Dies, Dies, and more Dies

[jotto]

So the work area is complete in the man cave. Benches are in and assembled. Cabinets for storing bullets, brass, powder, primers are in and assembled. Settled on Hornady as my initial equipment maker.

I'm new to reloading and about to start picking up dies sets for the calibers I own. I am going to start out with Hornady equipment. I will try to be as detailed as I can but if I miss an important piece of information please let me know.

What I want to know is what types of dies will I need for each caliber? Starting off I'm just looking to make plinking ammo, nothign special. But as I become more skilled at it longer range precision ammo (for the proper calibers) is what I'm interested in.

I'll be starting out with the Lock n Load press in teh following calibers: .22-250, .223/5.56, .257 Roberts, .308/7.62x51, .30 Carbine, and 7.62x39mm. What dies will I need initially for each caliber and what dies will I eventually need for each?

Also eventually once I am more skilled and comfortable I'd like to start with my pistol calibers as well. I have 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45ACP. Same question what dies initially and what dies eventually?

Thank you very much for your time and effort in educating me. I greatly appreciate it. I look forward to very soon joining the Handloading/Reloading ranks.

P.S. I'll try and keep the new guy questions to a minimum.

 

[jgiehl]

For pistol rounds get the carbide dies. Don't have to screw around with the lube and saves a ton of time.

For rifle rounds go for full length in bolt action and short base dies for everything else.

And don't keep "new guy" questions to a minimum. Worst case scenario someone answers your question.

 

[cfullgraf]

"Carbide dies" have become somewhat a generic term. Originally, manufacturers placed a carbide ring in the bottom of the die to resize the brass. Carbide is very hard and resizing can be done without lubrication. Some folks still use a little particularly with a progressive.

Hornady's "carbide dies" are listed as Nitride, or Titanium nitride which is slightly different the carbide but works the same. You will not find Hornady dies listed as "carbide".

I prefer to crimp in a separate step from bullet seating so I have an extra crimp die for my handgun cartridges. If you decide to crimp in the seater die, make sure it has the correct crimp. Auto loader pistol cartridges need a taper crimp, revolver cartridges need a roll crimp.

Carbide dies are not readily available for bottle neck cartridges. There are a few on the market but they still require lubrication and are designed for high volume loaders. They are not necessary for the average hobby reloader and it is not worth spending the extra money for them.

I do not crimp any of my bottle neck rifle cases, including for the AR and the Garand.

 

[jcwit]

For rifle cases used in a bolt action and used in the same rifle there's no need to full length resize, nect size only for accuracy and maybe bump size every so often depending on how hot a load one uses.

Carbide dies or nitride dies are pretty much universal for handgun calibers and no lube is required but a quick spray with spray teflon sure makes operation easier and hurts nothing.

Many reloaders get all worked about how the cases must be spotlessly clean before sizing in their almost as hard as diamond dies, but heaven forbid if they lube the cases prior to sizing. I'm missing some logic here.

 

[ranger335v]

For basic reloading, buy and use basic two die sets for bottle neck cartridges and three die sets for straight wall cartridges. By the time you gain enough experience to want something special for different ways of working you will know exactly what else you need without having to ask.

 

[Sensai]

I agree with Ranger335V. I might add that there's nothing to be gained by buying all of your dies at once. You might be better off to get a basic set of dies for one cartridge and get used to reloading with that one set. By the time you're ready to move to the next cartridge you'll have a better idea of what you like and dislike. I also recommend that you start with rifle reloading and then move to pistol. That extra step in pistol reloading makes a lot more sense after you've actually done some reloading. Good luck.

 

[BoxC]

For your regular rifle calibers the basic 2 die die sets should work just fine. For the 30 carbine you will need a "factory crimp" die in addition to the basic 3 die set. Also, for the 30 carbine you can get a carbide resizing die but you may need to lightly lube every 3rd case. I don't reload the 7.62 X 39 so you will have to get info from someone else for that.

 

[rfwobbly]

Just look for "die sets" in those calibers. Rifle sets are usually used at such low volume that even used ones are going to be OK. Find those at gun shows or in the 'for sale forum - reloading' here on THR.

New or used, those caliber die sets are not going to be the kind of things that every dealer is going to stock. So you'll probably end up buying what ever brand you can find.

 

[jcwit]

For the 30 carbine you will need a "factory crimp" die in addition to the basic 3 die set.

Please inform me as to why I need a FCD to reload 30 cal. Carbine? I've reloaded 10's of thousands of 30 cal. Carbine without one with no problems whatsoever.

Its a real good policy to lube 30 cal Carbine as its a tapered case.

 

[cfullgraf]

Lee FCD not necessary with 30 Carbine. I use a taper crimp die on 30 Carbine to remove any case mouth belling.

30 Carbine cases resized in a 30 carbine carbide die still need lubricant per the die manufacturers. I do not know from personnel experience as i saved the cash and bought steel dies since I had to clean off the lubricate anyway.

 

[USSR]

Its a real good policy to lube 30 cal Carbine as its a tapered case.

+1. It's the only valid use I've found for One Shot.

Don

 

[gamestalker]

For your bottle neck auto loading ammunition get small base dies, they will serve you best. For the hand gun cartridges get carbide dies. For the bottle neck bolt action or non auot loading type actions get FL dies.
Some will argue that some brand names will be better than other, this may be true but I haven had problems with RCBS or Lee dies. For pistol I do like the Lee dies because they have the one die that bells the mouth and powder charges in one step, that kind of speeds up that step and helps to reduce the spills a little.

 

[jotto]

Excellent information everyone. Thank you very much. Please keep it coming if there is anything else to add.

 

[popper]

Lee universal expander for belling cases (flat base or lead bullets) If 308 semi - RCBS AR has taper crimp, NOT roll crimp. Works good even on 30-30 with no crimp groove, or when it's not in the right place. Also primer pocket uniformer, not the crummy cleaner. Of course a scale, calipers and case trimmer. Actually easier to start with pistol than rifle.

 

[BoxC]

jcwit-All rifles are different. Your experience may be different from mine and you may be using different equipment. I reload 30 carbine using Lee dies for two rifles-a Universal carbine and a Marlin Model 62. I was having problems with chambering and ejection. I started using the Factory Crimp die and most of my problems went away. The other problem I had related only to the Marlin and case streching but I figured it out and solved that problem. I understand that the 30 carbine headspaces on the mouth of the case so case trimming can be critical.

I have been reloading for nearly 50 years, load for 10 calibers and I am still learning. I believe the best advise I could give to someone who is starting out is to buy a couple of good reloading manuals from manufactures like Nosler, Speer or Hornady. You will find a wealth of knowledge in them and will find answers to questions that you didn't know enough to ask.

 

[GaryL]

While it's not necessary to lube pistol cases, I think you'll find that a very small amount of Imperial Sizing wax on every 5th or 10th one (depending on the caliber) will really smooth things out and allow you to better 'feel' whats going on.

 

[jcwit]

jcwit-All rifles are different. Your experience may be different from mine and you may be using different equipment. I reload 30 carbine using Lee dies for two rifles-a Universal carbine and a Marlin Model 62. I was having problems with chambering and ejection. I started using the Factory Crimp die and most of my problems went away. The other problem I had related only to the Marlin and case streching but I figured it out and solved that problem. I understand that the 30 carbine headspaces on the mouth of the case so case trimming can be critical.

I have been reloading for nearly 50 years, load for 10 calibers and I am still learning. I believe the best advise I could give to someone who is starting out is to buy a couple of good reloading manuals from manufactures like Nosler, Speer or Hornady. You will find a wealth of knowledge in them and will find answers to questions that you didn't know enough to ask.

I also have been reloading for around 50 years. I reload for almost 40 different rifle and pistol calibers. I reload for a Plainfield Carbine and a Siganaw Gear Military Carbine. My load consists of 14 gr. of 4227 behind a 100 gr. Lee RN cast lead bullet. Last year I put approx 6,000 reloads thru it. This year haven't been shooting near as much because of health and heat reasons.

Yes you are correct that every rifle/handgun/firearm is different, but I still contend the FCD for the 30 cal. carbine is a waste of money, time, and accuracy. But use it if you wish. I also use Lee dies for this caliber.

 

[ranger335v]

"For the 30 carbine you will need a "factory crimp" die"

I like the FCDs but NEED is a strong word. I've loaded .30 Carbine since '65, long before Lee made any FCD; my old Lyman seater has a crimp ring that works quite well.

I've loaded for several autoloader rifles too, never had a need for Small Base sizers with any of them.

 

[jcwit]

I've loaded for several autoloader rifles too, never had a need for Small Base sizers with any of them.

Correct! My Garand doesn't seem to need a Small Base sizing die, just a full length sizing die works just fine. Maybe after 50 years of reloading I don't know what I'm doing.

Wonder how all the millions of rounds of ammo were reloaded before the FCD. Amazing that pistol calibers were able fire back in the 40's. 50's, 60's, 70's ect, ect.

 

[jimmertoons]

I have migrated to Dillon for almost all of my hand gun caliber die sets. I find they tend to keep the bullet straighter, and support the case wall better durinng seating, eliminating case bulge. I have both RCBS and Redding bottle neck dies, and prefer the Redding. They just seem to run a little better than the RCBS. I use Lee factory crimp dies on almost everything, just to keep things consistant. I shoot both bolt and semi-auto's, and have never used small base dies. I am currently loading 223, 308, 30-06, and x39 for various semi's, and haven't needed the small dies. I have invested in Wilson case gauges for almost every caliber, especially the semi's. Much better to make multiple checks with the gauge as you are setting up, than have to pull a bunch down after discovering a problem(btdt).