.223 dies

[dzrtram]

I have never loaded .223 because I have had several thousand rounds of ammo. That's about all shot up now and it's time to reload. I have a Dillon 550 press, but I don't really enjoy loading rifle caliber on it, so I bought a Redding T-7 for $160. Now I need dies. The reason for my question is thatI ran into trouble using Lee dies on my Dillon years ago because Lees are so short. I read somewhere that the Lees are hard to use on a Hornady LNL Progressive also. Then I read that Lee has lengthened their dies.
What dies are best? Do I need to use the Lyman M Die, Lee FCD, or Redding Profile, or just a set of any brand throughout the whole set? If one set, which brand?
I ask this because I use a mix of dies on almost all my calibers. For example for .30-30, I use the Dillon sizing die, Lyman M Die, Hornady seater, and Lee FCD. After trying several ways of loading the .30-30 I found this setup make the best cartridges the fastest with the least mistakes.
BTW, I know some people don't understand why some of us mix dies. No need to mention it because we have our reasons that vary according to caliber, etc.
Thank you for any help you can be.

 

[J Schulze]

if this is for a semi auto get FL Small base dies. For a bolt gun just get a set of hornady 223 new dimension dies.

 

[H-BAR]

I use the Hornady dies with my Colt AR15.
I also use the Lee factory crimp die. I use H335 for 50-55gr bullets and H-BLC2 for the 68-75gr bullets.

 

[bigbore50ak]

i use either rcbs or redding.i have a few hornady but i dont buy them any more because ive got a set in 223 rem and every time i seat a bullet the the plug in it would stick to the bullet and come out,its only held in with a little clip now i have redding dies in 223. jason

 

[H-BAR]

Big Bore you must have done something severely wrong to pull that clip through that small of a clearance!!! The Redding competition seat I have for my 6.5 that is being built uses a tiny clip also!!!!

 

[rost495]

dzrtram

I am new to this board. But I go through anywhere from 4000 to 12,000 rounds of 223 loading any given year depending on who all I load for. I shoot about 3000-6000 rounds a year by myself in competition out to 1000 yards with the AR 15 Service rifle and open sights.

All that being said I'll toss in my opinions after having bought and tried just about every die for 223 so far. I use Redding FL size dies with the neck bushings for sizing. I use the Forster BR Seating die for bullet seating. Theres a long story behind both but this combo performs the best.

I do not use RCBS X dies since they are moving brass around to control length, yet we don't know where they put it. It may well end up as a donut when you least need it.

Finally I do not use crimp dies and have never had a reason to. Remember I'm shooting a semi auto too! There are enough negatives in my volume of loading to go to a crimp die when its not actually needed at all for this caliber.

PS-- I control the sizing dies by only sizing about 3thou under what the chamber is, from reading my fired brass.

Remember there are many opinions for differing reasons and these are only my thoughts. They have served to take me very far along in matches and at the nationals at Camp Perry each year.

Jeff