Prefeered dies?

B

Bo22

Guest
I need dies to reload .223 and .308.
What dies are preferred for the .223 and the .308, and why?

I want to buy one set for each caliber, not mix and match.
 
Dies

For the 223,and 308, I doubt you could beat Redding. They are not cheap,but make excellent AMMUNITION, straight and true.
Also, they are very user friendly..........JACKIE
 
As long as you know how to properly set up the dies (the general instructions don't get it) then the cheap Lee Pacesetters will do as good as job as any. Once I learned how to set the die and adjust/center decapping rod and smooth the expander ball, run out generally will never excede .0025 with the lee's.

I believe most die makers do a very good job. It's all in the setup.

Hovis
 
I agree with Jackie. I have a 223 Remington and recently switched from RCBS to Redding dies. I now use a Type S - Neck Bushing Die and a Redding Competition Bullet Seating Die and will add a Type S - Full Bushing Die soon. I finally started reloading a couple of months ago using Lapua brass, CCI BR4 primers, Varget powder, and Ronnie Cheek's 63 grain .224 bullets. Working up a load a few weeks ago, with 26 grains of Varget, I shot an .084 group measured by Virg Howarth, one of our club directors, who was a couple of benches away. Boy, what a surprise to see that fifth bullet go through the same hole as the others. I wish I had started reloading sooner. I'm now hooked on Redding's dies and using the best components I can find. Ronnie's got a new customer for life. After I extract everything I can from my current rifle and its' expense, a no-neck-turn 6mmPPC is somewhere in my future. All I have to do is develop a strong rationale why I need one just in case my bride should ask: "Why do you need another rifle when that one shoots so well ?" Ever heard that question before ???
 
After...

abintx said:
After I extract everything I can from my current rifle and its' expense, a no-neck-turn 6mmPPC is somewhere in my future. All I have to do is develop a strong rationale why I need one just in case my bride should ask: "Why do you need another rifle when that one shoots so well ?" Ever heard that question before ???
Click to expand...

After all the success Gene Beggs is having with his new 6mm Beggs, you might think of this route. No more neck turning is very attractive. Of course you could also use the reamer for the thicker neck 6ppc's as well.

virg
 
Reddding is the first-class ticket

I have some RCBS that are fine but Redding is the top choice, you just won"t find better dies. You get what you pay for.
 
What twist is your bbl Hoss?

abintx said:
I agree with Jackie. I have a 223 Remington and recently switched from RCBS to Redding dies. I now use a Type S - Neck Bushing Die and a Redding Competition Bullet Seating Die and will add a Type S - Full Bushing Die soon. I finally started reloading a couple of months ago using Lapua brass, CCI BR4 primers, Varget powder, and Ronnie Cheek's 63 grain .224 bullets. Working up a load a few weeks ago, with 26 grains of Varget, I shot an .084 group measured by Virg Howarth, one of our club directors, who was a couple of benches away. Boy, what a surprise to see that fifth bullet go through the same hole as the others. I wish I had started reloading sooner. I'm now hooked on Redding's dies and using the best components I can find. Ronnie's got a new customer for life. After I extract everything I can from my current rifle and its' expense, a no-neck-turn 6mmPPC is somewhere in my future. All I have to do is develop a strong rationale why I need one just in case my bride should ask: "Why do you need another rifle when that one shoots so well ?" Ever heard that question before ???
Click to expand...
I moved my gun room to the garage to avoid that very same question. I have a Rem thumbhole single shot(XR?) in .223 that I plan to campaign this summer in factory class groundhog shoots. It puts 'em in a hole now but I'm lookin' to improve. I used my standard 223 load of 26.5 gr Varget with Hornady 53 gr match. I have some Watson's 53 grainers that I want to try. I'm using Redding S full length sizer and Wilson seater, but I have had good luck with Lee's collet die and seater too. I think I have a wierd(13) twist is why I asked the question. Thanks
LASER
 
Lee Collet is #1

Since a friend directed me to the Lee Collet die, my Redding comp neck die is doing service on a little cast Lee press as a depriming die (without the bushing). Admittedly, most of my loads are for F class or 1200 yard match rifle application, so I'm shooting unturned brass in "standard" chambers, but I still can't believe the concentricity & minimum runout that the Lee die produces. Since I started using it, I've never had to trim cases after the first set up - they are so gentle on the case body that it's never squeezed out of shape. With 2 or 3 mandrel/decapping pins polished to different diameters, I can handle all the neck tension variation I'll ever want.

The concept of squeezing the case neck against a mandrel guided to near as dammit concentricity with the case body by the flash hole has to be one of the most elegantly simple efficient designs ever.
 
As to what are the best dies, the answer is simple: the ones that best match your chamber.

Vision problems made me decide to shoot only the Factory Class at Rockingham this winter. I have an old Savage .223. I finally measured the chamber's case length -- 1.779, so my trim-to length is 1.770, if the cases ever get that long. The published max length is 1.760, with trim-to length is 1.750.

Case necks after firing are .254, so the chamber is a touch bigger. One of my loaded rounds measures .245. I haven't bothered to make a cast of the chamber, because I'm not going to spend $200 for a custom die -- and what good would it do with a chamber neck around .255?

I use one of the Forester "bump" dies with a .244 bushing. It can be adjusted to let me have my longer-than-standard necks, & bump for the Savage's chamber. Since it was a Savage, I got a go-gauge & set the barrel so the bolt would just close on the go-gauge, but not the go-gauge plus electrical tape on the back. Best I can do. I seat bullets with a Wilson hand seater, that grumbles a bit; I may have to bore it out a few places.

Winchester brass with some wall variation in the necks, but I ain't gonna turn necks -- what's the point when the chamber is about .010 larger than a loaded round?

The rifle shot a 249 first time out, so it will do its part. I can shoot for 10s, and the rifle will accommodate that. If you have to shoot for X's, the rifle is not good enough; that takes a Benchrest rifle & eyes good enough to see the X-dot.

Too many people forget that everything matching is what you strive for with an accuracy rifle. If you can't have that, "best" is a strange term.

FWIW
 
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