New to 6.5 Grendel Reloading - shoulder collapsing while sizing

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  • StoneHendge
    Chieftain
    • May 2016
    • 2009

    New to 6.5 Grendel Reloading - shoulder collapsing while sizing

    I'm new to reloading 6.5 Grendel but have reloaded both 308 and 223 for a while.

    I bought the Forster Bench Rest full length sizer because I wanted a premium die but didn't want to deal with Redding's bushings. I've had great success with Redding but have never used a Forster so I thought I'd give it a try.

    I've tried resizing fired brass both Hornaday (from 123 amax) and PPU (from 120 hpbt).

    I've tried both Hornady One Shot and RCBS case lube 2 - both of which have given me no problems with 308 and 223.

    With every piece of brass I've tried to resize, the neck ends up getting pushed down into the body. The necks on my fired cases measure 0.298 and are pretty consistent. The neck is going into the neck sizer about 1/16" to 1/8" at which point it appears the force of the press pushes the neck down into the body. The diameter of the portion of the neck that gets sized before the case collapses is 0.285" which seems narrow to me.....

    I'm kind of at a loss thinking its a defective die? Barrel is an AR Stoner 18" with a Grendel II chamber. When I bought it, it looked exactly like the unavailable Satern Liberty barrel on Saterns website so notwithstanding the long running internet debates on who makes the barrel, I'm pretty sure that's what it is. The fired Hornady brass is around 1.520-1.522 long while the PPU is generally 1.528-1.530. Rifle is accurate, getting damn close to 1" groups at 200 yards with a 10x scope and 4lb trigger off of a FAB Defense T-Pod 2 and a sandbag under the stock.

    Any thoughts appreciated!
    Let's go Brandon!
  • ricsmall
    Warrior
    • Sep 2014
    • 987

    #2
    Never seen that happen before. My first thought is improperly machined die. Sounds to me like the neck area in die is too short. Maybe someone else has seen this before.

    Richard
    Member since 2011, data lost in last hack attack

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    • kmon
      Chieftain
      • Feb 2015
      • 2095

      #3
      Haven't used those dies but read the instructions again, not all dies are to be setup the same. Have seen crushed necks using other dies when I did not follow the directions. Also what is the ID of the sized cases?

      Comment

      • Younger
        Warrior
        • Dec 2012
        • 106

        #4
        Have you tried to resize a case with the decapping pin removed?

        Comment

        • 37L1
          Warrior
          • Jan 2015
          • 273

          #5
          You need to adjust the sizing ball on the stem. It's probably blocking the vent or getting the neck jammed between it and the inside of the neck part of the die causing your die to collapse the case shoulders.
          Last edited by 37L1; 08-15-2016, 01:58 AM.

          Comment

          • StoneHendge
            Chieftain
            • May 2016
            • 2009

            #6
            Eureka! I reread the instructions and swore I set everything up right. Then I looked at the box below "Case Sizing Procedure" with NOTICE at the top. The expander ball position is adjustable and it was at its highest point from the factory. The ball must of course be positioned low in order to avoid crushing case necks.... Ran a few PPU through with RCBS lube and they came out right. One day maybe I'll be sophisticated enough to need to adjust the expander ball to right where I like it ��.

            Thanks!
            Let's go Brandon!

            Comment

            • StoneHendge
              Chieftain
              • May 2016
              • 2009

              #7
              Looks like part of the expander ball was up in the neck sizing area. The case mouth was getting pinched there and the neck had nowhere to go but down. Generally not a recipe for success
              Let's go Brandon!

              Comment

              • kmon
                Chieftain
                • Feb 2015
                • 2095

                #8
                Glad you got it figured out.

                Comment

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