i've always just used a t handle on the tap and started it as straight as i could and figured it would align itself as it tapped deeper in the hole... i been tapping the butt stocks of these orxy chassis for a bag rider and havnt had any issues ...
Mine is a lyman.t mag ..not t7..my bad... little different.. same principle..the redding must be stronger... like i said i couldnt see or tell that what little flexing mine was doing was hurting anything.. i just new it was and that bothered me.. i went to the coax and havnt looked back..
Well i didnt like the gray molding after all.. too much of a bluish hew to it.. so i got a can of anodized bronze and painted them.. couple clear coats of lacquer and looks lots better..
No your bullet seating die doesnt crimp.. your full length sizing die sizes the neck as well as the body.. the crimp die is unnecessary.. and unless every case is trimed to the EXACT same length the crimp die will do more harm than good..
Heres what a hornady comparator looks like.. You can get a hornady comparator set pretty cheap and its a valuable tool in your reloading room.. also a hornady headspace comparator set is a tool you need.. it measures how far you bump the shoulder back when full length sizing your cases..
Ruger over all cartridge length is one way to measure it.. most of us measure with a hornady comparator and measure off the ogive.. you will get a more consistent measurement.. as far as the crimp die goes it just crimps the very end of the case mouth.. my advice is quit using the crimp die.. no need for it.. your full length die will size the neck and give you the neck tension you need..
Well after alot of struggling and thinking i had it figured out to find out i didnt i think i finally got this 280ai shooting like it should.. i could get it to shoot pretty decent at a really low node but anytime i tried to get it even close to max loads according to the reloding manuals it would open up to inch to inch and a half groups.. frustrating im telling ya.. was about ready to use it as a tomato stake.. well the other night i was looking the lug area over with a pin light and i could see light shining between the recoil lug and the chassis.. thought that cant be good so i took it abart and bedded the recoil lug with jb weld.. the old bolt was striking the primer off center as well and i could see the back of the bolt kick sideways just a bit when the firing pin fell so i also put a new bolt in it.. that took care of that problem.. now the gun is printing pretty good on the upper end with a 168 berger at 2900 fps.. its repeating itself now so i think i finally got it.. heres a 5 shot group at a 100 without playing with seating yet..
good shooting randy.... i got a few sticks that will put them all in the group... whether it be a cold bore shot or clean cold bore shot... then i got some that throws that first one out for what ever reason...
