Steel Bullet dies?

So what I'm wondering is will a steel die make as good of a bullet as a carbide? How well would they last for someone who is only making their own bullets. I only shoot local club benchrest matches and most are shooting 115 Bergers with 2 shooting BiBs which are hard to get here in Canada.

Is the extra cost of the carbide worth it for someone who will only make less than probably 5000 a year?

What I'm after is a benchrest quality bullet for my 30br and am debating between a 7ogive and a 10ogive using a 1" jacket in the 115 to 118gr range.

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Originally Posted by TrxR

What I'm after is a benchrest quality bullet for my 30br and am debating between a 7ogive and a 10ogive using a 1" jacket in the 115 to 118gr range.

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Plain steel bullet dies will last a long time.

Doesn't sound like you plan to become a serious B.R. competitor. Making good jacketed bullets is difficult and costly. Good lead wire & cutters and high quality jackets are expensive. The dies and presses are very expensive. And it takes a lot of learning for a noob to make bullets as good as most off-the-shelf bullets.

Before you jump into the deep water I suggest you consider buying some light weight, match grade Sierra bullets, some good cases and develop a match cartridge around them. After a year or two of that, if you still want to roll your own, you'll at least have enough personal experience to know what you want to buy and try.

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Originally Posted by 1hole

Plain steel bullet dies will last a long time.

Doesn't sound like you plan to become a serious B.R. competitor. Making good jacketed bullets is difficult and costly. Good lead wire & cutters and high quality jackets are expensive. The dies and presses are very expensive. And it takes a lot of learning for a noob to make bullets as good as most off-the-shelf bullets.

Before you jump into the deep water I suggest you consider buying some light weight, match grade Sierra bullets, some good cases and develop a match cartridge around them. After a year or two of that, if you still want to roll your own, you'll at least have enough personal experience to know what you want to buy and try.

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I get where your coming from. I've already got 3 Detsch modified Redding presses and most of the parts needed for a core cutter and a good tumbler . I'm not a total newbie . From what I can find Sierra doesn't really have a decent flat based bullet for a 30br setup. Berger 115 are decent and some have done alright with Speer 125 or Hornady 110 amax but they aren't really competitive.

I have a couple sets of 6mm swage dies in 6mm to feed my 6PPC.
I am using 17/22Mag brass for jackets.
I am not competing, I just want something to go down range and poke a hole in the target.
I have not gotten serious about making “match “ bullets yet, still working out bugs like consistent jacket length, weight and such.
I don’t expect tiny groups but I was pleasantly surprised with my first attempt. It was a 3/4” group.
I have some of the bullets that two benchrest shooters Raymond and Walter made that they considered rejects because “the die was not hot yet”.
The “rejects” shot better than my rimfire jacket bullets, but they used J4 jackets.
I bought a couple hundred commercial jackets to try. I am expecting better than the rimfire jackets but not as good as the J4s.
My dies are made by Corbin and another set by Blackmon.
When Raymond was trying to sell his carbide 6mm dies he wanted $5000 for them.
I think I paid $500 for mine!
I would check recent prices and give it a shot, the next time we have a panic you will have some bullets to shoot!

If I was going to buy dies for 5k a year I would definitely buy carbide. They will hold a tighter tolerance for a lot longer.

I have not had problems making very accurate bullets with Corbin steel dies. I don't make many bullets for benchrest shooters, but the ones I have made worked well. Most of my stuff is for long range shooting, both flat base and boat tail low drag and conventional shape bullets. Some designs shoot better than others, but I have never felt that I was at a disadvantage shooting my bullets in competition.

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...eel-vs-Carbide

http://www.saubier.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21622

If you are running the classic 30Br Robinett, Copy the 118grain Bib 10 ogive/.0625 meplat, .3085 pressure ring .3083 Shank. In steel, will outlast you as long as you look after them.. All the carbide bullet makers hang out on Saubier , Hit them up for a price, It wont be cheap.. And you could be looking at a year for your carbide die set. Every now and then, you can find Carbide sets on the Benchrest forums for reasonable money... Garry Little in Australia sold off two carbide sets recently... For around $1500 Aussie a set... They were hardly worn in with around 100,000 bullets made . He sold them on Australian Benchrest Bulletin, The Shooters Corner has a few Die sets on their present list.. But to be honest... RCE etc could make you a steel set for a fraction of the price.

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Originally Posted by M.A.D

If you are running the classic 30Br Robinett, Copy the 118grain Bib 10 ogive/.0625 meplat, .3085 pressure ring .3083 Shank. In steel, will outlast you as long as you look after them.. All the carbide bullet makers hang out on Saubier , Hit them up for a price, It wont be cheap.. And you could be looking at a year for your carbide die set. Every now and then, you can find Carbide sets on the Benchrest forums for reasonable money... Garry Little in Australia sold off two carbide sets recently... For around $1500 Aussie a set... They were hardly worn in with around 100,000 bullets made . He sold them on Australian Benchrest Bulletin, The Shooters Corner has a few Die sets on their present list.. But to be honest... RCE etc could make you a steel set for a fraction of the price.

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Its a classic Robinett reamer specs with the neck opened to .331 Vs .330 and the .200 datum at .4715 vs .4707 . These changes were recommended by Robinett.