. That's something else. RCBS die instructions say to add an extra 1/8 to 1/4 turn to set steel dies so that they cam over. RCBS also says to NOT do this for carbide dies.

So I can imagine die damage happening if someone turns the die in too far. However, I've never actually seen it.

Now, Glenn Zediker probably reloads more ammo in a year than I will in my lifetime. Perhaps he's seen dies screwed up via the method of actually following the instruction manual provided by the die manufacturer.

As for a normal human like me, though, I'm not going to worry about it. I'll give my dies a 1/8 turn, no more, then lock 'em down with the handle at the bottom of its travel.

In other words, for normal reloading on a single-stage, cast-iron, O-ring press, I'll continue to follow the instructions.

I reserve the right to give a different answer if the press is a different design or material or if I'm just doing something weird.

 

[TxStetson]

Lots of good info in there.