Die set for 223 and 300BO

[rca90gsx]

Just wondering what everyone is using for die sets.

Thanks

[ranger]

Lee for everything - pistol and rifle. Just got my 300BO Lee dies in. Been using Lee 223 for about a decade.

[entropy]

Lee for general use, Forster for precision stuff.

[OlongJohnson]

Got a Lee three-die set on the way for .300 BLK, along with a Lee collet neck sizing die for the single-shot.

Lots of far better shooters and reloaders than me swear by the Lee collet neck sizing dies for greatest accuracy, if you're not loading for a semi-auto.

Lee factory crimp dies are a go-to, if you're going to seat and crimp in separate steps.

Lee carbide for straight-wall pistol stuff - it's priced like anyone else's non-carbide sets.

I also have a bunch of Redding.

[SecondsCount]

For 223, a Dillon set with the carbide sizer most of the time. I also have a set of RCBS, Redding, Lee, and Hornady that I use depending on what I want to do. For the money, the Lee is a good set.

[andre3k]

I run a mixture, but I probably have more Dillon dies than anything else. I like the machining on the Dillon dies and tend to use them on my Dillon Presses. However on their FL rifles dies I have found their expander buttons to give inconsistent neck tension.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

[Rick R]

I use RCBS for 90% of my dies. FWIW the .300BLk and 9,3x62 dies both work well for converting 5.56 and 30-06 to odd cartridges.

[rca90gsx]

Thanks everyone. I'll look into the lee 3 die sets.

[RevolverRob]

FWIW, because I'll soon be on the .300BLK train - I spent WAY too long watching Johnny's Reloading Bench Youtube vids comparing the performance of 300 blk dies. He compared the RCBS "AR" dies, the Lee dies, and the Forster dies for sizing and forming brass across 4-parts - And my take away was -

1) the Lee dies may have an expander that is too big resulting in insufficient neck tension when the brass if formed, RCBS and Forster are better.

2) A Lee factory crimp die is basically mandatory for reliable function in .300BLK in a semi-auto (not really mentioned in the video). I just came to that conclusion pretty quickly, proper sizing is important, BUT a crimp is basically going to be mandatory and the Lee factory crimp die appears to be the best out there for .300BLK (as opposed to the taper crimp offered by the RCBS set). I think a decent crimp is basically mandatory for all semi-auto cartridges and any lightweight or magnum weapons.

3) When I go to assemble my die set for .300BLK - I'm going to opt for Forster forming and seating dies, and a Lee factory crimp die, and seat and crimp in separate stages*.

*I might also just be biased, but now that I've done 500 rounds on the Lee APP with Lee Carbide dies about half seating and crimping simultaneously and half crimping separately. I much prefer the crimp separately approach. It takes an extra 10-minutes or so, but I can actually adjust my crimp tension as opposed to the the taper-crimp of the seating die. I also don't like trying to simultaneously adjust my seating depth to further account for crimping. I basically, just don't like the way it works. A decent crimp is necessary on loads for a snubby revolver (what I am loading). I've had many instances of of bullet pull in the past with lead bullets and mediocre or non-existent factory crimps.

[mmc45414]

1) the Lee dies may have an expander that is too big resulting in insufficient neck tension when the brass if formed

Squirrel Daddy has alternative expanders for Lee.