Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Finally got clickers

Guess I’ve got enough firings, 4-5, on this brass (ADG 6.5 prc, known for doing this) to finally get some clickers. I’d rather not trash it, but my Redding S dies obviously aren’t sizing down far enough. What’s the best solution here to size down the base only?

Before someone says it, I don’t want to go grinding down my shell holders.

ya know, I ended up being given some 6.5 x 55 brass that a friend down in California was necking up and Shooting out of a Swiss Cartridge chambered rifle... 7.5 x 55? maybe.

it was once fired brass. I brought it home... lubed it to size it, in my usual method of spray lubing a camp frying pan ( bought 20 plus year ago for $6.00 ), putting brass in and shaking it like the old Jiffy Pop popcorn . It lubes the brass up, both cheaply and also with a lot less mess than other methods.

Put the brass in my sizing die and lifting the handle, it was like trying to neck down a cinderblock into a cartridge.

Well screw that, so I set it aside in a butter container ( plastic like you get at the store, Country Crock ). It sat on the counter for a couple of weeks. So one night before I came back in from the garage after doing so other reloading, I saw it and thought, "What the hell?". So I pulled out on of the 6.5 x 55 dies, and it sized just like new brass never fired does.
I thought 'what the hell again" Well all 50 pieces sized right down. Conclusion? Guess the oil penetrates the hardness of the brass, and softens it up.

Have since, done the same thing on other brass and that works just the same way.

so if you aren't in a rush.....

Also I anneal my brass pretty much each time nowadays... at least 90% of the time. That also helps keep the necks and shoulder of the brass from hardening.

I get a lot of firings out of my brass, than most folks would believe. A little prudence on the reloading scale also helps extend brass life a lot. NOT trying to get ever last FPS out of a case each time ya use it. Back it off 5 or 10%, it'll last a lot longer, with the annealing etc.

Give it a try and see if it works for you also. Sure beats just trashing it and then have to look for some more to replace it at today's prices.

The Cortina mandrel die will size down on the 6.5 PRC a bit further. The other option is Cortina's FL sizer die designed for the smaller chambers. The true ultimate fix is to have the chamber reamed. Check out Alex Wheeler's comments on the subject.

My ADG brass has 8-9 firings on it and maybe one or two pieces out of 50 results in clickers with just the Cortina mandrel die. All still have good, tight primer pockets.

You AMAZINGLY Stupid Fhuqks,never disappoint. Hint.



Thank me later. Hint.

Just sayin'.............

We can only wish that people would learn what Competition Shellholders actually do to brass, before they recommend them to size brass down further than a standard shell holder... They will not work...

Don't listen to that stupid-ass advice from Betty Sue. Competition shell holders are designed to control shoulder bump, not size further down the case. You cannot isolate the dimensions from one another. You'll end up moving your shoulder back too far, and it still won't solve clickers. In fact, moving the shoulder back to far can make it even worse because the brass tends to flow around the .200" line as the shoulders expand to refill that headspace gap you created because you pushed those shoulders back further.

Get the mandrel die, or have a smith fix your chamber.

My wild idea to size the base down to .530 would be to run the brass through a 500S&W carbide sizer, that sizer should size the case back down to .530. Haven't tried it yet, work & life have gotten in the way, but I believe it would work.

Ladies,

Your Drooling Dumbfhuqktitude,NEVER disappoints. Hint.

Fhuqking LAUGHING!..............

For pete's sake, it even states the purpose of the set in Redding's own description, but Betty Sue can't read.



Poor thing, probably hasn't loaded a piece of 6.5 PRC brass enough times to discover the problem and she doesn't understand the purpose of Redding Competition shell holders, nor what the issue is. Parallax, scope mounting, and now shell holders...Betty Sue is in dire need of a win.

Ladies,

Here's to the HILARITY of your Automatic Transmissions,Velcro laces and affinity to steal pictures and punctuation. Hint.

Deck height/base sizing is an easy cure,less effecting headspace,if only to your chagrin. Hint.

Your Drooling Dumbfhuqktitude,NEVER disappoints. Hint.

Fhuqking LAUGHING!..............

Betty Sue, you should learn when you're conquered. You don't know what you're talking about yet again. Share with the class how many times you've had "clickers" with 6.5 PRC brass? Hmmm. But that's cute, Betty Sue, you think you're smarter than Alex Wheeler. It is funny how schizos laugh when they are confused.

Sweetheart,

You are the one asking questions and trying to cite others...not me. Hint.

Deck height/base sizing is an easy cure,less effecting headspace,if only to your chagrin. Hint.

Your Drooling Dumbfhuqktitude,NEVER disappoints. Hint.

Fhuqking LAUGHING!..............

Betty Sue, Betty Sue...for every increment further your FL die sizes, the shoulder pushed equally as far. This is stupid and not the cure. With the taper of the 6.5 PRC case, or lack thereof, you cannot solve it in this manner. You'll only create extra headspace and compound the problem. But you lack the experience. I've already provided the solution to the OP. Now go change your pad.

Sweetheart,

I didn't cite or state your Fhuqking STUPID die selection,you did,based on your "abilities" and "comprehension". Hint.

Deck height/base sizing is an easy cure,less effecting headspace,if only to your chagrin. Hint.

Your Drooling Dumbfhuqktitude,NEVER disappoints. Hint.

Fhuqking LAUGHING!..............

No... drop_point.....

those shell holders size the case less and less by increments of 0.002"... the case becomes longer and longer by less and less sizing when going from +0.002" to +0.010' shell holders... This will create other problems not even discussed nor considered here.. Competition Shellholders are not the solution to this problem....

Correct, they allow for a hard stop on the shell holder while incrementally increasing length to the shoulder.