Jake,
I find that what you are finding is a common problem with Redding dies. (One of many reasons I don't like them) I do have one concern though, you should not need to bump the shoulder back on new unfired brass. The brass should be undersized from the factory, and need fire formed.
The way I have fixed Redding dies in the past is take the die and place sand paper on a flat surface like a glass sheet. I then start out with 400 gr paper and work down to 1000 gr. I take the die careful to hold it flat against the sand paper and I then do figure 8's on the paper, until the die is the proper size. Another option (For many the most popular) is take the shell holder and sand it down. The problem is with this method you marry the shell holder to the die.
I have other concerns with what you have stated in the post. The ejector is exactly the same regardless of caliber. Now if your talking about the extractor, there is two different ones one for the 308 bolt head and the 223, but the only difference between the two is cosmetic. The 223 extractor is slightly longer to fill in the gap left in the head, but the contact surface is exactly the same. I thought at one time there was a difference, but I found out it is only cosmetic. The extractor that Midway (I am also not a bug fan of Midway for many reasons.) sells is for the 308 bolt head, but it will work find on the 223 bolt head it will just have a gap at the top, the actual 223 extractor fills the gap, but either way where the contact and are held by the ball bearing is the exact same measurement. Savage will sell the 223 extractor.
I feel from reading your post you have the head space set too tight. The bolt should just close with a piece of brass in it with out resistance. I don't understand what you mean by "close with a good fit," that just sounds like resistance to me. How did you set the barrel up did you use Gauges or brass ? To set head space with brass, the brass needs to be fired then sized, not new.
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