I need a 22-250 body die, but I'd rather not buy one if I can make one from a FL die. If I remove the expander ball assembly, is it possible to drill/ream out the neck a tad and thus convert the FL die to a body die?


Perhaps the die's metal is too hard to enlarge the neck - or maybe there's some other problem you can make me aware of.


(Yes, I already know I'm a cheap ba$tard! )

They're not THAT expensive...

If you have a relationship with a local machine shop, you might ask what it'd cost to ream the die for you, rather than doing an uneven job by hand yourself.

Even hardened, you can always drill, grind, or lap out the neck of a die, only difference is the equip you have to use and the time it takes to do it.

If you screw it up, you're out the cost of the die. Might be cheaper to modify an FL die and easier to find, so if you're OK with maybe botching the job and needing to replace your FL die, go ahead.

Are you wanting just a body die, meaning no touch on the shoulder, or just to take off the contact from the neck?

Thanks, NoMercy.


I'll probably get a body die, but I was just curious about the possibility of saving a few bucks by "converting" an extra FL die I had lying around.



As far as a body die, I was under the impression that they bump back the shoulder as well as squeeze the body. From Midway's product description of a Redding body die: "Body dies are designed to full length size the case body and bump the shoulder position for proper chambering."