[Brian Pfleuger]

Thanks for the ideas, everyone.


Just to clarify, these size discrepancies are BEFORE sizing in the body die. After sizing, all the long cases and all the "nominal" cases come out at .001-.002 less than nominal.

I haven't actually sized any of the .204 cases yet to see where I end up, as I can't decide which length is "correct"....

That's the big question... where should I be adjusting the die for proper head space? Is the "nominal" correct? If I put the +.004/+.005 cases together, there are just as many of those lengths as the "nominal" length, so is that length correct? Judging from the behavior of a very few loaded rounds, I wonder if that +.005 number is closer to chamber size. I have had a few, just a very few, that were slightly hard to chamber. Those may be the few +.006/7 cases that I've found?

I agree that getting taller shell holders would be helpful. It would at least eliminate a variable.

On the lube idea, I thought of that and I have a bore mop that I use to clean out the die every few cases. It also seems odd to me that only the cases that are shorter exhibit this behavior.

I use the "5 second rule" when I use the collet die and the same idea had occurred to me for the body die. I tried it, but I am embarrassed to admit that I didn't measure for any effect. I was running under the "can't hurt" theory at the time.

Annealing.... the thought has occurred to me before, when I notice a slight difference in sizing effort with the collet die. I want to do it, but it seems like a black art to me. Maybe helpful, maybe not, maybe dangerous with the wrong tools. I remember you (Nick) referring to the candle method before. That seems like a decent thing I might try. I have a high-temp wireless thermometer I wonder if I could incorporate somehow. It has a long probe that could be held against the case maybe? Or maybe stuck in the flashhole (can't remember if it's small enough) and held up near the neck?