Carbide rifle dies?

sjones · January 22, 2010, 10:41 AM

As a newbie reloader,can you get these so you don't have to mess with lube,pad and all that stuff?I know you can get carbide pistol dies.Thanks. sj

hornady · January 22, 2010, 11:00 AM

If there are I have never seen any. As far as I know .Any bottle neck cartridge you will need to lube.

wncchester · January 22, 2010, 11:23 AM

Dillon offers carbide dies for .223 and .308, about $200 a set. And you still have to lube the cases.

Use Hornady's Unique or Redding's Imperial Die Wax case lube. Touch your finger tips to the lube and quickly spread it on the case as you insert it in the press. A little goes a long way, it's easy, clean, no messy pad and does a great job even for heavy case reforming tasks. Tossed my lube pad twenty years ago!

**Mike Irwin** · January 22, 2010, 11:27 AM

Sure there are carbide rifle dies.

But they still require case lubrication.

The reason carbide dies with straight wall cases don't require lubrication is that the die is in contact with only a TINY amount of the case at any one time.

In a bottleneck rifle die, though, a large amount of the case is in contact with the die. That's when friction takes over and an unlubricated case will stick in the die.

Even though carbide reduces friction between the case and the die, there's still far too much in a bottlenecked case.

sjones · January 22, 2010, 11:41 AM

Thanks for the info guys. sj

rockdogz · January 22, 2010, 12:00 PM

I was wondering about this as well. So is the benefit of the carbide rifle dies longer life, or less propensity to stick?

**Mike Irwin** · January 22, 2010, 12:15 PM

"dogz I was wondering about this as well. So is the benefit of the carbide rifle dies longer life, or less propensity to stick?"

To be perfectly honest, I have no clue.

I should mention that there is one bottle necked rifle die application where carbide would probably work -- neck sizing only dies -- as long as only the neck contacts the die.

Scorch · January 22, 2010, 01:38 PM

Quote:

So is the benefit of the carbide rifle dies longer life

Carbide rifle dies are for wear resistance. Commercial loaders use carbide dies: they may load 10,000 rounds a day, so a set of dies that will reload 100,000 rounds can very quickly go out of spec. Carbide dies will last literally 10-30X as long as steel dies, so they could last a full year at the same rate of wear.

**Unclenick** · January 22, 2010, 03:20 PM

Mike,

You can get neck bushings from Redding with a titanium nitride coating. Don't know if that comes close enough to let you skip lube or not? Never tried them.

.22lr · January 22, 2010, 04:08 PM

All,
I own, use and love a dillon carbide .223 Rem die set. The pull to size a case is effortless when using dillon spray case lube or one shot. I feel that the dies were worth the price (I can't remember the price, and $200 sounds very high to me).

I cannot say that the dies produce better ammo than the RCBS dies I used before (never loaded the same recipie on both as a test), but I can say that when I first used these dies, I thought I had forgotten to put a case in the shell holder.

In closing: 1) you need to lube still. 2) stuck cases are a faint memory 3) help me whine at dillon till they make the carbide die in 30-06 sprg.

Respectfully,

Matt

saands · January 23, 2010, 10:30 PM

The other option (and one I favor whenever I can get away with it) is to use Lee's Collet dies. They are a neck only sizer, so they only work when you are reloading cases for the same rifle that shot them the previous time and they don't work well for autoloaders that benefit from the looser cases that FLS dies provide. With all those restrictions, if you only have one rifle in a particular caliber, then you can say goodbye to lube and stuck cases AND you can introduce yourself to longer case life, faster reloading, and inexpensive dies for many wildcats (all my Ackley Improved rifles use their standard cousin's collet dies). I am pretty sure that I will even be able to mod a 338WinMag collet die to work with my 330 Dakota ... this will let me use a $25 set of dies instead of getting a $175 set from Redding.

Other than this, lube is the way to go ...

Saands

January 22, 2010, 10:41 AM	#1
sjones Senior Member Join Date: May 15, 1999 Location: waxahachie,Texas Posts: 337	Carbide rifle dies? As a newbie reloader,can you get these so you don't have to mess with lube,pad and all that stuff?I know you can get carbide pistol dies.Thanks. sj

January 22, 2010, 11:27 AM	#4
Mike Irwin Staff Join Date: April 13, 2000 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 41,380	Sure there are carbide rifle dies. But they still require case lubrication. The reason carbide dies with straight wall cases don't require lubrication is that the die is in contact with only a TINY amount of the case at any one time. In a bottleneck rifle die, though, a large amount of the case is in contact with the die. That's when friction takes over and an unlubricated case will stick in the die. Even though carbide reduces friction between the case and the die, there's still far too much in a bottlenecked case. __________________ "The gift which I am sending you is called a dog, and is in fact the most precious and valuable possession of mankind" -Theodorus Gaza Baby Jesus cries when the fat redneck doesn't have military-grade firepower.

January 22, 2010, 12:15 PM	#7
Mike Irwin Staff Join Date: April 13, 2000 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 41,380	"dogz I was wondering about this as well. So is the benefit of the carbide rifle dies longer life, or less propensity to stick?" To be perfectly honest, I have no clue. I should mention that there is one bottle necked rifle die application where carbide would probably work -- neck sizing only dies -- as long as only the neck contacts the die. __________________ "The gift which I am sending you is called a dog, and is in fact the most precious and valuable possession of mankind" -Theodorus Gaza Baby Jesus cries when the fat redneck doesn't have military-grade firepower.

January 22, 2010, 03:20 PM	#9
Unclenick Staff Join Date: March 4, 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 21,060	Mike, You can get neck bushings from Redding with a titanium nitride coating. Don't know if that comes close enough to let you skip lube or not? Never tried them. __________________ Gunsite Orange Hat Family Member CMP Certified GSM Master Instructor NRA Certified Rifle Instructor NRA Benefactor Member and Golden Eagle

January 22, 2010, 04:08 PM	#10
.22lr Senior Member Join Date: July 14, 2007 Posts: 245	Dillon Carbide .223 Rem All, I own, use and love a dillon carbide .223 Rem die set. The pull to size a case is effortless when using dillon spray case lube or one shot. I feel that the dies were worth the price (I can't remember the price, and $200 sounds very high to me). I cannot say that the dies produce better ammo than the RCBS dies I used before (never loaded the same recipie on both as a test), but I can say that when I first used these dies, I thought I had forgotten to put a case in the shell holder. In closing: 1) you need to lube still. 2) stuck cases are a faint memory 3) help me whine at dillon till they make the carbide die in 30-06 sprg. Respectfully, Matt

January 22, 2010, 11:00 AM	#2
hornady Senior Member Join Date: April 6, 2009 Location: SWPA Posts: 428	If there are I have never seen any. As far as I know .Any bottle neck cartridge you will need to lube.

January 22, 2010, 11:23 AM	#3
wncchester Senior Member Join Date: December 1, 2002 Posts: 2,832	Dillon offers carbide dies for .223 and .308, about $200 a set. And you still have to lube the cases. Use Hornady's Unique or Redding's Imperial Die Wax case lube. Touch your finger tips to the lube and quickly spread it on the case as you insert it in the press. A little goes a long way, it's easy, clean, no messy pad and does a great job even for heavy case reforming tasks. Tossed my lube pad twenty years ago!

January 22, 2010, 11:41 AM	#5
sjones Senior Member Join Date: May 15, 1999 Location: waxahachie,Texas Posts: 337	Thanks for the info guys. sj

January 22, 2010, 12:00 PM	#6
rockdogz Junior Member Join Date: June 30, 2008 Posts: 14	I was wondering about this as well. So is the benefit of the carbide rifle dies longer life, or less propensity to stick?

January 23, 2010, 10:30 PM	#11
saands Senior Member Join Date: November 14, 1999 Posts: 1,573	The other option (and one I favor whenever I can get away with it) is to use Lee's Collet dies. They are a neck only sizer, so they only work when you are reloading cases for the same rifle that shot them the previous time and they don't work well for autoloaders that benefit from the looser cases that FLS dies provide. With all those restrictions, if you only have one rifle in a particular caliber, then you can say goodbye to lube and stuck cases AND you can introduce yourself to longer case life, faster reloading, and inexpensive dies for many wildcats (all my Ackley Improved rifles use their standard cousin's collet dies). I am pretty sure that I will even be able to mod a 338WinMag collet die to work with my 330 Dakota ... this will let me use a $25 set of dies instead of getting a $175 set from Redding. Other than this, lube is the way to go ... Saands