What dies to get?

[MadDog]

I am slowly gathering parts for a 6.5 Creedmoor rifle. I have a receiver, barrel and stock on order. I have brass on back order. While I am waiting on all that, I am going to go ahead and get some dies ordered (back ordered most likely).

I am leaning towards the Hornady Match dies. Does anyone see any reason to get anything different?

My rifle (bolt action) will be used mostly for punching paper and ringing steel at 300 to 500 yards.

Thanks,

Joe

[bseibert]

Not sure of the benefits of match dies, but I use the regular Hornady New Dimension 2 die set, Full length sizer and bullet seater. I use a shim or 2 when sizing the brass, only after once fired brass, to achieve .001" headspace. This way I don't need a match neck sizer and bushings etc...The runout is very minimul, Hornady has a great seater die. My chamber neck side clearance is tight even with the full sizing.
I guess it's whatever you feel comfortable with when reloading. I have 98pcs. of brass thats been shot about 3-4 times now, with little signs of wear. 2 pieces of the brass were bad from the get go. I'll be getting  2 more boxes of 50 here soon.
Hope all your components come together soon.

[MadDog]

Thanks for the reply.

It's going to be a while before I get this all together. Buying parts as my budget allows.

Joe

[txcas]

I am a fan of New Dimension dies, but since I got into this caliber for precision shooting, I went with Hornady match dies and .288 bushings based on Dennis DeMille's recommendation.  Based on what I read, my understanding is that match dies get you better bullet concentricity thus better accurary.

[MadDog]

Thanks for the reply.

I'm glad I am not in any rush to get dies. It doesn't look like there are any to be had right now.

I will put some on back order somewhere and wait it out.

Joe

[Rob01]

When I got my dies the only ones out were the basic units. I just added the micrometer to the seater and they work great. Give .002" of neck tension and load very accurate ammo. If they had the match dies when i got mine I probably would have ordered them though.

[tankerjockey]

  This may not be what your looking for but I just picked up a set of RCBS dies from Midway. Just the standard 2 die set. I have had both Hornady and RCBS and kind of prefer the RCBS but not sure why. I have not had either in match dies. Anyway what I wanted to say is if you get on the Midway Email list, you can ask to be reminded when they get things in that your looking for. They had been out of any dies for awhile but they sent a message when they received them in and I was able to get them. Now just waiting on some more brass. I did shoot my third box of factory 120s yesterday after putting a synthetic stock on the rifle. Still getting around a half inch. sometimes slightly bigger and sometimes smaller. I'm happy. You guys have a good day. Les

[MadDog]

Thanks for all the input. I will get something backorded before too long. I am a long way from needing dies. But I do want to make sure that I have everything I need when the time comes.

Joe

[JFComfort]

Have any of you guys started using the neck sizer die?

[Ohlsen]

www.gunstop.com is where I got my Redding die set, only place I could find them without waiting a long time.

Tom

[LEATHERNECK]

  I have the Hornady match dies and they work great, but Tom I prefer Redding dies above all and I have been reloading for 49 years. Good Choice !!!!!

Ray

[acsr477]

Using redding neck sizing die and hornady seating die. Great combo. I love Redding dies. The hornady free floating dealy wheely trips my trigger tho!

[TucsonJim]

I use a Redding type S sizing die and Hornady seating die (with the micrometer to adjust seating depth).  I'm very pleased with the results.