What dies to buy?

[Union_Pride]

What dies do you suggest i buy,manufacturer/type) for reloading .223/5.56 for my RRA Ar-15. I have Lake City brass, 55 grain FMJ/BT. No powder yet. Powder suggestions also?? I plan on reloading a good quantity of this. I don't mind spending good money for quality products.
Thanks

 

[Winchester69]

I would suggest a Forster standard die set. If you want a bushing sizing die, then the Redding FL Type-S sizing die can be used with the Forster seater. Forster's standard seater is a superior design shared by the Redding Competition seater, but doesn't have a micrometer adjustment, unneeded with a magazine fed gun.

 

[carl425]

I just bought the Redding full length small base die,91323) for this very purpose,RRA AR-15). There is a little controversy over whether or not you need the small base, but for me, in an AR, feeding perfectly every time is more important than the utmost in accuracy. Otherwise I'd be shooting a bolt action.

H335 is probably the most popular powder for this weight bullet in the 223.

 

[Union_Pride]

What do you mean by a small base? I have a new Sinclair catalog and I don't see an explanation of a small base.

Thanks

 

[nori11]

i have a stag supervarminter using redding fl die set and any 52gr. match bullet with 25 gr. h335.i get 1/2 groups consistenly and works well or the same in my friends ars and bolt guns

 

[carl425]

What do you mean by a small base? I have a new Sinclair catalog and I don't see an explanation of a small base.

Thanks

Small Base dies squeeze the brass to a slightly smaller size,.002' I think). Some,me included) believe this results in more reliable feeding in semi-auto's. The downside is that it wears out the brass faster.

I bought this one:

https://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=466853

 

[Winchester69]

Small-base sizing dies reduce the brass to minimum SAAMI spec. Standard sizers anticipate a more generous factory chamber. If you're dealing with brass that has been fired through a machine gun, the extra sizing is desirable.

 

[BigJim]

Try the RCBS X-Small Base Die for .223 and H-335 powder, that's what I use for my AR-15.

I talked to Lee about a set of 5.56 dies to see if they could produce them for me. The answer is yes, but they have a 8 month backlog before they could produce it for me. If anyone knows of a company that has them,5.56 dies) please let me know.

Thanks
Jim