WTK: Selecting my 300 aac die set

[BobinNC]

Netpacker,

I do something similar with my 2 single stage presses.

I do resizing and bullet seating on my old CH4D single station Magnum H Press. And Lee universal Decapping, Lee Neck Expanding and Lee Factory Crimping on my CH4D multi-station #444 H Press.

[md66948]

I have had Dillon Presses since they introduced their 450. For a while I had 2 Dillon 650s set up as LG Primer and one SM Primer. I sold them when I had some health issues. Now I just have a MEC Single Stage Press.I always FL resize and trimmed all of my rifle brass only on a single stage press before loading them on my Dillons. I also deprimed all of my brass before cleaning with a Lee Universal Decapping Die.

I am planning on buying a 750 in the near future.

[Netpackrat]

Netpacker,

I do something similar with my 2 single stage presses.

I do resizing and bullet seating on my old CH4D single station Magnum H Press. And Lee universal Decapping, Lee Neck Expanding and Lee Factory Crimping on my CH4D multi-station #444 H Press.

Yeah, the main reason I bought the Forster Co-Ax is the quick swapping in and out of dies without the need to readjust. It's like a turret press that you don't have to buy a bunch of turrets for. Similar concept with the Dillon but on a bigger scale with the removable toolheads, plus auto case feed and auto eject. I have 3 different toolheads pretty much dedicated to 300blk. There is the reloading toolhead with all of the regular dies and powder measure (with the Lyman neck expander in place of the size die), the resizing toolhead with just the Dillon sizer, and the case trimming toolhead. That one is set up with a Lee universal decapping die in position 1, and the Honey Badger case trimmer (works like the Dillon trimmer but uses a Bosch router motor with an end mill) in station 4. That one is a special shortened height toolhead made specifically for trimming 300blk.

With this setup, it doesn't matter whether I am reloading already formed 300 brass or starting with 5.56. I give the brass a quick tumble in the vibratory tumbler mostly to knock the crud off and save my dies, process it with the appropriate toolhead setup for resizing or reforming and trimming, and then it gets a wet tumble with pins to clean them up the rest of the way, remove the case lube, and knock down any burr left by the trimming process. The wet tumble is probably the most labor intensive part of the entire process thanks to the electric case feeder on the Dillon, which is a real force multiplier.

The one extra process that's kind of a pain, which I am working on improving right now is primer pocket swaging. Easy button would have been to buy one of Dillon's commercial presses which have that function built in, but that is kind of cost prohibitive. I have RCBS' version of the Dillon bench swager and it works OK, but I also recently set up a Lee APP press just for swaging. Like nearly all Lee equipment, it is of semi-disposable/flimsy construction, but also like most Lee equipment it seems to work OK for the most part and is a lot easier than the bench mount swager, even with the need to fill the feed tube manually one case at a time. The current project is to adapt it to feed from the case feeder on the Dillon, so I can just park it next to the 750 on the bench and make swaging a more automated process.

[jtcarm]

Well this is a timely topic for me, too having just gotten into 300 BO for an AR 15 I built.

I bought the Lee Pacesetter 3-die set as it was the only one available.

This is not only my first foray into 300, but also reloading for a semi-auto cartridge that requires a crimp.

What I've found thus far is on my Hornady LnL AP, I can't get enough crimp with the Lee Factory Crimp die. When I test-feed a round, the bullet it is slipping. I have to crimp on my RCBs Rockchucker, and heavy at that. The shell plate on the progressive has too much give in it to provide the force necessary to get a tight enough crimp.

Is there another crimp die that works differently? Or do I need to look at getting a smaller expander ball? My old vernier mike isn't really accurate but the ball looks to be around .3065.

[pj-schmidt]

...
This is not only my first foray into 300, but also reloading for a semi-auto cartridge that requires a crimp.
...

In my experience (4k+ 300Blk hand loads over 6 years), "...requires a crimp..." is an over statement. Your neck tension should be sufficient hold the bullet in place. The crimp is only added as an extra safety margin. Something of a "belt and suspenders" plan.

...
What I've found thus far is on my Hornady LnL AP, I can't get enough crimp with the Lee Factory Crimp die. When I test-feed a round, the bullet it is slipping. I have to crimp on my RCBs Rockchucker, and heavy at that. The shell plate on the progressive has too much give in it to provide the force necessary to get a tight enough crimp.
...

I load with a Hornady LNL AP and use a Lee CFD. The crimp should require a light to moderate cam-over force (Think less than resizing). If you need more than that, something else is wrong. I oil the Lee FCD occasionally to insure the internals at the forcing cone/crimp collet interface do not run dry. If you're trying to burry the mouth of the case into the side of a non-cannelure bullet, you need to back off. Example: I just grabbed a random one of my loads with a Speer TNT 125 (non-cannelure) with LC converted brass I measure the neck diameter at the midpoint between the mouth and the neck to be 0.330" if I measure at the crimp point at the mouth, I get 0.325". I usually aim for about 0.005" crimp on a non-cannelure bullet. Bullets with a cannelure should require about the same amount of force, but you'll see more mouth constriction since you're displacing vey little bullet material. If your brass length is near or exceeds max length, the crimping forces will be higher than if you're near the middle to low end of the tolerance range.

....
Is there another crimp die that works differently? Or do I need to look at getting a smaller expander ball? My old vernier mike isn't really accurate but the ball looks to be around .3065.

Unless your Lee FCD is defective (very unlikely, but not impossible) I doubt any other crimp die is going to change your results.
Your expander die sounds like it is normal. I polished 0.0005" off the expander ball on my Hornady die, but I don't remember the current diameter anymore. I use a 0.3060 mandrel for neck expanding after my form die when converting brass.

Other things to think about when seeing bullet set-back: Are you leaving excessive lube in the neck? Are you using a bullet that doesn't feed well (large flat nose and/or too short)?

Hope this helps. Regards,

Phillip

[Netpackrat]

Yeah, if the Lee FCD isn't working for you it's most likely that something else is wrong. You might measure your neck ID although it sounds like your expander is sized correctly. What bullets are you using and have you double checked their diameter? It seems unlikely there would be anything wrong there, but as fast as components must be getting churned out now, QC these days may not be what it was.

[jtcarm]

Hmm, yeah, didn't think about the bullets.

150 grain Speer Hot-Cor flat-nose.

I've got some old Sierra 150 spire points laying around. I'll see how those do.

Thanks!

[jtcarm]

Update:
When the Lee seat die started seating the Speer Hot-Cores crooked, I ordered an RCBS set with the small-base sizer.

Now neck tension alone holds the bullet in place.

The only downside has been a marked propensity for sticking in the size die. I had been using Hornady 1-shot and teflon powder for the necks. I've ordered Imperial Wax and their graphite neck lube kit.

[md66948]

I ordered a Sheridan Engineering Slotted Case Gauge last week and it should up yesterday. Less then a week to get here. I am waiting for my Mighty Armory sizing die and my Forster Micro Seating die to show up.