Have you tried your loads on paper?  They may be good enough.  What is the runout on loads of known accuracy?

I have found the tolerances on Redding dies to be tighter than RCBS.  Redding does sell some sort of "micrometer" dies for producing match ammunition, in .30 cal but not 30-40.  Maybe a phone call to Redding will solve the problem.

The other alternatives I suggest are switching to a Vickermann-type bullet seater.  If that does not work, investigate Wilson dies.  They use an arbor press.

Keith Herrington wrote on May 24^th, 2015 at 11:04am:


To reiterate, I'm measuring runout on the resized cases, not the assembled rounds.  Normally, I want my resized case runout to not exceed .002"-.003" in order to keep the loaded round runout below .005".

reincarnated wrote on May 24^th, 2015 at 10:46pm:


I had the same suspicion so I took several fired cases and measured their runout...all were .002" or less.  Not bad for once fired commercial brass.  My next suspicion was the neck expander button so I removed it from the die just now and sized 6 cases.  The runout didn't increase...all measured less than .002".  However, the neck was over sized by .009".  I wanted .333" to give myself .002" of neck tension but the necks all measured .324"-.325".  So, my distortion is coming from the expander button having to expand the neck almost .010",  way too much.  I've ordered a few die sets (RCBS, Hornady, etc.) and will try them as well.  I'll also reach out to a bench rest buddy of mine to see if he can increase the size of the neck by .009". 

More to come.

I do not like over working the brass either. On a die like that I might try lapping it with a shop built adjustable lap. If you lap .006 to .007 out of it you might take all the chamfer or radius out in the transition from the shoulder to the neck. A piece brass with a 45 degree angle applied to that transition with the same lapping compound would fix that.

Another thought on the runout, if the neck OD and ID are not concentric the difference in thickness may be causing the expander button to shift when pulling out.
Also the adjustable rod the expander button is mounted on may be bent. Is the runout always in the same direction? Does it get better if the expander lock nut is loose?

I've been on the phone and on line with a variety of die makers.  Here are the results:
a.  RCBS and Redding are too busy to make a custom sizing die.  However, Redding has a collet neck sizing die for the 30-40, number 77147 that you can order from Graf and Son and other Redding distributors.
b.  Forster has the ability to assemble competition seating dies but not sizing dies.
c.  Hornady will make a custom set of dies.  All you need to is provide them with 5 pieces of fired brass.  Contact Ben Syring, Engineering/Reloading Die Design, Hornady Mfg. Co., 3625 W. Old Potash Hwy, Grand Island, NE 68803 or call him at 800-338-3220.
d.  Whidden Gunworks will also make a custom die set.  I've used Whidden in the past and liked their product.  I'm sending them five (5) cases today along with 5 of the 220 Hornady RN bullets I use.  I'll let you know what I find out.

I just received all my 30-40 reloading dies:  Redding, Hornady, RCBS and Lee.  They are all standard dies that use neck expander buttons, all of which measured .307".  My goal was to find a Full Length resizing die that came as close to the dimensions of my chamber as possible, without using the neck expander button.  Here are the results:

a.  Fired case dimensions:  Neck dia. - .338"; Length at shoulder using a .375" collet - 1.783"; shoulder dia. - .422"; base dia. - .455".

b.  RCBS (sized) case dimensions:  Neck dia. - .326"; Length at shoulder using a .375" collet - 1.767"; shoulder dia. - .419"; base dia. - .454".

c.  Lee (sized) case dimensions:  Neck dia. - .324"; Length at shoulder using a .375" collet - 1.772"; shoulder dia. - .419"; base dia. - .455".

d.  Hornady (sized) case dimensions:  Neck dia. - .323"; Length at shoulder using a .375" collet - 1.777"; shoulder dia. - .418"; base dia. - .453".

e.  Redding (sized) case dimensions:  Neck dia. - .323"; shoulder dia. - .416"; base dia. - .453".  Length at shoulder not measured.

The runout of all sized cases was near zero.

Based on these results, I'm going to have the RCBS and Hornady FL sizing dies converted to bushing dies.

Keith

cdagnese wrote on May 24^th, 2015 at 3:22pm:


I wasn't sure if you are loading spitzer or round nosed bullets, but in all of my Krags, if I am shooting spitzers and do not crimp the bullets, they will telescope into the case neck when I try to chamber a round.  This will also result in the case becoming jammed halfway in the chamber, and I'll need to pry the darned thing back out.  When I crimp, they cycle as smooth as any other round in my Krags.