Riddle me this Calguners

[50 Shooter]

So I'm working on some '06 brass today and decide to FL size some other. Lube it up and put a piece in the press, goes halfway and nearly jams to the point I couldn't get it loose.

The dies are marked .30-06 FL, neck and seat. Seeing that I just wanted to FL size a feow pieces I thought I would give it a go. Wrong! 3/4 of the way down it jammed, scratching my head I texted Mr.Kubota. Now the FL die and neck die are the same size, I even Mic'd both and they're smaller in diameter then '06. The seat die is fine but what stumped me was the fact that everything was marked correctly.

I have a spare neck die and it worked, sent RCBS an email to figure it out as the dies are marked .30-06 but when Mic'd they are smaller. Just want to know how the the dies got mixed up? The dies seem like they were made for .308 and someone made a mistake and labled them wrong.

Anyone else run into this?

[aleng888]

Any pic go the die? It mark on the what the dies is. Also what lube are you useing?

[Enfield47]

Are they 30-06 Ackley improved dies per chance?

[50 Shooter]

Dies are marked .30-06, nothing special. Just can't figure out what the problem is, the FL is marked RCBS F.L..30-06 and 77 around the top. Neck is RCBS .30-06, neck with an n and the seat die is RCBS .30-06 seat and then 77 on it also.

Im Cornfused, thought they would just do the job w/o any problems?

[50 Shooter]

Box is marked part #14801 group A. F.L. die set .30-06.

[Bastard]

Going to assume that this is a new set of dies, or have you used them before

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

[tiller]

Was it just one piece of brass? I have this happen all the time in my dillon carbide dies.... It's the brass... Some is just fired out of a huge chamber to the point were it will jam about halfway up...

I don't worry about it....

[50 Shooter]

Can't say it was the brass, the inside diameter of the die is way to small for .30-06. I would need a sledge hammer to size it. But the die is marked .30-06?

[krwada]

Call or email RCBS tech support. They will send you a new set of dies free of charge. All you gotta do is send back the dies you currently have. You can do this AFTER you get the new dies from RCBS.

RCBS tech support is absolutely 1st rate!

[mark501w]

Full length 1977 good lube ought to do it if your decapping rod isn't out of adjustment.

[bigedp51]

As stated above your dies were made in 1977, if they are that old and have not been cleaned things will get stuck. Disassemble your dies you have several options.

1. Place the body of the die in a vibratory case cleaner for several hours to clean and polish the interior of the die.

2. Use the correct size shotgun cleaning mop chucked in a drill and polish the inside of the die with J&B bore paste, Flitz, automotive rubbing compound, etc. then thoroughly clean and lightly lube.

I'm guessing if they are that old and unused for a while you might have corrosion or dried lube inside. I got my 1976 RCBS 30-06 dies out after not using them in years and had to polish them to get them back in shape.

Also remember any firearm that throws perfectly good brass away and lets it land on the ground should be cleaned "BEFORE" sizing to remove any dirt or grit embedded in the brass. Your dies will like you much more if you clean the brass and not scratch the inside the inside of your dies.

[fguffey]

50 shooter, I dug out a set of 1977 RCBS 30/06 dies that included a neck sizer. Try this, remove the primer punch/sizer ball assemble then turn a 30/06 case around and place the head of the case into the die.

Measure the diameter of the case head. My full length sizer die '77 RCBS 30/06' will not allow case head rim with a diameter of .465" enter the die beyond the radius.

An N stamped 30/06 RCBS full length sizer die, a Bonanza 30/06 FL die and a Lockmiller FL sizer die will allow the case head to enter the die .265".

I have small base dies and RCBS Browning Automatic Rifle dies in 30/06. your 1977 FL die and my 1977 FL die is smaller than a in diameter than a small base die.

Base of the die, the shell holder with a deck height of .125" prevents the head of the case from being sized + the radius.

tomorrow I will dig out the small base dies, I have them, I do not use them.
F. Guffey

[50 Shooter]

If someone could, please place the back of your calipers in the die and measure the diameter. From what I can tell, the inside diameter of the die is smaller then needed for .30-06. The seperate neck die that I have is larger in diameter then the one in the die set.

All of the dies are in like new condition so there isn't anything binding in the die. Anyway, RCBS said to send them back for them to check. I'm not looking for a new set as I've already said they're in like new condition. If they send me a new set you can bet your arse I'll post about it. Most of my die sets are RCBS anyway, bought Hornady 500 S&W because they were basically being given away.

[fguffey]

The case head with the diameter of .465" goes in to the neck sizing die .560".


I assumed you had a micrometer that would measure the case head diameter.

The RCBS 1977 FL die diameter ahead of the radius on my die is .461, had you informed RCBS the diameter of the die they would have said it is not possible to measure the round-inside diameter of the die. They believe the contact surface of the micrometer must have a radius. I have blind micrometers and ball micrometers.

F. Guffey

[bigedp51]

I will NOT place the back of my vernier calipers inside my die and take a chance of scratching my dies.

But I did insert a .308 GO gauge inside the die and eyeballed where it stops and measure it. The rim of the gauge is .469 and it just barely enters the die mouth opening placing it rim first into the 30-06 RCBS die. Placing the GO gauge inside the die just like a cartridge case, the GO gauge stops just in front of the extractor groove. The gauge measures above the extractor groove at .461 and enters approximately 1/16 into the die.

If you have a 15/32 drill it should be .4688 at the base and you should get a good idea of the diameter of the die opening.

The SAAMI 30-06 drawing has the case diameter of .469 and a chamber diameter of .4708 at the base of each.

"IF" your die is the correct base diameter then clean and polish as I described above. I can not stress this enough, a clean polished die will be as smooth as glass and work like a charm.

If you are using One Shot case lube or any of the spray type lubes then switch to a oil/grease type lube to get better results. You could even try engine oil because of the "shear" factor the oil has.

I have been reloading for over 46 years and if the lube dries inside the die it can gum up the works very quickly. If any oxidation has formed inside the die it will act like sandpaper, step number one "clean and polish the die" and go from there.