Dies for hunting rifle

[GeootJan]

I realize that this isn't a popular answer but you can achieve excellent results with standard a RCBS full length sizing die set. I've been doing it for almost 50 years now using them for big game, precise varmint and predator hunting.

The really important thing is to learn how to properly full length resize your cases meaning an approx .001 to .002" shoulder bump. This will provide flawlessly chambering in the field which is critically important for hunting reloads and will not reduce accuracy potential.

The 06 is one of the easiest cartridges to load for with an abundant of proven bullet / powder load combo's. In a quality rifle with a quality scope you should have no trouble shooting at least 1 moa and most likely a lot smaller.

The real dividends in terms of field results can be achieved by learning how to become a skilled field shot meaning practicing in field shooting conditions at various ranges you intend to shoot during hunting. This means getting off the bench and using whatever field shooting aid you intend to use while hunting, i.e. bipod, shooting sticks, etc.

Don't get caught up in paper ballistics, equipment and theoretical reloading. The old 06 is an excellent choice for almost all big game hunting in North America.

I hear you, I used to shoot stick bows a lot, need to get back into that, but you practice by going out in the woods and shooting random things at wildly different ranges.

my hunting rifle is a 308 though, I’d like it to be as accurate as possible because I prefer to take brain shots on deer to save meat and that is a small target.

 

[Bc'z]

You call that a excuse for bad information, you should be drawn and quartered, keel hauled, castrated and shot in the head with a bazooka.

How do you really feel? Lol

Don’t neck expanders come on all dies? I’ve only loaded for my arrr gun and the set of RCBS dies have that in it.
I have much to learn here.

And if being shot in the head with a bazooka after being keel hauled in quarters is on the table them I will be more careful!

Not all and if the expander is present it generally can be removed.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

How do you really feel? Lol

Not all and if the expander is present it generally can be removed.

Ole ed is the life of the party wherever he goes im sure. A guy will need br quality dies and he will drag out pictures of forsters and redding non bushing dies. Reminds me of another guy who was stuck in the 50’s

 

[Bc'z]

Ole ed is the life of the party wherever he goes im sure. A guy will need br quality dies and he will drag out pictures of forsters and redding non bushing dies. Reminds me of another guy who was stuck in the 50’s

Bro I'm not stuck in the 50's, I'm telling you I quit neck sizing!! Lol

 

[JFrank]

I’ve been wonder about a die honed, so much information out there and half of it seems to be ford vs chev type and I get lost.

We can have Redding or Hornady(don’t look at me like that!) die honed by sending a few fired casing off to the factory.

It puts minimal stress and re shaping on the brass and makes more consistent ammo.

You either do this or neck size.

How far off track am I at this point?

As long as you buy the exact same brass each time you should be alright with a honed neck by Forster.
Otherwise a bushing type die will serve you well and promote longer brass by not flattening , thinning and stretching the necks beyond recognition.
j

 

[K22]

I hear you, I used to shoot stick bows a lot, need to get back into that, but you practice by going out in the woods and shooting random things at wildly different ranges.

my hunting rifle is a 308 though, I’d like it to be as accurate as possible because I prefer to take brain shots on deer to save meat and that is a small target.

I understand - we all want the best accuracy possible.

I hunt a lot in the summer, i.e. varmints / groundhogs and predators in the winter - there isn't a lot of margin for error so precision is vitally important. My go to varmint / predators rifles / loads have to be in the .5 to .7 moa range. However once I have developed a load in that is in that range I spend my time practicing shooting in field positions at the range meaning for me, shooting off my shooting sticks. It has really made me a much more effective shot in the field.

There is a more margin for error for big game rifles when taking the classic broadside behind the shoulder shot. Most of my big game rifles / loads are under 1 moa. It almost 50 years of big game hunting I've never take a brain shot because of the chance of hitting a deer in the jaw thus the deer escaping and condemning the animal to an ugly demise. If you shoot behind the shoulder in the vital area, about 1/3 up from the lower part of the deer you'll drop the deer (assuming a quality bullet with enough energy) and won't have any significant meat damage.

 

[JFrank]

The OP left on post #8

 

[WEL]

Been using standard fl dies to load sub moa rounds for hunting rifles for 30 years now.

 

[GeootJan]

The OP left on post #8

Uncle Edd scared him off with all that talk of a quarter keel haul and stuff

 

[Dgd6mm]

FL Lee dies.......

 

[AWS]

I find that most FL sizing dies work just fine, I use bushing dies just so I can swap out bushings and expanders to load different cartridges ie. 20 Practical, 223 and 6x45 with a 223 Bushing die and 204 Rug, 22-204, 6mm-204 and 25-204 with a slightly modded 204 Bushing die. I do prefer Hornady seaters with the sliding sleeve and have them for most of the cartridge I load, the list is pretty long.

 

[SmokinJoe]

I’ve been wonder about a die honed, so much information out there and half of it seems to be ford vs chev type and I get lost.

We can have Redding or Hornady(don’t look at me like that!) die honed by sending a few fired casing off to the factory.

It puts minimal stress and re shaping on the brass and makes more consistent ammo.

You either do this or neck size.

How far off track am I at this point?

Redding absolutely does not provide this service. From what I have read Forster and maybe Hornady will do it. Or you can do it youself, just find Rick Averill's article on how-to.

 

[EMC]

I recently bought sinclair concentricity gauge.
I've been doing tests in 6.5 creddmoor lapua brass, to see which combination gives me better concentricity.
I tried with redding bushing, lee collet, etc.
What has worked best has been redding body die + lee collet

 

[Shrek]

I recently bought sinclair concentricity gauge.
I've been doing tests in 6.5 creddmoor lapua brass, to see which combination gives me better concentricity.
I tried with redding bushing, lee collet, etc.
What has worked best has been redding body die + lee collet

This is what I do now. Forster seating dies mostly or Whiddon.

 

[GeootJan]

any recommendations for those of us not competing? I might go all out one day but right now I’d like a basic setup to load the most accurate rounds I can without nasa level engineering.

From what I’ve managed to glean on these forums so far.

Bushing dies help make brass last longer.

Regular old full length sizing dies are fine too, even better if you anneal every so often.

seating dies can be chosen by how much you want to spend, the more $, the straighter and precision.


is there a reloading book that covers this stuff? Not a load data book but a theory/ method book?

I can’t shake the feeling that I missed an important detail mentioned in a deeply buried thread lost in the mists of time.

 

[JFrank]

www.lewilson.com
If ya like their seater you’ll love their Dies, Brunos sells them at a discounted price

 

[Uncle Ed]

any recommendations for those of us not competing? I might go all out one day but right now I’d like a basic setup to load the most accurate rounds I can without nasa level engineering.

From what I’ve managed to glean on these forums so far.

Bushing dies help make brass last longer.

Regular old full length sizing dies are fine too, even better if you anneal every so often.

seating dies can be chosen by how much you want to spend, the more $, the straighter and precision.


is there a reloading book that covers this stuff? Not a load data book but a theory/ method book?

I can’t shake the feeling that I missed an important detail mentioned in a deeply buried thread lost in the mists of time.

The Redding bushing die FAQ tell you if your neck thickness varies .002 or more then use their expander that comes with their bushing die. Meaning they want you to push the neck thickness variations to the outside of the neck with the expander. NOTE, I have Remington .223 cases that have as much as .009 neck thickness variations.

The Redding bushing die FAQ also tells you if you reduce the neck diameter .004 or more you can induce neck runout. The bushing floats and can move side to side and even tilt when reducing the neck diameter excessively.

Bushing dies work best with custom tight neck chambers with neck turned brass.

All my off the shelf factory rifles will let the case neck expand far more than .004. And I get the least amount of neck runout using Forster full length dies with their high mounted floating expanders.

FL Lee dies.......

The average reloader that does not have a reloading bench full of gauges for his hunting rifle could even be well served just using a Lee full length die.

The Lee dies expanders are held and centered with the locking collet. Meaning there is far less chance of locking down the expander off center and inducing case neck runout. Also the expanding portion of the expander is located higher than many other makes of dies. And I think the shape of the expander and it higher location helps reduce neck runout on the down stroke of the ram.

In closing many people in this forum do not have custom made rifles used for competition and just have off the shelf factory rifles for hunting. And these reloaders are here to learn more about reloading and making better ammunition. And I do not think they need bushing dies because they do not neck turn their Remchester brass for their big fat factory SAAMI chambers.

I also think all they need to do is polish their expanders and lube the inside of the case necks. And using the dies expander is not the end of the world as many people say it is. (KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid)

 

[GeootJan]

Thank you Ed! That helps bring things to focus.

 

[Uncle Ed]

Thank you Ed! That helps bring things to focus.

With a factory rifle you have no control over how much the necks expands when fired. And if you neck turn the cases the neck will expand even more and you will work the brass even more. And this is where a bushing die can induce neck runout. The Redding bushing die FAQ tells you to reduce the neck diameter in two steps when reducing the neck diameter over .004 to help reduce the amount of neck runout.

Having said the above in my opinion the average hunter with a factory rifle does not want or need a bushing die for reloading. I say this because I have three bushing dies and my non-bushing Forster full length dies produce resized case with less neck runout.

Below are some .223 dies and how much the die will work the neck and each die type or manufacture can vary.

Are Your Sizing Dies Overworking Your Rifle Brass?
http://www.massreloading.com/dies_overworking_brass.html

Below are some of the .223 dies I have and tested for case neck runout after sizing. And if you only want to size the case in one step my vote is for the Forster full length dies and have the most concentric cases.

If your die is reducing the neck diameter too much you can try to hone the die yourself and possibly screw up the neck. Or you can have Forster hone the neck of their dies. Just remember if you have the dies neck honed you may be stuck using fewer brands of brass.

CUSTOM NECK HONING OF FORSTER FULL LENGTH SIZING DIE
https://www.forsterproducts.com/resources/custom-machining-service/

We custom-hone the inside neck diameter by using a diamond stoning process. We enlarge the inside diameter to your specification to prevent oversizing of the case neck due to thick neck walls. You may require this service for multiple reasons:

1. If you use some brands of brass cases with thicker neck walls.
2. If you do not intend to outside neck turn case necks that have thickened after repeated firings.

Please send us your die along with the Custom Neck Honing Form, specifying the inside neck diameter. Note:

1. No more than .008″ stock removal from your existing die neck diameter is possible.
2. Honing is done in increments of one-half thousandth of an inch (.0005″), meaning that your specified inside diameter must be either .XXX0″ or .XXX5″.

$24.00, includes shipping within continental U.S. (lower 48 states). Please allow 1-3 weeks.

 

[JFrank]

Damn
Nine boxes of Dies to take the place of one good F/L bushing die.

couldn’t resist