Finding the correct F/L die

H

HopeToBe

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I have a custom reamer made for my PPC, but living outside the US makes it hard to find someone that could make me custom F/L die as well as a seater.

Where to go in the US that would make custom dies based on a print of the reamer? Sending brass is not a good option since this could be tricky through the customs where I live... :mad:
 
one option (may be the best in your case) is to get a new reamer that mates with somebody that makes dies like hammonds's reamer. or get you a resize reamer and have a die made locally. may be cheaper than rolling the dice on a semi custom reamer like a harrels (not sure how much different your chamber is than the norm)
 
Would carefully drilling a hole in a few fired cases (perhaps drilling out the primer pockets way over size, all the way through the head) to make them unusable for loading, while retaining their usefulness for making or selecting dies make your customs problem any easier? Just a thought...
 
HopeToBe said:
I have a custom reamer made for my PPC, but living outside the US makes it hard to find someone that could make me custom F/L die as well as a seater.

Where to go in the US that would make custom dies based on a print of the reamer? Sending brass is not a good option since this could be tricky through the customs where I live... :mad:
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Make a die from the fired cases. Harrells in US/Virginia, send them 2-3 pieces of brass fired in that chamber and they will make the die to fit.

http://www.harrellsprec.com/
 
Assuming you're talking about a 6mmPPC...

...in what way is your reamer "custom"...??? Have you significantly altered the "standard" PPC chamber with respect to the body dimensions...??? If not, save yourself a lot of trouble and aggravation and buy a Redding SBR Full Length 6PPC die, Part # 77211.
 
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Does harrels actually make the dies to your cases? Or do they size those cases with the dies they have that has a 1 or 1.5 or 2 stamped on the bottom then figure out which one works? Ive seen them send the exact same 1.5 die to different people with different chambers that had different problems. I have and have given away a fistfull of them so yes i do have firsthand experience. I ran across one of those problem chambers, the guy tried the harrels route and had a 1.5 and still had probs. i tried 2 different 1.5 dies i bought from 2 different send your brass in routes and it sized exactly the same. Grabbed a 2 and it scrunched em down enough to work til he got a new chamber. I like hammonds dies for a call em up and they work die. JLC works good too
 
It will take a bit of looking, but there are still some Harrell's Vari-Base dies around. I have five or six inserts of various sizes (in .001 increments) for mine, it leaves my brass easy to chamber, and only slightly sized. In order to deal with chambers that vary in size, all I have to do is to change the base insert. Back in the day when I started planning my first 6PPC, I bought my own reamer, so that any matching dies would fit all of my chambers. Now that I have this die, I have found that different chambers are not a problem. When I encounter one, if needed, I change to the appropriate insert, and there have been no problems. The last batch of brass that I made, I checked for runout after sizing, and it ran .0005 or better on the ends of the necks, good enough for me.
 
Dusty Stevens said:
Does harrels actually make the dies to your cases? Or do they size those cases with the dies they have that has a 1 or 1.5 or 2 stamped on the bottom then figure out which one works? Ive seen them send the exact same 1.5 die to different people with different chambers that had different problems.
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Harrells does have some standard sizes of die making reamers and they will solve 98% of the problems if you use the correct numbered die. None of the gunsmith/diemakers have anything like a coordinate measuring machine where they can digitize and reproduce a die. Besides this would require them to work from that exact chamber and have it in their shop.

Unless you have a really screwey, non standard, chamber it ain't rocket science to properly fit a f/l die to a chamber. We are only talking about 0.001-0.003" variation from a JGS/PTG1045 to a Boyer Pure Magic to a Borden anyhow in the PPC chamber world.

Much of the later problem that develops is the shooter keeps reusing the same brass 40-50 times and the brass has work hardened and does not spring back the same as it did in the first 10 or so sizings. Solving that problem is why Lynwood Harrell made the varibase die, that and the earlier Lapua/Sako variations which is where Jim Borden had that special PPC reamer design ground.

And too, Harrell's dies are less than $80 and most custom one-on-one made dies are over $150 mostly due to the extra labor involved by the gunsmith. And too, if a certain size Harrell doesn't do the job to your liking, send it back and get another. You don't pay for their dies till you get the fit you want anyway. In the meantime you are only out the return shipping costs.

No, I'm not selling Harrells dies, I'm just telling how this die fitting process works.
 
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Looks like we overlooked the custom seater part of your post. Normally, in the PPC situation a custom seater is not required. There is the Wilson seater that is most commonly used. Jim Carstenson and some others make custom seaters that are really hi-tech but the main difference is they have a graduated collar to allow adjusting seating depth by simply dialing up or down instead of using a dial caliper to run the seating stem in or out. This feature is nice, and handy, but not necessary for accurate bullet seating.

Some of us who have a lathe and a particular chambering reamer, along with a barrel stub, have made custom seating dies by using that chambering reamer then polishing just enough out to get the fit we want since the neck diameter of a Wilson is several thousands over the normal 0.262 chamber neck in hopes of getting less runout. I've never been able to actually measure an improvement in runout over the standerd off-the-shelf Wilson. But if it fits your fancy have at it!!
 
Wilson offers a micrometer top on their dies now. Sinclair used to/still does offer a micrometer top for wilson dies and JLC makes a very nice micrometer seating die.
 
Lynwood didn't cash my check for over 6 mos.
He lent a powder measure. told the guy, if ya like it send me a check or send the measure back. I think, this guy had it all summer. Then sent it back.
 
I have custom dies several actually. they collect dust in my storage bin. I use a 2.5 harrels and its perfect. my chamber is a standard PTG 263 NK .4407 at the base .200 up. lee
 
Thanks for the input. This is a pure PPC-gun for those of you asking.

The seater issue was mainly meant as an add-on to a F/L die, since have two that match was something I considered to be OK. I also have my experience using Wilson (several) and struggle to see the improvement; still I would like to at least have walked down the custom path.

For the F/L my chamber might not be too special, I suppose it is close to that of Borden. I have used a Harrels#2 which is normally fine, but a small amount of firings and the die does not really do the job it is supposed to. Hence I bought a #2.5 which I am more satisfied with, still it is not really perfect either. Trying to measure, it seems to "oversize" the shoulder region while the base is worked OK. This might of course be an OK solution in the long run, but this was the reason for asking. I realize I dig into the details - and please convince me that there is nothing in there so I could save myself from spending more $ than I need to.
 
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