For the 300
H & H and 375 H & H MAGNUM
On these long magnum cases it is necessary to allow 1/2" between
the top of the shell holder and the bottom of the die body. All
other instructions are correct for these two cartridges and should
be followed.
This shows a cutaway view of a P-A Bullet Seating Die. This die features a sliding inner sleeve which aligns the bullet and case neck. The sliding sleeve also contains a built-in crimping shoulder which may, or may not, be used depending upon the reloaders' preference. The cartridge case in the illustration is shown in the non-crimp position.
The die is adjusted as follows: loosen the set screw in the large
hex lock nut located on the outside of the die. Screw this lock
nut toward the knurled end of the die. This will give you room to
thread the die into the press. Lower the press handle until the
shell holder is at its highest point. Screw the die into the press
until the bottom edge of the die makes firm contact with the shell
holder. Note: 300 H
& H and 375 H & H do not touch shell holder. See note at
top of page. When your die bottoms firmly on the shell holder,
tighten the lock nut and set screw.
The seating screw bushing, located in the top of the die body,
regulates the crimp. Turn this bushing out (counter clockwise)
until it is almost free of the die body. Place an empty sized
cartridge case in the shell holder and pull down on the press
handle until the shell holder is at its highest point. Turn in
(clockwise) on the bushing until you "feel" it bottom lightly on
the sliding inner sleeve. When you feel it contact the inner
sleeve, back off 1/4 turn and tighten the set screw located in the
side of the die body. Your cartridge is now in the non-crimp
position shown in the illustration.
Your bullet must now be seated to the proper depth. Turn out the
seating screw about 1/2". Place a cartridge in the shell holder
and a bullet in the mouth of the case. Pull down on your press
handle until your shell holder is again at its highest point and
turn down the seating screw until it comes into contact with the
bullet.
Alternately raise the handle and turn down the bullet seating
screw a little at a time until the bullet is seated to the desired
depth. Once your bullet is seated to the depth desired tighten the
seating screw lock nut. Your die is now adjusted to seat bullets
without crimping.
CRIMPING
If you wish to crimp on jacketed bullets which have crimping
grooves, continue as follows: make certain your bullet is seated
exactly to the crimping groove. Loosen the set screw which is
holding the seating screw bushing and turn in (clock-wise) 3/4 of
a turn on the bushing. Re-tighten your set screw and your die will
be adjusted to crimp the bullet in place.
The unique design of your P-A Bullet Seating
Die affords a high degree of interchangeability between different
calibers. In some instances, the same die is used for several
calibers. Where this occurs, a list of these calibers are marked
on the die body. In other instances, changing the seating screw,
sleeve, or die body will convert your die to another caliber.
Die Bodies
Die bodies are 305, 355, 383, 428, 452, 467, 478, 506, 520 (467
peculiar to 30/40 Krag)
They were bored from the top to a standard
configuration, with the only difference being in the lip around
the mouth of the die. This "lip" provided better centering
of the case head in the die. [Ed.]
There are short PA dies, like the 256 Win Mag. If I get more
information on the die body lengths, I'll post it.
Seating Screws
I have a 450 and a 450A in hand. Oddly, there
does not appear to be any difference in tip radius. It may be
there are different seating screws for jacketed and cast bullets,
but I can't prove it... [Ed.]
The possibility exists that a standard Seating Screw will fit into
the Sliding Sleeve. But the standard die Seating Screw will be
shorter than the PA Seating Screw, so the standard Seating Screw
will have to screw farther into the Seating Screw Bushing in order
to work... My SWAG is analogous to a 7x57 working with the
standard (short) Seating Screw, but the 7mm BR would not, since
the case body is shorter... [Ed.
just a match made at random, I have no way to verify this!]
There appears to be three Seating screws.
450A 22 cal - 28 cal .221 dia x 1.000 long
467A 30 Cal - 32 cal .304 dia x 1.000 long
999A 33 cal - 37 cal .332 dia x .995 longSleeve
Dimensions
Sleeves are all .619 dia by 1.00x long and were available in 22 (.227 ID), 24, 25 (.260 ID), 26 (.266 ID), 27 (.279 ID), 28, 30 (.311 ID), 31, 32, 32A (?), 33 (.340 ID), 35 and 37 calibers
If you can enlighten me with further information, I'd love to get it Contact me. A list of the PA number to supported cartridges, for one.
Needed PA die numbers:
PA12, PA14, PA25, PA27, PA28, PA30
Die |
Cartridge |
Body |
Sleeve |
Seat Screw |
PA1 |
22 Jet, 221, 222, 222 Mag, 223 Rem |
383 |
22 |
450A |
PA2 |
219 Zipper, 225 Win |
428 |
22 |
450A |
PA3 |
|
|
|
|
PA4 |
|
|
|
|
PA5 |
.220 Swift, .220 Weatherby |
452 |
22 |
450A |
PA6 |
22/250 |
478 |
22 |
450A |
PA7 |
.243, 244 (6mm Rem) |
478 |
24 |
450A |
PA8 |
250 Sav (250/3000), 257 Rob, 25-06 |
478 |
25 |
450A |
PA9 |
25 Rem, 25/35 |
428 |
25 |
450A |
PA10 |
256 Win Mag |
383 |
25 |
450A |
PA11 |
25-20 |
355 |
25 |
450A |
PA12 |
|
|
|
|
PA13 |
6.5 Jap, 6.5 Ital, 6.5 M.S. |
452 |
26 |
450A |
PA14 |
|
|
|
|
PA15 |
.264 Win Mag, 6.5 Rem Mag |
520 |
26 |
450A |
PA16 |
|
|
|
|
PA17 |
25 Rem |
428 |
25 |
450A |
PA18 |
7x57mm, 280 Rem |
478 |
28 |
450A |
PA19 |
284 Win |
506 |
28 |
450A |
PA20 |
7mm Rem Mag, 7mm Wea, 7x61 S&H |
520 |
28 |
450A |
PA21 |
30/30, 30 Rem |
428 |
30 |
467A |
PA22 |
30/06, 300 Win, 300 Savage |
478 |
30 |
467A |
PA23 |
30/40 Krag |
467 |
30 |
467A |
PA24 |
308 N. Mag, 300 W. Mag, 300 Wea, 300
H&H |
520 |
30 |
467A |
PA25 |
|
|
|
|
PA26 |
|
|
|
|
PA27 |
|
|
|
|
PA28 |
|
|
|
|
PA29 |
32/20 |
355 |
31 |
467A |
PA30 |
|
|
|
|
PA31 |
8x57mm, 8mm M.S |
478 |
32A |
467A
|
PA32 |
|
|
|
|
PA33 |
35 Rem, 35 Win |
467 |
35 |
999A |
PA34 |
350 Rem Mag, 350 Norma Mag |
520 |
35 |
999A |
15 July 2018:
Thanks to Scott Haenel for the identities of
PA 4, 16, and 32.
Thanks to Neil for confirming PA26 as the .303
British.
22 Sep 2018
Thanks to Scott Haenel for the Sleeve
IDs for .270 and .338, also the Seating screw
dimensions for 999A.
25 July 2019
Brian Hill confirms the PA16 is the .270 Win, Sleeve 27,
seating screw 450A
The
chart below lists the various calibers for which P-A Dies are
available. It shows the part numbers for the various body sizes,
sleeves and seating screws which make up each die. The same die
may be used for any caliber which has matching part numbers. Where
numbers vary, new parts or required for the conversion. Specify
the part, and part number, when ordering.
Original names for Conversion Parts:
SEATING SCREW w/CHECK NUT (eg. Seating Screw Lock Nut)
INNER SLEEVE
DIE BODY w/CHECK NUT
Caliber |
Body |
Sleeve |
Seating
Screw |
22 Jet |
383 |
22 |
450A |
.221
Fireball |
383 |
22 |
450A |
.222 Rem |
383 |
22 |
450A |
.222 Rem Mag |
383 |
22 |
450A |
.223 Rem |
383 |
22 |
450A |
.219 Zipper |
428 |
22 |
450A |
.225 Win |
428 |
22 |
450A |
.224 Wea. |
428 |
22 |
450A |
.218
Bee |
355 |
22 |
450A |
22
Hornet |
305 |
22 |
450A |
22K
Hornet |
305 |
22 |
450A |
.220
Swift |
452 |
22 |
450A |
.220
Wea Rocket |
452 |
22 |
450A |
22/250 |
478 |
22 |
450A |
.243 Win |
478 |
24 |
450A |
.244 Rem |
478 |
24 |
450A |
6MM Rem |
478 |
24 |
450A |
250/3000 |
478 |
25 |
450A |
.257 Roberts |
478 |
25 |
450A |
25/06 |
478 |
25 |
450A |
25 Rem |
428 |
25 |
450A |
25/35 |
428 |
25 |
450A |
25/20 |
355 |
25 |
450A |
.256
Win |
383 |
25 |
450A |
.257
Wea. |
520 |
25 |
450A |
6.5
Jap. |
452 |
26 |
450A |
6.5
Ital. |
452 |
26 |
450A |
6.5
M.S. |
452 |
26 |
450A |
6.5 x
55 |
506 |
26 |
450A |
.264
Win. |
520 |
26 |
450A |
.270
Win |
478 |
27 |
450A |
.270
Wea. |
520 |
27 |
450A |
7 x 57
MM |
478 |
28 |
450A |
.280
Rem |
478 |
28 |
450A |
.284
Win. |
506 |
28 |
450A |
7 MM
Rem Mag. |
520 |
28 |
450A |
7 MM
Wea. |
520 |
28 |
450A |
7 x 61
S&H |
520 |
28 |
450A |
30/30
Win. |
428 |
30 |
467A |
30 Rem |
428 |
30 |
467A |
.300
Sav. |
478 |
30 |
467A |
.308
Win |
478 |
30 |
467A |
30/06 |
478 |
30 |
467A |
30/40
Krag |
457 |
30 |
467A |
.308
Norma Mag. |
520 |
30 |
467A |
.300
Win Mag. |
520 |
30 |
467A |
.300
Wea. |
520 |
30 |
467A |
.300
H&H |
520 |
30 |
467A |
7.65
Arg. |
478 |
31 |
467A |
7.7
Jap. |
478 |
31 |
467A |
.303
British |
467 |
31 |
467A |
.303
Sav. |
452 |
31 |
467A |
7.62
Russ. |
506 |
31 |
467A |
32/20 |
355 |
31 |
467A |
32 Rem. |
428 |
32 |
467A |
32 Win
Spl |
428 |
32 |
467A |
32/40 |
428 |
32 |
467A |
8 x 57
MM |
478 |
32A |
467A |
8 MM
M.S. |
478 |
32A |
467A |
.338
Win Mag. |
520 |
33 |
999A |
35 Rem |
467 |
35 |
999A |
35 Win. |
467 |
35 |
999A |
.350
Rem Mag. |
520 |
35 |
999A |
.358
Norma Mag. |
520 |
35 |
999A |
.358
Win |
478 |
35 |
999A |
.375
H&H |
520 |
37 |
999A |
.375
Wea. |
520 |
37 |
999A |