Author Topic: a curse upon all brass set screws!!!!!!!! (Read 535 times)

bluebayou · « **on:** August 22, 2005, 12:07:44 PM »

Why, why does RCBS use brass set screws on their dies? Just when I thought that I had enough stress.......

De41mag · « **Reply #1 on:** August 22, 2005, 12:49:54 PM »

blue;

You think that's bad, I just bought some new Lee dies for my 22-250 and found out after trying to load once fired brass that the decapper, eliptical expander was so far under sized, that it would shave a boattail bullet when seating. I thought it was nickle plated brass that was to thick but tried some brass cases and the same thing occured. The darn thing was it never finished at the factory. Inside dia. was .217", way to small. Borrowed my friends Lee resizing die and had no problems.
The brass set screws my be a nusance, but from now on I'll buy RCBS.
Good Luck! :wink:

Dennis

bluebayou · « **Reply #2 on:** August 22, 2005, 03:44:17 PM »

.217 huh? Yeah, that might be hard to put a .224 bullet into. I solved my set screw problem my walking away for a minute. I was thinking "why can't I figure out how far a 7/8x14 moves with each turn" =and of course realized that I could take a lock ring off of one of the junk dies that I found a garage sale for .25 apiece. Apparently, older RCBS dies used steel set screws with an insert of some kind. Now I need to find some more Nosler bullets........

Daniel Laws · « **Reply #3 on:** August 22, 2005, 04:33:38 PM »

The insert used on the RCBS dies is nothin more than a lead shot. Usually about a #6 or so. Simple, easy to find, and cheap. Now if it was just tax deductible. It will not mar the die body, and it does lock down the ring tightly. Try it. Another old timers trick is to get a regular allen bolt in the size to fit the lock ring, just long enough to lock down and have the head clear everything on the press. That way, you can use a larger allen wrench, getr better leverage, and use vise grips if you strip the screw out.

handirifle · « **Reply #4 on:** August 22, 2005, 05:28:06 PM »

Each brand has it's troubles. I wouldn't give on one brand of ANYTHING because of one problem. 41mag you yourself said your friends Lee dies worked. NO ONE makes every product perfect all the time.

I cannot stand the fact that RCBS dies screw up the threads when you lock them down. Lee dies have their issues too, but each has its good points. I use both.

JPH45 · « **Reply #5 on:** August 22, 2005, 05:50:38 PM »

Quote from: bluebayou

.217 huh? Yeah, that might be hard to put a .224 bullet into. I solved my set screw problem my walking away for a minute. I was thinking "why can't I figure out how far a 7/8x14 moves with each turn" =and of course realized that I could take a lock ring off of one of the junk dies that I found a garage sale for .25 apiece. Apparently, older RCBS dies used steel set screws with an insert of some kind. Now I need to find some more Nosler bullets........

Nice thing about American standard threads is that 14 is 1/14th of an inch for each turn. A 3/8x16 thread would turn 1/16th inch for each turn a 1/4x28 thread will turn 1/28th inch each turn. The math is simple, to find the decimal equivalent, divide the numerator by the denominator (top number by the bottom nuber) In your case a 7/8x14 will be 1/14 = .0714. That is right at .010 more than 1/16th inch which is .0625. Now you can divide .0714 by 2 or 4 and get the amount of travel in 1/2 or 1/4 turn. I'm sure can figure finer adjustments from there.

Mac11700 · « **Reply #6 on:** August 22, 2005, 06:25:14 PM »

Which is why my dies are outfitted with these...

SURE-LOC LOCK RING
Item No.

Price

044000

$2.70

https://www.hornady.com/shop/

Mac

bluebayou · « **Reply #7 on:** August 22, 2005, 07:53:29 PM »

JPH45, once again a common sense answer. In another post I wanted to know how to clean built up gunk out of die and two guys said "borebrush" I should have thought more about that. Thanks.

Mac11700 · « **Reply #8 on:** August 23, 2005, 05:44:47 AM »

This would work fine except not all seater dies are exactly 14 Threads Per Inch...T.P.I. and to have more control over how you seat your bullet your adjustment should made there...not on the whole die body While most do indeed have the courser threads for the whole die body it's not the best for seating depth..it's what the dies have for the seating stem for thread per inch that determines how much to turn them .Here's some of the other dies have for the seating stem.. and what they give .....

Forester Bench Rest Seater 22-6mm-----------32 TPI
Forester Bench Rest Seater 25 and above----28 TPI
Hornady Seater-------------------------------------18 TPI
RCBS--------------------------------------------------28 TPI
Redding 7/8-14 Standard Seater----------------20 TPI
Wilson Strait-line Seater--------------------------24 TPI

....................................................................................Degree of Rotation = this amount for this Thread Per inch ( T.P.I. ).........................................................................................

T.P.I.--------------90deg----------180deg.----------270deg.----------360deg..----------

32-------------------.008"------------.016"-------------.024"-------------.032"

28-------------------.009"-------------.018"-------------.027"-------------.036"

24-------------------.010"-------------.021"-------------.031"-------------.042"

20-------------------.012"------------.025"--------------.037"--------------.050"

18-------------------.014"------------.028"--------------.042"--------------.055"

This is straight from the Barnes reloading manual #3 page 59

Mac

bluebayou · « **Reply #9 on:** August 23, 2005, 11:12:30 AM »

Thanks Mac, curiously enough, was using the seating stem on the Lee Loader to change seating depth on the .44, and then got into the habit of using the die body when reloading my 7-08's. I was loading the 7-08's with a loose neck anyway so I figured....anyway, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Thanks for the 28 TPI info.

Mac11700 · « **Reply #10 on:** August 23, 2005, 06:54:59 PM »

Your most welcome..

Mac