Team Shooter, Phillip Velayo walks through how to set up our Modular Sizing Die. If you have any questions regarding any of our products, please feel free to email us at info@shortactioncustoms.com
I like that the bushing does the shoulder and all the neck. Although this may have been available for a while I just have heard this today. Phillip is loading now that's "mundane".
Because I have the brass in front of me, lets use a 6.5 Creedmoor and 308 Winchester. Yes, the die will size all the way down to and past the to of the extractor groove geometry. We have noticed that what brass measures really doesn't match up that great to SAAMI cartridge dimensions. So without grabbing specific cartridges and measuring them individually, I cannot speak for all.
Really liking my 6 dasher alpha die, one thing i dont understand about the die is the use of the shims, on my co ax if i bottom out my die i get roughly .007-.008 of setback so I have no choice to fine tune my die but to back it out until i get in that .002 range. Im guess you would use the shims only if the die is all the way screwed down and you dont see any set back? Either way I use the solo ring as well and makes fine tuning very easy.
Thank you for your question. We have found that using a reloading press where the linkage connecting the handle to the ram must "Cam Over" slightly to achieve consistent sizing of brass, REGARDLESS of the die touching or not touching the shell holder. One of the features/reasons is that when the linkage "Cams Over" and locks, the sizing pressure and movement generated is extremely consistent and repeatable. We have done a bunch of testing here in the shop on just about every common reloading press on the market and most reloading presses not need any die to shell holder contact to consistently size brass to less than .0015" of headspace Extreme Spread. Not standard deviation, but extreme spread. Other presses on the market, specifically ones where the linkage connecting the handle to the ram does not reach a "Cam Over" position, they are incapable of sizing brass this consistently and must rely on shell holder contact for any type of consistency in headspace. Reloading presses that utilize the linkage's "Cams Over" design at full stroke when sizing brass inherently are more consistent in pressure and travel. To specifically answer your question, the small .001" shims are stacked above the Neck Shoulder Bushing, and below the bottom of the Taper Adapter. They are there to allow the end user to adjust the gap between the die body's Shoulder/Body junction and the Neck/Shoulder Bushing face. Users can use between 0 and 4 shims (.000" -.004") to adjust headspace, or achieve die to shell holder contact without oversizing their headspace. We recommend using an adjustable shell holder or the Redding Competition Shell Holder. We originally released our dies with less sizing in respect to headspace, but we had customers not able to bump their shoulders back even with a hard metal to metal contact with the die and shell holder at the "Cam Over" position with the press. So we had to increase the amount of cartridge protrusion out of the die to allow all to achieve proper sizing. If your Modular Sizing Die is sizing too much on the headspace measurement, I would suggest backing the die out a little even if you're not contacting the shell holder and you should have no problem getting less than .0015"-.002" of headspace Extreme Spread on clean, lubed brass. Mark
Guys, should the bushing have a gap (play) inside the matrix, as is done on other matrices during adjustment? Or is it installed without free play? Thanks a lot for reply
How does the expander mandrel relate to the sizing process? Do you remove the neck bushing and replace with the expander mandrel to use in a second pass after full body sizing?
You Full length size on the upstroke and mandrel on the downstroke. Everything is done in was process. Once you reach the top of the stroke and start the down stroke your piece of brass is supported in the neck / shoulder bushing and immediately hands off to the expander mandrel, allow the case to be supported through the mandrel process to prevent the introduction of run out. Hope this helps!
