Die Selection for .308 FTR

[LVLAaron]

Need help selecting a die set for a .308 FTR Rifle.

No turn chamber .342
Lapua Brass .014 thickness


Should I go for a bushing die set? Or should I go for a whidden set that has different sized expander balls?

 

[Bart B.]

I like one piece gelded full length dies. They don't have the balls that can bend case necks and work harden neck brass. They also keep all case parts perfectly aligned while sizing; bushing dies don't.

Forster (they hone the neck nout to your spec) or Whidden are good

 

[jr600yd]

+1 what Bart said

 

[LVLAaron]

The whidden expanders are more like a mandrel though, right?

Who's Gelded? Never heard of them.

 

[Bart B.]

Who's Gelded? Never heard of them.

Steers who used to be bulls.

It's a bovine humor thing.

 

[memilanuk]

Redding Type 'S' F/L bushing die for sizing works more than fine. If you want to use an expander ball, I'd lose the stock one and get Redding's aftermarket floating carbide ball. 99% of the 'woes' associated with expander balls go away with that one. Alternately, get an expander die from K&M or Sinclair, and a couple mandrels for the size range you want to work with. The Sinclair mandrels are available in .306 and .307, and the K&M are available in pretty much whatever you want, in 0.0005" increments. The Sinclair are fine... unless you're OCD or already have a K&M neck turner setup. The Whidden setup does essentially the same thing as the Redding, but with diffferent size expanders available. So the advantage there would be that you get the same effect (more or less) as the Sinclair setup, but without a separate step for expanding the neck.

 

[DonnyJ]

To size, I use a Redding body Die and a Lee Collet Neck Die. You can order different diameter mandrels if want more or less neck tension.
I seat with a L E Wilson Chamber type seater. Search the forums. There's plenty of information on how to set up the Collet Die and how it works.
Donny

 

[barefooter56]

Redding Type 'S' F/L bushing die for sizing works more than fine. If you want to use an expander ball, I'd lose the stock one and get Redding's aftermarket floating carbide ball. 99% of the 'woes' associated with expander balls go away with that one. Alternately, get an expander die from K&M or Sinclair, and a couple mandrels for the size range you want to work with. The Sinclair mandrels are available in .306 and .307, and the K&M are available in pretty much whatever you want, in 0.0005" increments. The Sinclair are fine... unless you're OCD or already have a K&M neck turner setup. The Whidden setup does essentially the same thing as the Redding, but with diffferent size expanders available. So the advantage there would be that you get the same effect (more or less) as the Sinclair setup, but without a separate step for expanding the neck.

Ditto to what Monte . But I would suggest a FORSTER ULTRA SEATER die. They come standard with a VLD seating stem that's thicker at the opening than the Redding to resist cracking if you are dealing with a compressed load. And I believe that they have done some work on the spring for the sleeve to prevent any "coil bind" that could affect your bullet seating depth.

 

[ranger3]

I went through this whole thing with my 260 a couple years ago and here is my conclusion. I ultimately use my Lee Collett for neck sizing and Redding bushing die as a body die. Were I to do this all again I would get the Forster sizing Die full length and have it honed to my dimensions and probably skip all the rest. You can do that if all of your brass is the same such as Lapua. In my case it is not all the same and the various dies that I have work particularly well for each brand of brass.

 

[rsbhunter]

I'm with DJDC , using the RCBS body die, and Lee collet neck sizer....i have had a Forster fl 6.5 Creedmoor die on order since Dec. 27th..., and Forster told me a couple days ago it might be mid May before they ship....on my Lapua brass, i love the seating feel and consistency of the pressure to seat. I have always used sizing die as they came , RCBS, etc, and the seating pressure has always been greater than what i thought it should be...from now on, i will go with the Forster fl dies or the Lee collet....i know there might be more and better options (custom) but i don't shoot in formal matches for points or money, so this will work for me...It's still fun to explore and learn new things about loading...

 

[DRNewcomb]

.....Who's Gelded? Never heard of them.

At first I thought BB meant to type "gilded" but then it hit me: gelded, no balls...