die depth (decapping)

Rappland

LSB Member
I have read The ABC's of Reloading by C. Rodney James and it tells me to bottom out the die against a fully raised ram, then lower ram and thread down 1/8th turn and lock, giving the stroke a cam effect. I have other sources telling me to bottom out die against a fully raised ram and lock. No reasoning is given for either method. Please help me understand which method to use and why. I understand this may be preference and not a safety issue at all but this is not an endeavor I care to stumble through. Please bear with me these first few weeks.

P.S. Anyone in the North Fort Worth area care to have a rookie watching over there shoulder next time you load some up?
 

Chopperdrvr

Deep East Tx
SUS VENATOR CLUB
I prefer to set the die against a fully stroked ram. That way you can't stress your die by putting too much pressure against it with the ram. Even the bottom of the line ram press will put an incredible amount on your equipment. Doing a "cam-over" type set up could be over stressing your equipment for no practical reason. It is also helpful to read the setup directions with every different die set and other accessories since they all have slightly different ways to be set up.
 

scrmblr1982cj8

LSB Active Member
LSB TURKEY BUZZARD PRESERVATION SOCIETY
LoneStarBoars Supporter
I've tried both methods and both ways work. I mainly reload 7.62 with used NATO brass.

With either method, make sure that your rifle can cycle a resized round. As long as it can do that, you should be good to go. Some people worry about overstretching brass, which could lead to weakness.

How much experience do you have with reloading? If it would be helpful, I'm willing to FaceTime you to show you my process.
 

scrmblr1982cj8

LSB Active Member
LSB TURKEY BUZZARD PRESERVATION SOCIETY
LoneStarBoars Supporter
I have quite limited experience reloading. In fact I have yet to load a single round. I just recently started gathering equipment. I just finished reading The ABC's of Reloading. It's time to head to Cabela's and buy a manual.

We all have to start somewhere. What calibers do you intend to reload?
 

Rappland

LSB Member
6.8mm to hunt and 308 because I want to see what I can do long-range (for me), I'll probably re-barrel that 308 to 6.5 CM one day but on my budget, it's one day at a time. I see no point in loading any 9mm or 556 as factory is cheap and my shooting style doesn't make it worth it.
 

rgilbert

LSB Active Member
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SUS VENATOR CLUB
I use the cam over method because that is how my Dad taught me. That has been 47 years ago and I've had no problems.
 

pruhdlr

Cantonment,Fla.
SUS VENATOR CLUB
Die depth has nothing to do woth deprimeing. The deprime shaft can be set as high or low as needed. If you want to resize then deprime in two different operations you can do that also. If you set the die so that it takes a SMALL amount of pressure to raise the die all the way up,or you raise the die all the way up then screw your die down fairly tight against the shell holder should be governed by what gun/chamber you are loading for. Basically . . . to full length resize or not.
I am used to full length resizeing for my single shot guns.
AFTER you have your die set and the collar locked,then set the deprime shaft. I lube the brass. Insert into the shell holder. Raise the ram. Leave it raised. Then screw the deprime shaft into the die until you feel it make contact with the primer. Lower the ram and screw the deprime shaft down into the die a full turn. Raise the ram as see if this is enough to punch out the primer. If not,adjust down until it does . . . and no more.
Now you have the deprime/resize die set properly. --- pruhdlr
 
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