Dillon RT 1200 questions

[Sandro]

John Whidden makes a custom 650/550 tool head but not sure if it solves the headspace in question. Custom 650 tool head

Any idea who can open up the dillon die?

DVC,

Sandro

[charliez]

25 replies to the thread ... yada yada yada ... can we get back to topic please benchrest shooters please exit thread right (sort bullets, cases, primers, fireform cases, tweak headspace, tweak seating to the lands, turn the necks, etc.

I'm loading for an AR-15 practical rifle, not shooting a nickel at 100 yards

[Chills1994]

Hey, man, all I can tell you is to:

A. use a chamfering tool

B. use a boattail style bullet

C. in whatever toolhead you use to actually charge and seat bullets with, try taking the decapping rod from a regular full length resizing die for .223 and putting that into a universal decapping die. Screw in the decapping rod in so far or have the die so high up in the tool head that expander ball kinda flares out the mouth, barely.

or whatever that Dillon guy said.

[leeshall]

All ya gotta do is use the proper size Lyman "M" die to expand the case mouth ID to the correct size. Been doing it for years. So far I've worn out six service rifle barrels and one match rifle barrel with ammo produced this way. Works like a charm. I really don't like dies that expand the neck with an expander ball while withdrawing the case from the full length sizing die. The "M" die ALWAYS makes the case mouth ID sides parallel and the correct size.

Distinguished Rifleman #1352 (1998)

[jaredr]

not sure what press you're running or whether you're using one toolhead to prep and another to load. here's how I've set up my 1050, and it's worked very well for about 12,000 .223 rounds

toolhead one - case prep

station 1 - deprime and full length resize anbd

station 2 - primer swage

station 3 - <nothing> - not priming during brass prep

station 4 - <nothing> - no powder drop during brass prep

station 5 - neck size - I use a redding neck sizing die to bump the shoulder back a few thousands (actually ground this down a few thou in order to move the shoulder back sufficiently on military brass, without grinding I could not screw the die down far enough to resize as needed)

station 6 - RT1200 trim - adjusted not to size, merely to trim

station 7 - <nothing> - empty

station 8 - neck expand - I run a dillon expander ball through the neck to open it back up for bullet seating

toolhead 2 is just used for loading, not relevant to trim or brass prep (though I do use a decapping die in station 1 just to pop out the odd piece of corncob that gets stuck in the primer flash hole after I tumble the sizing lube off).

would think that this approach would solve your neck sizing problem (i.e. just running an expander through the neck after trimming) or am I missing something in your earlier post?

-best regards,

jared

Edited July 30, 2009 by jaredr

[JSeavers]

I appreciate all the replies, including those slightly off topic. I learn a little from each.

My last visit with the machinist's boss was: he could drill the die to about .002 less than my spec size, or ream to about .002 over the spec I gave him. I opted to go with the drill size(we're only using tool steel(?) here), and polish it up. If that didn't work, we would try reaming. The size we are shooting for is the neck od as the brass comes out of the RCBS .308 fl sizing die. The Dillon trim die reduces the od by .005; maybe I can live with -.002.

I like the idea of a Dillon expander ball as an extra step. I have some Hornady Match brass that has really hard necks so a smooth ball and maybe lube would be in order. (This brass is already primed btw.) I had a friend prep the brass on a 1050, and he did it really cheap. And I got what I paid for.

[SooStan]

All ya gotta do is use the proper size Lyman "M" die to expand the case mouth ID to the correct size. Been doing it for years. So far I've worn out six service rifle barrels and one match rifle barrel with ammo produced this way. Works like a charm. I really don't like dies that expand the neck with an expander ball while withdrawing the case from the full length sizing die. The "M" die ALWAYS makes the case mouth ID sides parallel and the correct size.

Distinguished Rifleman #1352 (1998)

I have been using an M die for years after sizing and trimming with the RT 1200. It puts a slight flare for flat based bullets and gets rid of the slight inside burr. I am on my 3rd AR barrel with no problems in 223 and second barrel in 308. The M-die can be used in station 5 in the 650 when trimming or put in station 1 the second time thru using the 550. I prefer to use a universal decapper in station 1 to remove any grit in the flash hole if I tumbled them after sizing. The lee factory crimp die removes the flare and gets rid of the outside burr too.

[bigsaxdog]

25 replies to the thread ... yada yada yada ... can we get back to topic please benchrest shooters please exit thread right (sort bullets, cases, primers, fireform cases, tweak headspace, tweak seating to the lands, turn the necks, etc.

I'm loading for an AR-15 practical rifle, not shooting a nickel at 100 yards

so how's your 386yd. 8" steel plate shots working out?.........

[JSeavers]

Jared,

I think modifying your approach for a 650 might work if I could find a ball that would fit down a hard neck. A nicely polished, gently tapered one might work. I have never seen a carbide one-is that what they are like???

[jaredr]

Jared,

I think modifying your approach for a 650 might work if I could find a ball that would fit down a hard neck. A nicely polished, gently tapered one might work. I have never seen a carbide one-is that what they are like???

not sure how hard the necks on your .308 brass are compared to what I'm used to seeing on .223. I'm just using the expander ball that came with my dillon full length resizing die and it works fine (it is carbide, dig camera went TU so cannot post picture but it is highly polished).

reason i'm performing neck expansion on a separate station is because I'm performing 2 different sizing operations - first on station one resizing the full body, and then again on station 3 to bump the neck back on any military brass that's not getting sized sufficiently the first time around. Since I'm performing a second sizing operation, I didn't want to expand the neck on station one only size it back down again in station 3. This is why pulled the expander ball from the sizing die on station 1 and just installed it in a spare die in station 8 so I could perform the neck expansion on a separate station after I've done all my sizing (and trimming on the RT1200 as well).

you've got a full length RCBS sizing die, might be worth to back the die out a 1/4" (so it's not sizing) and see if you can expand the neck by running the expander ball through. My $.02 on that is I've also used RCBS .223 dies and found their expander "button" provided a much rougher trip dragging it back through the neck...

regards,

jared

[JSeavers]

I have tried pushing the RCBS expander ball back down in the brass (.308) but I don't like the way it feels-way too rough and hard on the brass. I'll look for a smooth carbide expander ball.

[charliez]

I just saw this article on the Lee universal case expanding die: http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting2006/t...tools/index.asp

[JSeavers]

I got my die back yesterday, and had to take it back to the machinist this morning for a small modification.

I picked it up this afternoon, set it up this evening, and tried it out. It functioned fine but left scratches on the necks, so I took out my dremel and sandpaper spool and polished it up. Now it only makes a slight mark on the surface that you can rub out with a cloth.

It works fine. The case has only a slight resistance when it enters the die, and that might be because the cases still have a heavy coating of lanolin. That resistance might be the reason the case doesn't spin, or the case holder is holding it, keeping it from spinning. Either way, the case does not spin and I'm happy with the die. I have no idea what it cost me yet. I guess I will find out at the end of the month.

It might be easier to find a shop to grind out .005 from the die ID.

Thanks for all your comments and suggestions.

Jim

[JSeavers]

Well, I finished my 2,965+ trims on .308 and the die worked fine. I was surprised how some of the cases (one in a hundred or so) had a little more resistance going up into the die. I suspect the neck walls were thicker, since they all were sized using the same expander ball. This was TW 68 headstamped cases. The LC cases I trimmed felt like they were very inconsistent in neck wall thickness.

Now on to cleaning and loading.