Custom Honed FL Die

[supergolfer18]

I called Forster and the tech was telling me I could get a FL sizing die and they could hone for me and that would be the only die I really needed. I guess that honing could be set to not over-work case necks and I could set it to bump shoulder back 0.001" and do that everytime.

If I went this route how would I determine what size to tell them to hone it? How would I measure case necks to determine honing dimension?

[Deerhunter 28]

I would send him my rifle and a once fired case and let him tell me.
Probably a little over kill but you would know!



PSE EVO 57 Lbs.
Blacked out

[earl39]

Excellent ideal except for one small problem. You will have to neck turn all your brass for the life of the barrel to keep a consistent neck tension. When was the last time you measured 2 or more lots of brass and found all of it to be the same thickness in the neck. Maybe in a lot but seldom across random lots and that is why you have dies with removable inserts to size the neck. If you plan to have a die honed out you are looking to get away from dragging the expander back thru the neck to get the size right and to help do away with runout.
I'm just saying.......

[supergolfer18]

I have no idea what to do. This hobby is so much fun

I am not sure how to get into neck turning and what you need to measure with to know how much to turn the necks down. I use WW brass only and deburr flash hole and trim and weight sort. Was trying to not have to neck turn

Currently using Lee Collet Die only and Lee seating die.

[Bad Irv]

Lee Collet Dies are what I use too. Brass lasts much longer, runout has not been a problem and I don't have to trim except for the first time when the brass are new. I added a Redding body die to bump the shoulders back when the bolt gets hard to close. I also use Forster Bench Rest seating dies, and this has made for a very accurate combination. Lots of one hole 5 shot groups at 100 yards with my Savage 12FV 22-250. The local range only goes out to 200 yards, but it's still nice and tight at that range. It works well for me. ;)

[Elkbane]

Golfer,
You don't have to turn necks to get decent benefits out of honed dies. Since you didn't post your cartridge, I'll assume it's a .308 and you can make the adjustment from there. Here's the basic math:

1. Measure across the neck of a loaded round on your current loads. WW brass is usually pretty thin, so I'll assume 13 thousand neck wall thickness. Measurement should be about .013x2+.308=.334"
2. Measure across the neck of your sized case. IME Forster dies usually give about 1.5k neck tension, so youre measurement should be between .333 and .332.
3. Take the decapping stem out of the die and size a case. You need to know how much the die is constricting the neck BEFORE expanding with the expander ball. I'm guessing the case neck will be around .322"

What honing will do is make measurement #3 much closer to measurement #2 so that the brass isn't "worked" so much in the initial sizing step. That way, the expander ball dosen't have to do much work to get the case neck back to the desired inside diameter.

I'd have them hone the die to 2-3 thousands less than measurement measurement #1. And if you get it "just right" you can eliminate the expander ball altogether - that's why most folks use bushing type dies, so that they won't have to use an expander ball, which can be one of the most significant causes of case neck runout.

If you change to thicker brass later, the benefit will still be there, but the expander ball will have a little more work to do to expand to the desired inside diameter.
ELkbane

[supergolfer18]

thanks. Yes it is a 308 win. Loaded round measures .334" Lee FL sizing die internals removed the neck measures .326"

[Luckus]

I had Forster custom hone my 6 Dasher die and it works perfect ( Lapua brass not turned). They have my new 257AI sizer and are doing the same to it using Winchester cases. I wish all my dies were this good. Luckus