I copied this from another forum. This was posted by gun writer, Steve Timm. I can say I use his method with a .45 acp carbide die I had the top end bored through so even loaded mmo can be run through the die. My Friends,
This is one of those dark, dusty corners of handloading. The information is too small for an article and, for some reason, it just never quite fits in.
Many years ago, I ran into a "logistics" article and the author pointed out that the .30-'06, .308 (7.62 NATO) and .45ACP all have in common the .473" rimless case head.
Later, I had some sticky loaded .30-'06 ammo and I hated the chore of tearing it all apart, FL sizing and reassembling. Then, a BRIGHT LIGHT went off in my head, "Why not see if I could resize the BASES by running the loaded ammo through a .45ACP tungsten/carbide die.
And I should mention here that the handgun dies, especially those made to reload ammo for autoloading pistols, have really great tight sizing units. In the t/c die, a ring of tungsten carbide is used and it is nice and tight.
Anyway, I ran one round of ammo through the tungsten/carbide die and tried it in my .30-'06. WOW, it fed like quicksilver ... the headspace was perfect and the swollen base was perfectly ironed out.
I cycled the rest of the ammo and tested for accuracy. No problem.
Since then, I've used this trick many, many times and it has saved my arse from the fire on numerous occasions.
Let Steve court heresy. Amongst the benchrest folks, it is "known" that cases eventually grow (from firing) and that a "bump die" is required to return the cases to the original shape. Bump dies work on the shoulder. Frankly, I believe a "Base die" would be way more appropriate ... and that is precisely what I use; a .45ACP tungsten-carbide sizing die to iron out the BASES of rifle cases based on the .473" rimless case head.
Is there any other cartridge that is commonly used that has such a common die?
YUP, there is and I found it only because I needed it horribly.
Once, I ended up with a bunch of .223 Ackley handloads that would fit two of my .223 Ackley rifles, but would not close in the chamber of my third rifle.
Scrambling for help, I found that the .38 Special/.357 Magnum was close to the .223 case ... If anything, the .38 was just a snazzle too large. So, having a nice RCBS .38/.357 tungsten-carbide sizing die, I tried sizing some cases.
Friends, the manuals may tell you that the .223 cartridge base is smaller than the .38/.357, but in actual practice, the .38 t-c sizer just irons a little polished area on the .223 case web.
And I polished the base web areas of my 2,000 .223 Ackley loaded ammo in just a few hours. AND EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE CASES EASILY FIT INTO THE RIFLE THAT WAS PREVIOUSLY A NON-CLOSER.
I shot every last cartridge the following weekend ... leaving many prairie dog widows and a few dead coyotes.
Now, lets take a look at what we know: the .45ACP tungsten-carbide die (the open type) will size the bases of any cartridge case based on the .30-'06/.308 ... and, my friends, that is a LOT of rounds ... and because we are concerned with the web area of the cases, it makes no diff if the case is Ackley or not. Also, we know that the .38 Special/.357 S&W Magnum sizing die, the open type with the tungsten-carbide ring, will iron-out the web area on any case based on the .222/223.