Forster Br F/l Sizing Die In A Dillon 550

[milanuk]

Hello,

I've got one toolhead for my 550B setup for my 'LR' (500/600yd plus) rounds and one for my Short Range (200/300) stuff. My SR toolhead has a Forster Ultra Benchrest seater, a Forster Benchrest F/L sizing die, and a Lee Taper Crimp die.

What started going wrong was that at first occasionally, then after a bit quite frequently the case going up into the powder measure at station #2 would somehow actuate the powder drop early, before the case was fully inserted into the powder die, and I'd end up w/ N140 everywhere. At first I just blamed it on powder bridging w/ the short/medium cut extruded grain powder, and kept on trucking, cleaning out the press as I went and tossing back and re-throwing the charges. Eventually I noticed that the cases I was having to clean up after and re-throw had some sort of boogered case mouth, like it had caught on something and then had been smoothed out, like the case mouth had hung up going into the F/L die and then got ironed out (somewhat) inside the die. It appeared these deformities in the case mouths were then snagging part of the powder actuating collar inside the powder die (not sure if those are the right terms) and subsequently spilling powder everywhere. Of course once I started paying very close attention to the cases going from station #1 to #2... the problem wouldn't resurface again. This did *significantly* impact the loading volume though.

From what I can tell after pulling the Forster BR F/L die apart, nothing seems to be overly amiss there... though I must say I'm not terribly impressed w/ the die... lots of sharp angles and surfaces for the case mouth to potentially snag on before it is fully seated home if the case isn't guided in very carefully, at least that's my impression. I haven't had any such problems w/ my Redding Type 'S' F/L bushing dies in .223 & .308 (w/ floating carbide expander balls) thus far.

Anybody else used these dies on a Dillon and have any suggestions? Since this is for Service Rifle, and for 'only' 200/300yd loads i.e. Offhand and RapidFire ammo I'm kind of tempted to go w/ a set of Dillon dies; the cutaway pic in the Blue Press does look a lot more 'high speed low drag' as far as less potential snag points. I'm not wild about using a 'regular' seater though, but my copy of the catalog doesn't seem to list the rifle dies as separates, except for the Carbide Sizer die. What kind of volume do you need to be loading to make the Carbide dies worth the premium $$$?

TIA,

Monte

[dillon]

It sounds like the shellplate bolt isn't tight enough. Push down on the edge of the shellpalte at station 2. If it feels springy, then tighten the shellplate bolt more. With the shellplate loose, the case catches the edge of the powder funnel and pushes up, then under the increased pressure it gets forced into the funnel proper. This burrs the edge of the case mouth and spills powder A steel die has a 40-50,000 case life. Carbide still requires lubrication, but it is significantly more scratch-resistant, and has a life of about 750,000 cases. We intend it for commercial loaders primarily.

[milanuk]

Well thats an interesting one that I hadn't thought of... unfortunately I've got it set up for my .308 at the moment, so I'll have to go back and re-set it up for the .223 tonight. I don't recall the shell plate being very loose, thought I set it just loose enough to rotate w/o having to push too hard and then locked it down w/ the set screw. Maybe not.

I'll give it a try tonite and see how it behaves. I did order one of the regular steel .223 F/L sizing dies from Dillon this morning, cuz the more I look at that Forster die the more I don't like it.

Thanks,

Monte