• This Forum is for adults 18 years of age or over. By continuing to use this Forum you are confirming that you are 18 or older. No content shall be viewed by any person under 18 in California.

Best Die Set for loading .223 (Threaded Dies Only).

I am currently upgrading my capabilities for loading .223 ammo. New Bolt action rifle and I want nice straight cartridges. I'm looking for the BEST die set that I can use with my RCBS press and not interested in any dies such as the Wilson's that require an arbor press.

Of the three, Forster, Redding, or RCBS "Competition" die sets, which has given you the most uniform finished cartridges with good concentricity.

Right now I'm kind of leaning toward the Redding Competition Neck Die Set. Micrometer Seater, Micrometer Neck sizing Die, and a Body Die for bumping shoulders when the time comes.

Have the Forster Dies for my .308 and I guess I'm "satisfied" but I'd have to get several dies in order to have the flexibility that the Redding dies appear to provide.

As for the RCBS Competition Dies??? Not really sure that the 'side loader' feature is all that necessary but I'm open to comments from those who've sued them.

I will be using a mix of bullets, some conventional and others VLD's. As I see it, the Redding is the easiest to change the seater plug when needed.

Give me your feedback on how any of the above have worked for you. I still have about a month before I'll see the new barreled action so I have time to make a decision.

Thanks in advance.
 
I don't think you can go wrong with the Redding, with neck bushings, die set. I also own Forster which is very good, but use the Redding almost 100% of the time. The RCBS I have no knowledge about.
 
If you want the straightest ammo then a Wilson seater is the way to go along with a Redding bushing die which is this side of a Harrell's. If it were me in retrospect I should of gotten a Harrell's along with the Wilson. But along time ago I bought an Rcbs comp set and loading with it has given me very consistent straight ammo but I wish it were a gold medal sizer as it is a bushing die.
 
I have tried the three that you list and got good results with all three. I have grown to favor the Redding and I like to use the neck bushings to control neck tension and reduce the amount of working the neck during sizing to a minimum for some applications. I do like the RCBS competition bullet seating die with the sliding sleeve for convenience and the bullet run out is only very slightly degraded with this die and good enough for the AR or any semi auto application.
 
If you are going Redding (as I have for all cartridges) I would consider getting a "Type S Full Bushing Die" which combines full-length sizing w/ the bushing neck sizing. Remove the bushing and you have a body die. Combine w/ the Competition Seater Die for a 2-die set which does it all.

The trade-off here vs the 3-die set (Comp. Neck Sizer, Comp. Seater, Body Die) is that you don't get the micrometer control of the length of neck sizing. If you care about that, go with the 3-die set.

For precise repeatable body sizing control ("shoulder bump" if you dare whisper it here) with either sizer die, the Redding Competition Shell Holder Set is well worth the price.
 
amlevin

All my rifles are stock factory rifles and nothing fancy, I have two AR15s and Stevens 200 .223 with a 26 inch heavy barrel. I have six different makes of .223 dies to just play with and see what works best. The one I use the most is a full length resizing Forster because of the decapping spindle design and reducing runout.

Sizer_Die_01_zpseda5968c.gif


The .223 die I dislike the most is a .223 Forster neck bushing shoulder bump die. With standard Remington, Federal and military brass this die has the worst runout, "BUT" I think the quality of the brass is the real issue with these dies and its floating bushing.

That being said I took a standard 1976 RCBS FL 30-06 die and adjusted the decapping spindle up inside the die like the forster and was amazed at how this reduced runout for my 30-06 brass.

Oops I lied, I have seven .223 dies, "NOT" pictured below are never used Lyman FL .223 die and a Lee .223 collet die.

dies003_zpsf9af9a52.jpg


I full length resize all my cases because it give me the least runout and "my" best accuracy with the rifle "I" have and your mileage may vary.

Bottom line for my bolt action I use the FL Forster with a Lee lock ring and its rubber o-ring. For my AR15s I use the RCBS small base AR series die with the decapping spindle adjusted like the Forster die. All sizing is done with the Redding competition shell holders with the dies just finger tight which allows them to float and self center in my 1973 and still going strong Rockchucker press.

I personally think that any "standard" type/make dies properly adjusted and "tweaked" will work just fine and will give minimum runout with "standard" brass. You can have the best quality dies in the world and they will not help with low quality brass. Meaning I found out the hard way that cheap AR15 "blasting" ammo is made from cases that are seconds and have large variations in case wall thickness.

So I think your brass is more important than who makes your dies with a stock factory rifle.

And if you use cheap brass in a AR15 rifle your shooting buddies will only let you give covering fire in Zombie attacks.

Zombietargets_zpscb65209a.jpg


While all the other guys are making head shots with bolt action rifles and Lapua brass and scoring all the points.

silhouettezombie_zps0faf3cdd.jpg



NOTE: Right now I have my "old" 30-06 RCBS full length die mounted in my "old" Rockchucker press and I'm afraid to touch the die because I'm getting so little runout with any of the brass I put through the die. The dies have Lee lock rings with o-ring and have a o-ring under the lock nut on the decapping stem adjusted like the Forster dies. And I have never gotten these low runout readings whey they used without modification.
 
If you are going to neck size only, you should investigate the Lee Collet Sizer. They require no lube, aren't sensitive to case neck thickness and give you a very straight (on axis) neck. If you aren't just neck sizing, then go with the Redding type "S" FL die and set it up to bump the shoulder .001 - .002" each time, keeps everything consistent. If you think you might load anywhere near hot loads, use the Redding & shoulder bump. I also think you are selling yourself short by not considering the Wilson seater & arbor press. For most of my rifles, I only have a bushing FL sizer die & a Wilson seater, preferably the SS micro version. As far as arbor presses go, buy a 21st Century and don't look back. Good luck with your shooting as you move forward.
 
SmokinJoe said:
If you are going to neck size only, you should investigate the Lee Collet Sizer. They require no lube, aren't sensitive to case neck thickness and give you a very straight (on axis) neck. If you aren't just neck sizing, then go with the Redding type "S" FL die and set it up to bump the shoulder .001 - .002" each time, keeps everything consistent. If you think you might load anywhere near hot loads, use the Redding & shoulder bump. I also think you are selling yourself short by not considering the Wilson seater & arbor press. For most of my rifles, I only have a bushing FL sizer die & a Wilson seater, preferably the SS micro version. As far as arbor presses go, buy a 21st Century and don't look back. Good luck with your shooting as you move forward.

What Joe said. I have no problem with RCBS or Forster, but I don't think you can beat the combination of a Redding type S and a Wilson seater. Use the $$ you saved and get the arbor press. You won't be sorry.

Rick
 
Short of going for a the expense of a full custom set, for the money, Wilson and Redding are good choices.
 
SmokinJoe said:
I also think you are selling yourself short by not considering the Wilson seater & arbor press. For most of my rifles, I only have a bushing FL sizer die & a Wilson seater, preferably the SS micro version. As far as arbor presses go, buy a 21st Century and don't look back. Good luck with your shooting as you move forward.

I won't argue that they are fine dies and presses.

It's just a personal preference. Think of it as the same reason I don't drive a Chevy even though lots of others do.

Also, I already have three presses mounted on my bench. A Dillon 650, a RCBS Summit, and a Rockchucker. The threaded dies can be used in any one of them. Don't have room for another press. 8)
 
amlevin said:
SmokinJoe said:
I also think you are selling yourself short by not considering the Wilson seater & arbor press. For most of my rifles, I only have a bushing FL sizer die & a Wilson seater, preferably the SS micro version. As far as arbor presses go, buy a 21st Century and don't look back. Good luck with your shooting as you move forward.

I won't argue that they are fine dies and presses.

It's just a personal preference. Think of it as the same reason I don't drive a Chevy even though lots of others do.

Also, I already have three presses mounted on my bench. A Dillon 650, a RCBS Summit, and a Rockchucker. The threaded dies can be used in any one of them. Don't have room for another press. 8)

Nothing at all to think about amlevin I drive a Ford truck.

f-btough_zps3fdc205c.jpg


PISS_ON_CHEVY_zpseb7d18c1.gif


And now back to our current programming. ::)
 
Redding Type S FL sizing die and their competition micrometer seating die.

After a few stuck .223 cases I'm giving up neck sizing.

I know you don't want an Arbor press, but I too would go with a Wilson seating die along with the Redding sizing die.
 
I have two square deals, a xl650, and a rock chucker. The last thing I wanted was an arbor press but now I won't seat a rifle bullet any other way. It's actually more convenient to have the arbor press right there to seat the bullet after weighing. I'm not a fan of the forster dies. The micro seater walks after seating 10-15 rounds and the fl dies seem to really put the neck through a workout. As suggested, redding type s fl die with a Wilson micro adjust seater will do you well. If you insist on threaded dies I wouldn't overlook Whidden.
 
"I'm looking for the BEST die set that I can use with my RCBS press and not interested in any dies such as the Wilson's that require an arbor press."

Custom FL & seater, built off your fired brass.

I drive a Ford too. It's a F-350, No Bailout Edition.
 
Factory rifles? It will probably work just as well to use Lee dies. The things that bend cartridges out of shape are not the dies but bolt face/chamber relationships and out of kilter "C" and "O" presses. The tiny bit of improvement to be gained in using the Forster or Redding dies will be lost lost...............lost
 
I also have a summit press that I use for 223.

It's a good press, I've been using it for about a year. I have found that I'm able to maintain excellent concentricity numbers throughout the sizing operation when using Redding's competition Type S Neck sizer die and their Type S FL die together with the 21st century expanding mandrel ( I have removed the expanding button on both dies )

I also have and use the Redding competition seating die, but when loading near maximum where case fill is 100% or above, I have found that TIR remains lowest when seating with the Wilson die.
Redding themselves do not recommend using their competition seater for compressed loads.

Personally, I use a K&M arbor press with my Wilson seater die, but I'm also monitoring seating force.
But with the Summit press you also have the option of using RCBS's arbor press adaptor:

https://shop.rcbs.com/WebConnect/MainServlet?storeId=webconnect&catalogId=webconnect&langId=en_US&action=ProductDisplay&screenlabel=index&productId=6501

For $26 you can have your cake & eat it too

cheers,
-m
 

Attachments

  • Arbor_Adapter.jpg
    Arbor_Adapter.jpg
    6.4 KB · Views: 34

Upgrades & Donations

This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.


Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.

You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.


To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.

Forum statistics

Threads
165,583
Messages
2,198,531
Members
78,983
Latest member
Len6163
Back
Top