.284 W dies?

[DenisA]

HI guys,

I'm just curious as to what type of dies the relevant folk may be using for this cartridge and type of brass?

Thanks, Denis.

[bobeager]

Necked up Lapua 6.5 x 284 brass using Sinclair expander. Neck sized using Wilson straight line die, seated using Wilson straight line seater. Body size using Redding Body die after 4 - 5 firings.

Have gravitated to lighter loads using 2209 and seeing better brass life. Like Alan F, hot loads buggered the brass after 2 firings - loose primer pockets.

[DenisA]

Thanks for the reply Bob,

I have been using Redding competition neck bushing die sets with .308 and 6BR. I really feel like they're an awesome kit for a conventional single stage press resulting in concentric rounds and plenty of control.

With my .284 I thought I'd try using a Redding S' type bushing FLS die and just bumping shoulders.

Last night I bumped a shoulder .0005" (half though) without a neck bushing and its still squeazed the body and shoulder enough to create a donut inside the neck/shoulder juncture. So I can drop a bullet into the fireformed neck and it lossely sit on top of this donut.

I was wondering if this would still happen using just a body die to bump shoulders. I imagine it would.

I think the chambers a fairly loose one allowing a lot of brass expansion, and therfore a lot of brass movement with the resizing. The fireformed cases are much firmer going into the die than my other calibers.

Is this sort of thing common with this cartridge or is just a loose chamber issue?

[IanP]

DenisA, if you are using Lapua brass and expanding upto 7mm the donuts are unavoidable. Reason being that the shoulder brass is thicker than the neck brass and expanding the necks brings some of that shoulder up into the lower neck.

You have two choices with donuts and I have used both. Choice 1 is that you neck turn and take a cut down a little into the shoulder and prevent the donut from forming. Choice 2 is that you use an inside reamer to remove the donut after it has formed. Inside reaming is the easier option in my opinion if your using a no neck turn chamber.

I have used both Forster and Wilson inside neck reamers and prefer the Forster reamer in their case trimmer as it has a handle to turn whereas the Wilson uses a thumbwheel.

Ian

[DenisA]

Hi Ian,

Your right, I have necked up Lapua brass.

Phew, I feel so much relief that its not just my situation. I have a K&M neck turner with reamer mandrel. I'll get that sorted ASAP.

Thanks for your reply, I really appreciate the your advice and that of all the highly experienced shooters/reloaders in this forum.

Cheers gents.

[DenisA]

Aaaah, I see and understand the issue now.

I've been playing and inspecting tonight. When I necked up the 6.5-284 Lapua brass, I wrongly assumed it just opened the neck/shoulder juncture by compressing the brass in the shoulder a little. It doesn't, that first .25mm around the shoulder actually rolls up and becomes the bottom of the neck.
I suspect this happens as soon as the neck is opened and not on fireforming?

With clean fireformed brass its quite easy to see. The shoulder looks like it has a tiny double shoulder at the neck, and that bad boy must be the excess material that the shoulder bump is pushing back into the neck I.D as a donut..........hence why its unavoidable necking up 6.5-284 brass.

My cogs turn slowly, but it's good to see they're still turning.

Thanks again for your advice Ian, I'll be neck turning them out.

[IanP]

DenisA, part of the reloading process is to learn about what your dealing with and nobody knows all the details without having been instructed or experienced the many issues that arise. What I have have learned I'm happy to pass on and I remember clearly being confronted by the problem of donuts on the 284 case. An American of some shooting note, Robert Whitley, put me straight on what was causing the donuts and when I understood what he was saying it all made sense. I know exactly where your coming from DenisA and I'm happy to help!

Ian

[Seddo]

Denis,

I chose to use winchester brass so i didnt have to worry about playing with the necks. I use a Redding FL die to size by brass and a Wilson inline seating die. I planned to get a bushing sizer but was happy with the results of the FL die. With the thinner necks on expanded 6.5-284 cases i would assume a bushing die is a must.

I am not running mine hard, a 162 at 2800 with 51.5gr 2209. from memory with a small jump.

[DenisA]

Thanks for the input Seddo. Does that charge of 2209 leave much air gap in tha case?

Any news on those lugs?

Cheers, Denis.

[Seddo]

There is a small gap, it's not compressed. The lugs are sitting on my desks at work.