Hornady 300 blackout dies

[xdmalder]

Has anyone used Hornady blackout dies for loading cast. Just wondering if the sleeve allows for a belled mouth.

[CPC24]

I use Hornady dies, and they don't bell the mouth. There are several ways to do it, but I ended up using a Lee .30 Carbine expander die. It has to be reamed out about .0020-.0030 to fit. The easiest way is just to use a 3/8" drill bit.

[bangbangping]

Has anyone used Hornady blackout dies for loading cast. Just wondering if the sleeve allows for a belled mouth.

I haven't, but based on my other .30 Hornady dies you should have enough room as long as you don't go nuts on the belling. Best I can measure the inside of a circle, it's .342" or so.

[Boolit_Head]

On mine the inside of the sleeve measures ~.345 so it will allow one. On huge bells it may not but anything reasonable it will. I don't use much because I am using gas checks but will start running a plain base soon. I don't anticipate any issues.

[Dolomite_Supafly]

Lee makes a universal case mouth "expander" it actually bells the mouth and is less than $20. If you do not bell the case mouth your case bullets will cause all kinds of problems.

http://leeprecision.com/universal-case- ... g-die.html

[xdmalder]

I've loaded for cast bullets before so I know how to do that. Been doing it for quite a while actually. Just never used the Hornady dies before. Not sure how much I like them. Seating die really doesn't thread in very far before you reach the crimp. Also I have the Lee expander die and use the NOE expander buttons with it.

[Dolomite_Supafly]

The best 300 Blackout dies are RCBS small base dies. If you are going to be shooting cast call RCBS and get an expander ball for 7.62x54 or 7.62x39. The extra diameter keeps the case neck from swaging down the cast bullet to a smaller diameter.

Not sure if you are shooting uncoated bullets but if you are you might consider coating them. Once coated they work like jacketed.

[cwlongshot]

I bought a set of Hornady dies cause my dealers where out of Redding and RCBS. I used the dies for a few hundred rounds without problem. As soon as I was able to get REDDINGS I did so. I have these as a back up.

They did work OK, but are not my first choice.

CW

[xdmalder]

These are my first set of Hornady dies. I wanted to go with the RCBS small dies because that is the only dies I have ever bought besides Lee FCD. I like the locking nut on Hornady so much better. But I suppose I will continue to buy RCBS does and put on Hornady locking nuts on them.

I have not tried powder coating yet with any of my guns. As of now I use BLL which is the lube I have used. I get great accuracy and no leading up to 2200 fps. I've pushed up to 2400 fps with no leading but haven't tested with accuracy. We'll see how the BLL works in an AR and if it gums up the action I'll switch to PC.

[iplaywithnoshoes]

The Hornady Custom Grade dies are pretty good for the price. I use a universal flare die by Lee to bell the mouth and the Lee crimp or the crimper that comes on the seater dies to tuck the mouth back on the bullet.


shoe