Reworking Dies

[RWK]

Can i open the neck area on a set of dies, like 243 to 25 cal. Thanks Rich

[bilmac]

Probably if you are a VERY good machinist, and don't value your time very much. a better idea would be to buy a set of 25 souper dies.

[K.K]

I don't think that it's a very good idea to mess with them.

[RWK]

See this is what old retired machinist do when we get bored. I've got a couple sets of 243 dies so if i goof up it won't break the bank. New rcbs dies about a $140++++. Rich

[LaOtto222]

It must be a wildcat you are planning on; 25-08? Dies should be under $50 for any of the standard rounds like 257 Roberts, 250 Savage and 25-06. Why not just go with a 260 Remington, just .007" bigger in diameter? Of course there is the different angle. How are you planning on doing this? Will you take a straight reamer and grind it down to the dimentions you want, then ream the dies? That would cost you for the reamer. Or are you going to use a inside cutter? Either way I would think you would have to radious the jucture of the neck and shoulder. After cuting then you are going to have to polish it. I am not sure, but I think the dies are hardened after they are reamed, so you would have to anneal them, then reharden. Do not forget the seater plug, would the bullet seater need to be opened up in the neck area? They charge extra for odd ball dies for a reason. I would not mess with it, I would get a standard case and buy dies for under $50. For $140 you can rent a reamer and buy dies for standard case and have some change left over. But I know everyone has a different idea what they want and that is a good thing. Good Luck and Good Shooting.

[skb2706]

I've never tried to open the neck area of a size die but I have made several alterations. When I needed a set of dies for a wildcat cartridge and didn't want to wait 12 weeks and spend $140 I made up my own from cheap Lee RGB sets. Dies are case hardened which means they are only hard on the surface...002". For my purposes I did not need to re-harden them. The most difficult part was polishing out the inside after the machine work done.

[wncchester]

I have opened a few die necks to make my own forming sets and it's fairly easy. 

Size dies are case hardened.  It takes carbide to cut it.  I used cheap "concrete" carbide drill bits I first ground to the diameter I wanted.  It takes a diamond wheel to grind the carbide.

The hardest part is to feed the bit into the base of the die centered.  My drilling was done on an old 9" South Bend lathe, bit in the tailstock and die in a 4 jaw chuck. 

It's best to grind the bit a few thou undersize and plan to lap the rest out to diameter because the make-shift bit will score the metal as it cuts.  Lapping should also be done on the lathe and that will remove most of the score marks. 

Obviously, the best I can do is less precise than a major maker can do but for intermediate dies to be used in case refoming, it is close enough.  I have forming dies for taking .35 Whelen/.30-06 down to 7-08, .260, .243, .250 Sav., .22-250 and 6 mm International, all done this way.  (I had a small pile of sizing dies I got cheap at flea markets, yard sales, ebay, etc. as donors for this effort.)