Tungsten Carbide dies

[tikkat3]

My local gun dealer recently told me that tungsten carbide dies are the ones to use for reloading my .223 rounds. He said that due to the TC finish that no lubrication was needed at all during the reloading process. I have not seen this in any of the reloading manuals. Can anyone confirm if this is really the case for rifle reloading with TC dies?

 

[Bad Flynch]

When used for bottlenecked rifle cases, the solid TC dies still require lubrication. Their main advantage is that they can load thousands of round with little or no dimensional change.

 

[model 649]

I'm not aware of any rifle dies (bottleneck case) on the market with a carbide ring in the sizing die. The carbide part of a rifle die would be the sizing button on the decapping stem. This part resizes the case mouth and wouldn't require lubrication. The cases (outsides of the case body) still need to be lubed for full length sizing (like for semi-auto's). Just about all straight-walled (usually pistol) cases have carbide dies available for them and can be sized without first lubing them.
Josh

 

[loadedround]

Dillon makes TC Dies in 223 although I have not used them. I have the Dillon 30 Carbine TC dies and cases need a slight lubing for them to work properly thru the sizing die and not make this procedure difficult.

 

[Shoney]

Carbide dies are best used with straight walled cases, the majority of which are pistol.

The use of carbide dies for other than straight walled cases is a waste of money, as you still need to lube the case. You are better served with regular dies and a premium lube such as Imperial Sizing Die Wax.

 

[Sheldon]

I believe Dillon makes a carbide die for the .223 Rem. and the .308 Win. as well. They both still require lube. They are for the high volume reloader who would presumeably wear out a regular steel die.

 

[tikkat3]

I was with my gun dealer friend yesterday as he was putting together some .22 Hornets for himself. he was using an RCBS Rock Chucker press with a 2 die set from RCBS. The dies were tungsten carbon. The rounds were put together effortlessly with no lube. I asked him for his reasons for not lubing. he claimed that the smoothness of the tungsten carbon meant that there was almost no resistance on the brass and in particular the bullet when seating and as a result the bullet does not stick in the die due to lack of lubrication. His second reason was the lack of mess through not needing the lube. He has been loading Hornet, .223, .270 and .308 for himself since the 1970s using this method and claims excellent results.

It still goes against anything I have ever read!

 

[Sheldon]

Never heard of RCBS making carbide dies in those calibers. Can't imagine them cases not sticking in the dies without lube.

 

[ReloaderFred]

The .22 Hornet could be considered a pistol round, due to it's size, and would work without lube in a TC die, but would work much better with a small amount of lube. I've got a .308 TC die, and it requires lubing the cases, as do my TC .30 Carbine die and TC 357 Sig die. I've started lubing all my .45 acp cases as well, because they go through the die with so much less effort when I'm doing several thousand at a sitting. It only takes about 20 minutes to tumble off the lube in untreated corn cob.

There are several small companies who make TC dies in common rifle calibers, but they are very expensive. The average reloader won't have the need for them.

As to the dealer saying you don't need lube on a .223 case in a TC die, he is incorrect. It will have to be lubed, unless it's being sized in a hydraulic press or an arbor press.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Shoney]

Shall we get our information from the proper end of the horse????????

http://www.rcbs.com/default.asp?menu=1&s1=4&s2=8&s3=72

"Available in most popular handgun calibers (not available for bottleneck cases)
"

 

[tikkat3]

That sort of clears the matter up - unless there are other manufacturers who can...!!!

 

[dodgestdshift]

Was the guy sizing the Hornet, full length sizing or neck sizing? If he was neck sizing maybe he could get away without lube.

 

[tikkat3]

Full size

 

[g56]

Dillon makes a 223 die set in TC, they specify that the 223 brass still requires lube, and their TC dies for bottleneck rifle cartridges are mainly for commercial loaders.