New die doesn’t give enough shoulder bump

[seasterl]

Thanks for the comments. I'm fairly sure the rifle and the (new) Redding dies were manufactured after the 280AI was properly recognized with its final SAAMI specs. The brass I use is Petersen 280AI, and I've never bought factory ammo for this cartridge. I guess a simple call to Redding to see if they want to make me a shell holder that is a few thousandths shorter would make it easier to get more bump if I ever need it.

 

[oldcrab]

I totally agree with woodperson, and see what Redding has to say first.
I would always try another brand of the same caliber die/shell holder before sending the gun back in, if Redding doesn't give you advice which solves the problem, or offer you a solution of a shorter die of a few-thousandths.

Lee used to make custom sizing dies for not-many-dollars if my memory is correct... They might be a good person to talk to for advice if Redding provides nothing of a solution.

 

[oldcrab]

Thanks, Oldcrab, for the comments. You're correct that the competition she'll holders did not help because they went the wrong way. I did not have any old dies to begin with. I have the standard Redding shell holder, plus one from another manufacturer, and they're both the same in the effect they have. The rifle is the Ruger Hawkeye African 280AI. If I overcam the T7 press with the standard shell holder, I barely get a bump of 0.002" - 0.003" in order to load the cases. Do you suggest I send the rifle to Ruger to enlarge the chamber?

seasterl:
Reading this post tells me you are getting somewhere between a 2-to-3 thousandths bump-back on your fired cases right now.
That amount of bump is considered "perfect" for reloading ammo for your chamber. I only bump-back .002 on my bolt actions to get very accurate ammo, and the side-benefit of not reworking the brass much.
So, take some of the cases you resize and test them by trying to chamber them after seating a bullet in... my guess is you will be very happy.

 

[seasterl]

Thanks, Oldcrab. This thread is a little old and, as mention before, I already tried a shell holder from a different manufacturer with identical results (about 0.002 - 0.003" bump). I guess I was surprised that I didn't have any more wiggle room and all. I understand how less bump is more accurate, but a tiny bit more bump might be more reliable feeding under a variety of conditions. I guess I was just hoping to have that option on the table but was struggling to get there.

 

[woodperson]

The option of more bump is still "one the table" in that you could grind the die if you need to. So maybe perfect now is not so bad. I would prefer bottoming the die to cam over for adjusting the length anyway so I would be happy with the die you have.