Do you alter your reloading dies to work better with boolits?

[geargnasher]

I'm talking about opening up neck-sizing areas of standard dies, using larger expander balls, punching out Lee FCD carbide rings, honing out die bodies, enlarging crimp restrictions so they don't shave lead, or anything else to change the dimensions of "regular" dies to get better results using our favorite custom-made projectiles.

Several newer casters have been battling issues caused in part by dies designed for Groove-sized j-words swaging-down their boolits or overworking the brass in the neck area, and the question has been asked "am I the only one with this problem?" So what say ye?

My answer is YES, I have to tinker with just about every die I purchase to get things just right, AND I have some "M" dies in some cases also, but I only load for ten or so calibers. Die modification isn't talked about much, or not nearly as much as custom boolit sizer dies, so it's easy for a new caster to overlook die dimensionality as an issue.

Gear

[a.squibload]

I had an independent contractor modify internal components of a couple SWAGE dies (thanks BT!),
does that count?

OK, maybe that's a stretch (get it? Swage, stretch? That one's a little thin, huh?)

Otherwise no, never modified a reloading die, but after reading CastBoolits I now realize it's possible.

[fredj338]

I don't use or like teh LFCD, standard pistol dies have worked in all my calibers for any lead bullet use. About the only thing I have modified are some seating stems for certain lead bullets to not deform the nose.

[Doc Highwall]

I have made custom expander dies for all of my cast bullet guns. My latest is for my 308 Winchester where I am using a standard Redding competition neck sizing die for sizing the new Lapua Palma cases with the small rifle primer pocket and small flash hole, I have to grind the decapping pin down as Redding does not make one yet. For the expander I took a Forster Bench Rest seater die with the sliding chamber and reamed the I.D. to .312" and made a floating carbide expander with a .309" x .3119" to expand the case mouths. For the seater die I took a Forster Ultra Micrometer seater die with the sliding chamber and reamed the I.D. to .3104" and made a floating nose punch for the SAECO #315 bullet. I am just about to load the first rounds with these dies and I hope to borrow a camera to take pictures as it will better explain what I did.

[geargnasher]

Now that's what I was after.

I often go from groove diameter, chamber neck diameter from an impact slug, case neck thickness, desired case neck tension and preferred sized boolit diameter when figuring dies for bottleneck rifle.

My rule of thumb is boolit sized .001"-.002" over groove diameter, .0015" to .0020" interference fit of the boolit in the case neck, .0008"-.0012" neck clearance in the chamber, and the neck-sizing portion of the resizing die shouldn't squeeze the ID of the case neck more than .001" smaller than the expander ball with brass of the correct neck thickness.

Now case lot, number of firings (i.e. state of anneal) can play hob with neck tension and such, but for all but the most finicky benchrest work the above works for me. Any comments?

Gear

[Doc Highwall]

I forgot to add that I size the bullets .310" which is why I reamed the I.D. of the seater die .3104"

[Von Gruff]

I thought it was because I was an incurable tinkerer but I have played with most of everything I have.
lapped out neck on sizing dies to require no expander ball on 404 dies
Made and fitted shims to Wilson neck sizing dies to limit sizing to seating length + 1 thou for 20 VarTarg J bullets
Taken FLS dies and shortened, lapped base area and neck to make special cases,
lapped lubrisizer dies, lee PT dies, shell holder tops and anything else to get the fit I need.
I even lapped out the base of my frechex ii so I could use .018 litho for GC.
I could go but you get the idea.

Von Gruff

[243winxb]

A 45 acp seating die was taking the bell out way to soon, shaving lead even with the seating stem all the way down. Bullet diameter is .452" Reamed out a few thousands, now i seat find, then use a separate die for a taper crimp.

[Blammer]

nope I don't modify or alter anything on my dies.

[dragonrider]

I have opened up the carbide ring in some Lee factory crimp dies so that it doesn't resize my .360 boolits back to .358.

[RobS]

I've purchased M-dies and had button plugs made for them; I've even as of lately had Lyman send me a 45 rifle button so I could turn it down on my drill press. I've also have different brands of dies on a tool heads that work best for whatever caliber I am loading. On a single tool head I have a Dillon die, Lyman M-die, two lee dies, and a RCBS die; nice isn't it.

I've also taken carbide rings out of the Lee FCD's and worked on the crimp sleeves a bit to open them up a bit so I could crimp larger bullets. The list goes on and on it seems.

I assume that those who are tinkers and or don't have the $bucks$ to purchase the best or custom dies all the time use a means of "making it happen". Great thing is many here have great minds, are able to work with their hands well, and the tools to do many practical things.

[captain-03]

Have never done it ... I have tossed a couple over the years!!

[462]

M-dies for every caliber, lapped one Lee and 3 Lyman Precision Alignment seating dies and a few sizer dies for the Lyman 4500, modified top punches seating stems...

[BeeMan]

Made M-type and neck only dies from scratch for rifle, modified a Lee rifle collet neck sizer to work for a non-listed caliber, modified / made from scratch pistol expander dies, made a powder measure adapter for loading pistol on a turret, and have a few more to do when I get a round tuit.

[Char-Gar]

I have modified a couple of seating stems for seating dies by turning them flat for use with Keith or orther large meplat bullets. Other than that I have not modified any dies. I have found a number of dies not well suited for cast bullets.

I use M dies to expand case necks for cast bullets. I have a collection of Lyman PA seating dies, that I use to seat oversize cast bullets. I have either made or had made a number of special dies and tools for cast bullet use. I have made a number of chamber type hand bullet seating dies with use with the larger cast bullets.

[badgeredd]

Nearly every expander gets replaced or modified and I too mess with each set for each cartridge to get optimal results. I just kinda figure that is part of the territory.

BTW, I make it a point to tell a newbie interested in casting his own, that he can expect to make a few modifications to his loading dies if he wants things to work out for him.

Edd

[Marvin S]

I'm with Badger on this, just thought that's the way it is.

[iammarkjones]

Modification of the equipment is half the fun! Seriously my dies are set up for each gun. If I get a new gun, I buy a die set to go with it, I really got my wife to buy that PLEASE don't tell her any different !

[geargnasher]

Nearly every expander gets replaced or modified and I too mess with each set for each cartridge to get optimal results. I just kinda figure that is part of the territory.

BTW, I make it a point to tell a newbie interested in casting his own, that he can expect to make a few modifications to his loading dies if he wants things to work out for him.

Edd

Edd, you just captured the essence of my whole point in posting this poll. Often cast boolit loading requires non-standard equipment, or purpose-designed equipment, and this is a fact often lost on newer casters because we fail to bring it up often enough.

Gear

[Cap'n Morgan]

I have opened the neck on a few of the bottleneck sizing dies I use for j-bullets, and dumped the expander ball. No more squeaking return strokes or stretched necks, no messing around with inside neck lubing, and less reworking of the neck area to boot - A pure win/win situation.

[mold maker]

Well I'm by no means a machinist, but I modified the deprime/sizer assy in my 223 RCBS X die with a berdan primed case.
Does that count, or is it just too late? 2:02 AM

[44man]

Until Redding came out with their comp dies, every bottleneck set was lapped for minimum sizing. Over sizing and dragging an expander out is the primary cause for run out.

[HORNET]

Polishing down arbors on Lee Collet dies (rifle) to get enough case neck tension to shove bore-riders into the rifling, altering seating punches to fit strange nose shapes, whatever I think will work and buy replacement parts if it doesn't.

[pjh421]

Maybe I should try to buy machine tools instead of more guns.

Paul

[geargnasher]

Maybe I should try to buy machine tools instead of more guns.

Paul

Yeah, who knew! Our advice to a newbie caster shouldn't be about moulds, funaces, or alloys, it should be: Get your self a Bridgeport or a Logan lathe and end mill.

Gear

[geargnasher]

Wow, thanks for the responses! Looks like there's a flaw in my poll, should have put an option for "I don't modify anything" to really get a clear picture of what goes on in everyone else's reloading room.

Has anyone ever ordered small parts like expanders and individual die bodies from Lee? I see listings for such in their online catalog, but I remember a difference between ordering from the factory directly and the factory outlet. Any tips?

Gear