300 win mag die set choices

[bobke]

about to get back into long guns, after a long absence. have a pretty extensive set of std rcbs dies for many calibers, but am about to cut a deal on a really nice left handed remington custom shop 300 win mag and need to know the current state of affairs in die sets.

this gun should be a very capable long range shooter, so am looking for the best 'value' in very high quality die sets usable in a hd rcbs single station press with std 7/8-14 threads. are the competition dies out there from rcbs, redding, forster, hornady or wilson the way to go or are there experienced related recommendations to pass along that would send me in a different direction? really like the micrometer based seating feature and would imagine that while neck sizing might be the way to go once i've cycled through brass at least once, a full length sizing die might be necessary at the outset. how about the bushing style expander dies?

would appreciate any of the accumulated wisdom from the crew here. gun will do a bunch of bench work, but will be used in the field as well. thanks for any assist in all above.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

bobke,

Have not experience with the micro adjusting dies, as never really felt the need of them.

I have used mostly RCBS dies over the years, as well as a few others, some good and some not so good!

Worst was some Herter's dies I bought back in the 60s --- looked like they had been reamed with a threading tap.

Of late, I have been buying the new Hornady dies, and am finding they are a good product.

Unless you and your rifle are really good, standard dies from one of the name manufactures, should be all your need.

With the high end products, there might not be as wide a manufacturing tolerience allowed, but unless you are buying a high quality custom rifle, the manufacturing toleriences are something you'll just have to live with.

During die set up, do NOT set the dies down to touch the shell holder at the top of the stroke as directions may indicate.

Always !!!!!!!! Set the dies down just enough to allow for smooth chambering. AT some point if chambering becomes tight, set the sizing die down just a tad, only enough to again allow for easy chambering.

To over size by setting the die down too far, can lead to very short case life as well as lack of consistant case to chamber fit.

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[454PB]

I load for several belted magnums, and Coot's advice is excellent.

I set my dies by using a fired case that WON'T chamber, then gradually sizing in steps by screwing the full length sizing die further into the press until the case chambers tightly. I remove the expander button to minimize neck wear. Once that is done, turn it another 1/4 to 1/2 revolution and lock the die.

Unless you're very lucky, just screwing the die in until it touches the shell holder will result in head separations.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

++++++ about 1000 on what 454pb says!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Been there and done that and my brass life on a 7mag was 4 - 5 shots.

That was a long time ago, but the advice to not oversize goes for all calibers.

Also back a number of years ago, I had a 35rem. in a Super 14 Contender barrel.

A box of brass that came with the barrel was fired an unknown number of times, but when I sold the barrel it had been fired an additional 17 times.

And this on a round some say is hard to load for because of the very small shoulder.

Sizing to the very minimum pays off in increased brass life!

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[jsizemore]

The Forster dies make some good ammo. The addition of a neck sizer is nice but not necessary if you use coot's or pb454's advice. The Forster standard seater is the same as the ultra seater except for the micrometer adjustment on top. Unless you plan on constantly changing seating depth it's not needed.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Morn'in jsizemore,

You and 454BP are hitting the nail square on the head!

I have, over the years, had a neck sizer or two, but they did more for filling up my die rack then anything else.

I suppose they will have a good and truely called for use in some applications.

However, in normal loading with dies and firearms that fall within a reasonable range of manufacturing tolerences, the sale of neck sizing dies does more for the bottom line of the maker then for the quality of ammo most reloaders produce.

Years back, I was at the old rifle range just outside of Lewiston, Idaho, home to CCI, Speer, Bitterroot Bullets, Jack O'Conner etc., and was watching a fellow shoot and reload for his target rifle.

The level of quality as per toleriences, was well beyond the norm of our typical "off the shelf" rifles and dies, to the point where a fired case was simply de-primed, re-primed, powder charged (with a powder thrower) and the bullet seated for the next firing.

All without the use of a sizing die of any kind.

With the exception of that"dog" that sometimes makes it out the door of the manufacture, it is truely remarkable just how well our rifles shoot and how well most of our reloading tools fullfill their intended use.

So, back to the "Neck sizing" die question, ---- don't over size your brass and stay with a standard "Full Length" die until a proven need calls for spending the additional money.

It probably never will.

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[bobke]

advice all appreciated and well taken. picked up a 3 die deluxe set of redding dies on gun broker and will likely generate all my own brass through only a single rifle, so will have a handle on all of the controllable variables from start to finish. have loaded for a variety of different rounds, with very acceptable results, and do employ most all of what's been suggested here, but always good to review/employ good protocol.

checking over on sniper's hide and some other sites, had mention of larry willis' innovative technologies belted magnum collet resizing die as a very effective means of preserving brass integrity without overworking to any degree. anyone heard of or used one of these? i'll be a while before i get through loading brass 5x, so have time for research, and to see how the redding dies perform.

was supposed to shoot and pick up rifle from a friend today, but we've had about 4-5" of rain in s. texas...so far... today, so not a great day for hitting the range. i'll know lots more when i've had a chance to shoot/measure fired rounds, etc and get some idea about neck dimensions and so forth. til then, appreciate the discussion. keep it going.

[white eagle]

Redding dies are all I ever use
although Forster does make some dandy dies