Warning whidden shehane dies

[Brad Y]

To the people that are using the whidden dies in their shehane, be wary of the clearance provided in the die for the neck to pass through on its way into the sizing bushing. Im running a 318 no turn neck chamber and the die looks to be built suited to a 313 tight neck chamber. Ive been noticing some brass shavings in my die and I thought it was the bushing. However running a fired case into the die without the bushing, I can clearly see now that is the problem. Just a friendly heads up

Now I have to figure out how to bore it out another 5 thou or so. Its bloody hard stuff!

[johnk]

I just bored out a Lee 30/284 FLS die That I plan to use as a shoulder bump die maybe on my drill press running at 240 RPM using a new 8.5 mm HSS drill, but of course, that's a few thou too much & maybe your die is harder than the Lee. The flats on the Lee didn't hurt setting it up on my compound table either.

[AlanF]

Redding dies are very hard too. I've heard of it being done in the US but am yet to find anyone here who wants to do it - must be very hard on gear.

[DannyS]

Can you say that again Alan

[AlanF]

Can you say that again Alan

Not sure what you're on about Danny .

[DannyS]

Lamo, Alan, when you as moderator, can delete a double post.. Happens to quite a few of us at times.
Cheers
Danny


Ps, can you keep Mike under control

[Brad Y]

John, a normal HSS got nowhere. Went and bought a cobalt bit for hardened steel but it just bounced. Hope the gunsmiths tomorrow have some kind of boring bar on the lathe that will touch it

[DaveMc]

I just use a die grinder and diamond stone to take mine out a touch. express Post it over and I will do it for you if you want.

Dave

[Brad Y]

Might take you up on that Dave. If I have no luck tomorrow, it will go in an express bag tomorrow arvo! Thanks mate.

[aaronraad]

Grind, polish, hone or lap you way there slowly but 0.005" is a lot.

You might get away with adding something like JB Bore paste to an 8mm drill bit. A 8mm drill bit will normally mic down to 7.9mm so you should be safe.

Diamond coated drill bit could also be useful. Just check the coating thickness as opposed the drill diameter which normally adds to total diameter. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1-8-5-16-inch-3-17-8mm-THK-Diamond-coated-twist-drill-bit-bits-5-pieces-/121160692692?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c35bd73d4

This is just for the section before reaching the sizing bushing that should be a clearance fit?

[Brad Y]

Aaron, correct. Ive measured it to be a couple of mm thick so hopefully its not as bad as expected. Im going to email Whidden Gunworks as well to notify them just incase someone else didnt catch it and kept on ruining cases.

[Brad Y]

Good news. I only have to take 3 thou out. I think thats good news anyway. But we will have to make the tool up over the next few days. At least I dont have to shoot this weekend so Im not relying on it!