Redding dies, Lapua brass in 6.5 Creedmoor

[DIYguy]

I've been loading a lot of Hornady brass with Hornady ELD-M 140g bullets for my RPR 6.5 Creedmore and using the Hornady Match grade S dies. These all have large primer pockets and 2mm flash holes. I just received my order of couple hundred Lapua 6.5 Creeddmoor brass which has small pocket and 1.5 flash hole. Decided rather than resetting my die for each brass I'm ordering another Redding Competition S die. When I set up the Hornady I went through all the measurements and math for figure out which neck busing I needed for each brass. I'm going to go the lazy route and ask what others are using for neck busing for Lapua brass, 140g SMK bullets. Also not sure if I need to order the .059 pin separate when I order the die, didn't see that mentioned.

[DIYguy]

Another question before I actually order my die and bushing. Will the standard 6.5 Creedmoor die #36446 work with the .057 pins. Not sure if the spindle rod is different to clamp tightly on the small diameter pin, the pins reference PPC.

 

Also asking about the bushing as I have a standard micrometer and digital calipers. The micrometer will not work for casing necks and calipers will read thicker than actual because of the blade. I don't have a loaded Lapua round to reference so I either do the math or cheat and ask.

 

FYI....Forster press and I always anneal my brass before sizing. Use the internal expander with my spindle.

Edited October 2, 2020 by DIYguy

[milanuk]

Digital calipers will work just fine for measuring the necks.  They might not be 'perfect', but unless you're turning case necks and checking measurements to the ten-thousandth, they're 'good enough'.  Just be careful (and not totally ham-fisted) when using them.  I generally rely on a good set of Mitutoyo Digimatic calipers, but in a pinch cheaper ones will work as well.  use the thin blade portion of the jaw, and be conscious of having the tool as close to perpendicular to the surface as possible.  If necessary, take a few different reads - the smallest one is probably the right one, where the tool is aligned correctly.

 

The Redding Type 'S' F/L bushing die uses a two-fingered collet on the decapping stem to hold the pin.  That's probably the only think I really wish they'd change on those dies - I'd rather they had a shouldered pin design like other brands use.  Awful easy for that decapping pin to get pulled out by a tight flash hole even when you're using the right size pin for the hole.  IIRC, the pin measures something like 0.057", the 'old' PPC holes were about 0.059".  One or two firings and it's pretty easy for a little bit of crud build-up in the flash hole to take up that very minimal clearance.   In the past I've gone thru and uniformed the flash holes with an appropriately sized tool, which opens them up to 0.061-0.062", which eliminated the problem of getting done sizing cases only to find that your decapping pin went AWOL about 79 cases back...   I've heard rumors that some of the newer small flash-hole brass now comes with 61-62 thou sized holes, but I haven't seen any with my own eyes as of yet.  FWIW, I've never been able to get the cap nut on the collet tight enough to hold the pin in place *without* using pliers on both the stem and the cap.  YMMV.

 

I don't recall for sure, but you most likely need to order the BR/PPC sized decapping pin separately.  If you're going to stick with using the expander on the sizing die (vs. using a separate mandrel), I'd strongly recommend you order one of Redding's floating carbide expander balls.  It eliminates probably 99% of the gripes people have with regular expander plugs on sizing dies, and is well worth it.  Much harder and smoother than the stock expander plug, and much smaller bearing surface.  Plus it 'floats' on the decapping stem, so it can self-align in the neck as it is pulled through.  With an appropriately sized bushing, it should just barely 'kiss' the inside of the neck as it is pulled through - just enough to make sure everything is round and concentric, without stretching or pulling anything out of whack.

 

As far as the bushings... can't say definitively, as I haven't use Lapua 6.5CM brass yet (several boxes on the shelf, just haven't needed them yet).  But the math is pretty damn elementary... take a number of measurements of the neck wall thickness of your cases, to get an average.  Then bullet diameter + 2(neck wall thickness) - your desired neck tension = approximate bushing size.  For one of my match .308 guns, with neck turned brass, that works out to 0.308 + 2(0.014) - 0.002 = 0.334".  I generally recommend buying an extra bushing either way, one thou above, one thou below, just in case.

[ltdmstr]

 

I use the FW Arms decap die prior to tumbling, etc.  For neck sizing, I go slightly undersize with the bushing die, then use a Wilson mandrel to expand for the finish ID.