.338x.284 Win Project

[gitano]

Since the project has progressed from the planning stage to the doing stage, I decided to start a thread specific to the build.

I finally, today, July 13th, got the reamer to cut the reloading dies from Pacific Tool and Gauge. I have the die blanks, so now it's just a matter of  cutting the dies. J0e_bl0ggs suggested that I get the expander ball/button in carbide, and I think that's a good idea. Checking with Redding, they make decapping spindles for sale, but they don't sell them 'direct'. I have to go through a retailer. Ditto for the carbide button. Total cost $62.30. So considering the $180 for the reamer, the $50 for two die blanks ($25 each), and the $62 for the spindle with carbide button, I have "only" $292.30 invested in this die set. I think I could have gotten a die set from CH4D for less.

I'll post some pictures when I start making chips.


Paul

[gitano]

Just got off the phone with CH4D, and I could have had one of their 2-die sets for $110 plus shipping, and added a neck sizer for another $83, for a total of $193 plus shipping. So just about $100 LESS than making my own, and that only two dies! Sigh.

Paul

[j0e_bl0ggs (deceased)]

Sometimes makin stuff is just an education...

[gitano]

Apparently I need some math education too. $180+(2*$50)+$62 does not equal $292, it equals $342. Sheesh. An even greater savings to have someone else do it.

Paul

PS - MAN! I don't know what has gotten into me! Here's the correct math. I guess third time's a charm... $180 for reamer, $25 EACH for die blanks, $62 for decapping stem, for a CORRECT grand total of $292, which is what I had the FIRST TIME!

Paul

[Jamie.270]

I love it when a plan comes together.


But I hate it when it comes in over budget.


Seems to happen a lot these days.  To me anyway.

[gitano]

Diameter and thread pitch of Redding spindle is 9/16-18 NF. The correct drill for that diameter thread and pitch is 33/64". Of course. Couldn't be 1/64" smaller at 32/64, or HALF AN INCH! NOOOO! That would be too easy. Have to go 1/64th larger so that you CAN'T use a NORMAL, STANDARD drill from a regular drill index. Gotta buy a "special" one 1 friggin' 64th if an inch larger! @#$& ! Of course, I could use a boring bar. And I just might.

Paul

[gitano]

As I mentioned in the original post, I don't want to fiddle with recreating the decapping/neck expanding spindle and purchased one, plus the carbide button "kit" to go with it. I got those over the weekend. Here's a picture of the parts I got:



One of the items circled was $15.07, the other was $42.98. Guess which was which.

The "kit" contains:
One decapping pin,
One "nut" for capturing the button and tightening the collet on the decapping rod to hold the pin, and
One carbide button that is a slip fit on the decapping rod above the "nut". $42.98. Seriously.

The other assembly, which requires more steps to fabricate including pressing parts together and very small external, threaded, slitted "collet", costs $15.07.

:cens: :cens: :cens:  !!!

I'm SERIOUSLY tempted to return the $42.98 carbide neck expander ball.


Paul

[j0e_bl0ggs (deceased)]

You ever tried to make one? Rhetorical question.

[gitano]

J0e_bl0ggs - Nope.

Let me tell y'all about my day yesterday.

Starting off, I took my new pup out for his morning constitutional. His feces had no feces, it was 100% round worm. Barf. Into the house and wait an hour and a half for vet office to open up so I can get him treated. Call vet, they're nice enough, but have to ask Vet (Dr.) to OK prescription. Get told they'll call me when it's ok'd/ready. Wait for three hours for callback. I have stuff to do besides wait for their call. I mow lawn, and start working on resizing die for .338-.284 Win.

I drilled a hole through the die. The existing hole was about 0.172", as that was the caliber of the blank. I started with a 1/4" drill and pecked away in 0.10" increments  in order to do my best to ensure the drill didn't wander. That took a long time. I then increased drill diameters in 1/16" increments, increasing depth-of-cut to drill diameter. In other words, the next drill size was 5/16ths, and new depth-of-cut was 0.315". I continued up through 21/64ths (0.328). The reamer I have for cutting the 'chamber' of the die is 'piloted', meaning that it has a freely rotating sleeve pilot that fits the bore of the specific caliber, in this case, (0.330 for the 0.338 caliber), thereby not damaging the throat of the bore of the barrel. In the case of a die, it just guides the reamer precisely IF you have the right fit. As you can see from the numbers above, I stopped drilling at 21/64ths or  0.328". You'll also notice, that's 0.002" shy of the pilot diameter of 0.330". Test fitting verified that the pilot did not fit. Good. Now I need to find a reamer, or drill, that was larger than 0.330", but close. That size is "Q", or 0.332". Just about perfect. Living "at the end of the road", I was not optimistic. The fun begins.

I checked all the local places that might have a Q-sized reamer, and of course no one had one. Most of the people, in fact, ALL of the people I spoke with didn't have a clue what a chucking reamer was! They all thought I wanted a tapered reamer for pipe-fitting. �� Looking on line at Fastenal's site, I saw that not only did they carry several cutting tools in size Q, but, according to the site, they had them in stock at the local store. Cool.

Still no call from Vet. I wait a while longer. I want to make all the away-from-home things I have to do - get reamer at Fastenal, pick up prescription at Target, and get dog's worming medicine - in one trip. I'm getting antsy waiting for the vet, so I call them. "We'll call you when the Dr. gives their OK". @#$_& it, I'm headed out.

First stop, Fastenal. They've moved. Hmm...

Go to Target. I walk in the store, and it is pitch dark inside. The cash registers are working, but NO lighting. I walk to the pharmacy. The folks behind the counter tell me they can't sell me anything because their system is down. I say, "You don't have to sell me anything, I'm just here to pick up a prescription." The pharmacist, a nice guy, asks for my ID and starts to look for the 'script. He can't find it. I suspect it's in Kansas city. I had to get a prescription filled while visiting sakorick, and I suspected they got 'confused'. That search took 10 minutes. He then called 'somebody'. They put him on hold for 10 minutes. In the end, "It's in Kansas City. Please come back late this afternoon, and we'll have it ready for you."

In the parking lot, I call Fastenal to get directions to their new location. I get some youngster that doesn't know how to give directions. After guiding him on how to tell me how to get to his location, I head there.

Upon arriving, I am informed that the only Q-sized item they have in the store is a drill bit because all of the stuff that was supposed to be there was "somewhere in Alaska" waylayed during 'the move'. :cens:! The drill bit was $15. Ouch! However, since I wanted to get after this project, and it wasn't a barrel, I bit the bullet and said OK to the $15 gouge. I got ready to pay and was told it was $23+. What! That's NOT tax!? They added $8+ IN SHIPPING! You got to be kidding me! Seriously? How about when you go to the grocery store they tell you the price of something on the shelf, but when you get to the check-out stand try added SHIPPING?! NO! I'm not paying $23+ for a drill I can buy on line for $3! Keep your drill.

Still no call from the vet.

By now Target has my prescription ready. I go back there and get it, then go home.

Still no call from vet. I call again. Same story: "We'll call you." :cens:

Sue wants to go for a bike ride, so she takes the dog and heads in the general direction of the vet. After finishing her ride, she stops at the vet to have a face-to-face. SAME STORY. :cens: She comes home.

In the mean time, I have decided to work on the other end, (spindle), of the die. This should be very straight forward. Recall that the spindle on the one Redding die that I own was 9/16-18NF, and I have purchased, (NOT available locally), the special drill, (33/64ths), for drilling the proper hole, and the 9/16-18NF tap, ALSO not available locally. All I have to do is determine the proper hole depth, (0.9"), drill the hole and tap it. So I do.

After getting it about half tapped, I decide to see how the Redding spindle I BOUGHT, is fitting in the tapped hole. It slips right in. WITHOUT SCREWING! The REDDING spindle "kit" I bought is NOT 9/16-18NF, it is 1/2-20NF! You have got to be kidding me! :cens: :cens: :cens:

Vet closed, no call. At that point, I just gave up. It's been a very long time since I have had a day like this one.

Paul

[Alboy]

:cens:Some days it's just not worth it to chew through the leather straps.

:cens:

[j0e_bl0ggs (deceased)]

oooof...

[Jamie.270]

:cens:Some days it's just not worth it to chew through the leather straps.

:cens:

And some days you're the dog, while on other days you end up being the leather strap.

[gitano]

:cens:Some days it's just not worth it to chew through the leather straps.

:cens:

Paul

[gitano]

While that die is not ruined because I can 'hand-make' a 9/16-18NF spindle, I have three more blanks. I pull out the next one and go to town. (By the way, the 1/2-20NF tap and 29/64ths drill were available locally.) The spindle is installed.:) Now I'm just waiting on the Q-sized reamer to arrive and I can finish the resizing die. I don't know if I'll make a seating die because I can use one of my other .338 seating dies. I MAY make a bushing neck-sizer. Or... I might just buy one from CH4D.

Oh yeah, the vet called first thing this morning.

Paul

[gitano]

I had the idea of using the toolpost on the saddle/cross slide on the lathe to hold the reamer, then set my gearing to cut threads (automatically advance the carriage at a specific turn rate, AKA thread pitch), and then advance the carriage by rotating the chuck by hand. I set the thread pitch to the finest my lathe I'd capable of; 104 turns-per-inch. Of course, the 'trick' is getting, and KEEPING, the reamer centered on the center of the bore of the die. There are such things as "floating reamer holders", that allow one to mount the reamer in the tailstock and not worry, too much, about the reamer remaining  centered on the bore of the hole being reamed. I don't have one. (And I'm not going to make one for this exercise.)

Not wanting to ruin another die, I decided to do this experiment on one of my 12L14 steel, (so-called 'free machining'), cutoffs. 12L14 is too soft to make tooling (dies) from, and the cutoffs I have are only 13/16ths in diameter instead of 14/16ths, or 7/8ths. (Reloading dies are threaded 7/8ths-14.) HOWEVER, 13/16ths will "work" in a pinch, or for practice.

Recall that I was drilling the die with bits just under the size of the reamer. I of course did that with the practice die too. Cutting to the chase... It worked, and the reamer was apparently only about 0.0005" out of alignment, as the finished die was only 0.001" bigger than the largest diameter of the reamer. NEVERTHELESS... I wouldn't do it again without a floating reamer holder. Furthermore, I've decide to put off finishing the die untill I get some cases fired in the rifle's chamber so I can get precise measurements. I've attached a picture of the practice die.



A practice cartridge is in the press below the die. At the moment, the neck length is only about 0.28". I'm hoping the rifle's chamber will have a neck length of 0.338" per the reamer's spec.

I'm getting antsy...

Paul