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Old March 13, 2012, 11:29 PM   #1
coltonjdavis
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223 dies

I'm about to start loading 223. My question is which of the rcbs does should I get? Are the competition dies worth the extra money? If so why?
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Old March 14, 2012, 06:45 AM   #2
PA-Joe
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If you are a bench rest or long distance shooter then the more expensive dies are a good investment. If you are hunting or plinking then no you can use a standard die.
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Old March 14, 2012, 08:30 AM   #3
wncchester
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"Are the competition dies worth the extra money?"

Depends on what you mean; if you mean those from RCBS or Hornady, IMHO, no. If you mean those from Forster or Redding, maybe, depending on how good a reloader you are. Skill, experience and good working methods are far more important for precision loading than the brand of tools and none of that can be bought in a box at any price. Ain't NO serious BR shooter going to be using ANY common threaded dies and presses like the rest of us use.

I'd suggest you get conventional dies to start, they are all quite good. Then learn to wring the best results out of them and improve your shooting. You'll know when you may be ready to 'improve' your dies and you'll have a better idea of what you want to try without having to ask any of us.
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Old March 14, 2012, 08:07 PM   #4
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wnnchester is right on all counts, but I do like the sleeved competiton bullet seater in the fancier die set. Can't hurt you to spend a little more money. You're going to want a better-than-basic bullet seater eventually anyway, so just get it now. I use that RCBS competition bullet seater for my 223 and have no complaints. I'll admit that I do prefer the similar competition seater that I use for the 220 Swift that's made by Redding (I think), but I can't swear that one works better than the other. So get what you want, or you'll wish that you did.
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Old March 14, 2012, 09:58 PM   #5
mrawesome22
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Get Hornady dies. Sliding sleeve comes standard.

Great dies IMO. The best lock rings in the business come standard as well.
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Old March 14, 2012, 10:15 PM   #6
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If your shooting .223 out of an AR I wouldn't spend the extra cash.
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Old March 14, 2012, 10:28 PM   #7
m&p45acp10+1
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The Lee dies work.

If for an AR then the Pace Setter die set will do everthing you need. I would recomend to seat without crimping first, and see how it works out for you.

If for a bolt action then get the Deluxe set with the Collet die. It is worth its weight in gold as a neck sizer. Though if it for a pump action, or semi auto skip the die. You will have to full lenght resize every time.
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Old March 16, 2012, 02:03 AM   #8
Tim R
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Quote:
If your shooting .223 out of an AR I wouldn't spend the extra cash.
It depends on the AR. My White Oak Precision service rifle uppers do make good use of match dies.
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Old March 16, 2012, 05:55 PM   #9
RobertInIowa
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If you're shooting from an AR you may want to make use of small base dies. They size the case down further to make them more "agreeable" to feeding in AR's. However a lot of people don't experience feeding issues with standard or competition dies, it depends on the rifle.
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Old March 16, 2012, 08:46 PM   #10
deadwolfarms
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i have used rcbs (45 bucks) and continued to have a problem with bent decaping rods and broken pins. After 5 bent rods i bought the Redding sizing die (35 bucks for one die) and had the same issues. I then went out and bought the lee set(23 bucks) and have not had an issue since then. the dies work great and i get great groups with my ar and sub moa with my bolt guns

green stuff is not always better stuff

good luck to you
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Old March 16, 2012, 08:52 PM   #11
mrawesome22
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^^^^^ Sounds like operator error.

What was causing the bent rods?
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Old March 17, 2012, 12:32 AM   #12
NESHOOTER
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Quote:
It depends on the AR. My White Oak Precision service rifle uppers do make good use of match dies.
Ok, I stand corrected depending on your AR, you may want to spend the extra cash my hornady dies work ok for my AR...
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Old March 17, 2012, 10:12 PM   #13
Tim R
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Ok,
Quote:
I stand corrected depending on your AR, you may want to spend the extra cash my hornady dies work ok for my AR...
I use Hornaday bushing die with no problem. It's the match seating dies I like.
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Old March 17, 2012, 10:32 PM   #14
603Country
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Geez...how many broken decapping rods and broken pins (pins?) from those RCBS and Redding dies? Trust me...it ain't the dies. It is absolutely operator error that would cause that more than once. Read the directions.
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Old March 18, 2012, 02:54 AM   #15
Tim R
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Quote:
Geez...how many broken decapping rods and broken pins (pins?) from those RCBS and Redding dies?
Heh, Heh.....I broke an RCBS decapping pin about 30 years ago and RCBS sent me a pack of five.
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