Hornady 'Match' dies for 223 bolt gun

[gaintwist]

My 223 win brass has managed 4 firings without needing any other sizing than the Lee Collet but it is getting tight. I read the Hornady page on their match/bushing dies and they say the neck size die does a 'shoulder bump'. Has anyone used this die and have any actual experience with it.
thanks in advance,
-lige

 

[Wolfdawg]

Here's a a partial write-up from Spencer barrels from Precision shooting mag,October issue): www.spencerriflebarrels.com

"...The Spencer Rifle Barrels website has a “Preferred Equipment List”, and under the category of “Dies” the Hornady brand is given the highest rating. I was surprised to learn that Clay rated the Hornady Match Grade New Dimension™ dies as his top choice. When asked why his reply was, “It’s a long story, but suffice it to say that the dies are well-tooled.” Then he made an interesting comment about reloading dies in general, “Do not use a neck sizing die. You want the cases to always be the same volume, and neck sizing does not accomplish that. Using a neck-sizing die will allow the brass to expand a little each time the case is shot, until it will not chamber. During this time the volume of the case has changed, and this will affect the performance of the load. No benchrest shooter that I know of neck sizes their brass.”

Based on Clay’s recommendation I decided to give the Hornady dies a try, and obtained a Hornady Match Grade full-length sizing die for my upcoming 6mm BR Match. When the Hornady die arrived I was quite impressed. This die was not like the standard Hornady dies that I had on my reloading shelves. This was a beautifully machined bushing die with some unique features, and in my mind, was as nice a die as I have ever seen. As well being beautifully machined and polished, several unique features stood out-- first, the spindle was not solidly attached to the die and allowed a slight movement for the expander to adjust exactly to the case neck,to align the de-capping pin). Secondly, the expander is elliptical shaped and allows smoother retraction from the case, requiring less lubrication. To add to the preciseness, the Hornady Match Grade sizing die uses standard bushings, so the Redding and Wilson bushings I already had could be interchanged.

For the .262” neck version of the 6mm BR Match Clay recommends three sizing die bushings. A .259” bushing to be used when the brass is new, and still fresh and flexible. Then a .258” bushing is used after the brass has been shot somewhat, and for most of the life of the brass. Finally a .257” bushing is used when the brass reaches old age. Since my brass was new all I needed was the .259” bushing, and I already had one of those. When asked if there was a recommended load for the 6mm BR Hog rifle Clay responded, “With the 14-twist barrel we recommend fifty-three clicks,not grains) of N-133 powder using a Harrell powder measure, Federal 205M primers, and a Spencer 66 grain bullet.

Loading the 6mm BR Match started with full-length sizing the Remington brass in the Hornady Match sizer die, then checking the cases using a Sinclair Concentricity Gauge. The run-out was less than 1/1000”. The powder charge was thrown using a Harrell Powder Measure, then the filled cases were eyeballed to verify that the powder level in all cases was the same. The 66-grain Spencer bullets were seated, and then the run-out of the overall cartridge was checked with the Sinclair Concentricity Gauge. Again, there was less than 1/1000” run-out. Now I knew why the Hornady dies were on the top of the list.

Wolfdawg

 

[ReedG]

I have the Hornady die in .308 and it is the best factory die ever. You will be very pleased if you get one. The tooling, fit and finish are above reproach and the shoulder bump is excellent. Also, I didn't use the expander. I believe that with the proper sizing bushing the expander just gets in the way. Hornady was tooling a retainer nut to hold the decapping pin when I last talked with them, but I haven't seen one yet.

There are quite a few BR shooters who use a custom-made die to do the same thing the Hornady does, but I believe that most BR shooters still neck size only most of the time.

The comments about case volume are meaningless to me unless someone has sorted every case by water capacity. Even weight-sorted cases have very different interior volumes.

 

[Shooter32]

I am not saying anything bad about the Hornady dies, but if you have Lee collet dies and like them, then just get a Redding body die to run your brass through when it starts getting tight .

 

[12man]

I have a Wilson S/S seater which I really like, my gunsmith recommended using a Redding Body Die, and a Redding neck sizing die with 3 different bushings. He also recommended removing the primers with a decap punch to try & keep any primer trash/residue out of the body die. Being a varmint hunter who wants almost benchrest accuracy I would be interested in this Hornady Match Die or the Forster Custom Die any preferences between the two.