300 BLK die set?

[MobileTaylor]

New to reloading. A friend of mine said over the holiday break I could come over and get my first lesson in reloading. I'd like to start with 300BLK. I'd like to pick up a die set, but I have no idea where to start. I keep hearing carbide is good? And micro adjustments are good? Any help would be appreciated!

James

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[AMT]

A buddy of mine is in the same boat as you. I helped him search and the only place we could find a set of reloading dies were on Amazon.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[MobileTaylor]

What set did you go with?

 

[arrowshooter]

Welcome to the reloading game. You do not need to spend the money on carbide dies for bottle necked cases because you will still have to lube them.

Have fun!

 

[Certaindeaf]

Get Lee dies unless you just like throwing your money away.

 

[Nwcid]

I know this is not part of the "fun" for many people but either go out and buy a reloading book or online e book. Most of these will have the first half talking about all the components, process and procedures.

I am sure there is a wide variety of online resources also, I just do not have the time to find them right now.

Learning the terminology and equipment will be the best thing you can do for your process. Carbide, along with a lot of other variables are not "yes/no" or "better/best" type questions. You need to know what your goals are to make the decision on what piece of equipment is best for your situation.

 

[DizzyJ]

Standard or small base sizing die from any of the big name die makers.

For the bullet seating die I always go with Forster benchrest micrometer die anymore. You probably don't need runout to be near zero on the blackout, but the Forster will (IMO) do the best job of keeping the ammo concentric.

Keep us updated regardless of what you choose!

 

[Twodogs]

Redding
RCBS
Hornady


Lee.

In that order. no carbide no micro.

 

[arrowshooter]

Also get a separate crimp die and forget about the crimp inside the seating die. Your ammo, and maybe your rifle, will thank you.

 

[Member 5605]

Carbide: no
Micro adjustment: no
This is .300BLK and you won't get that accuracy out of this caliber.

run of the mill .300BLK dies will suit you fine.

 

[MobileTaylor]

Thanks for all the info everyone! I really appreciate it!!

 

[vertical ascent]

At this time, buy the dies that are available, and I hope you have all of the equipment you need to get started, as you can get sucked into the rabbit hole of reloading.
I did not have any mentor when I started, I just read about 3 or 4 reloading manuals and various online forums (NWFireamrs, 300blktalk, Brian Enos, YouTube, etc) to get me started, you just have to filter all of the junk.
At first my, reasoning for reloading was to save money, that turned out to be false. I ended up reloading different calibers and shooting more, especially subsonic rounds (I can't justify to myself paying $1 to $2+ per round on sub ammo, this is before the 1st and 2nd panic of craziness).
Developing loads unto itself is a time consuming process, but once you dial the ideal load, you will get this unexplainable satisfaction of accomplishment of what you created and hearing the sound when you hit that steel target.

 

[Helocat]

At first my, reasoning for reloading was to save money, that turned out to be false.

Shooting more = savings in volume.

The savings is in building match-grade ammo for the price of cheap surplus stuff.

For your 300blk if your cutting down .223 cases get familiar with the ones that will work and ones that will not work as 300blk. Great list here:

STICKY - Good/Bad brass list converting 5.56->300blk - 300BlkTalk

Also if the budget allows (and you can find one) a $20 case gauge is well worth its cost to check your loads as you go. You will also hear of "the plunk test" where guys drop a round into their chambers to see if it seats ok. BUT that's live ammo in a gun and for $20 you can eliminate any safety issues before they start.

Basic Case Guage:

 

[drstrangelove]

Save above website. Not all 5.56 brass will work; brass is too thick. Most 223 cases will work. Will drive you bat sh-t crazy when you get stuck cases if you don't pay attention on this; you WILL be mortaring your rifle trying to get stuck unfired shells out of the chamber.
You will need a harbor freight cut off chop saw and a jig from amazon if you want to make your own.
You will need a Lee trimmer post and cutter to get to final length after initial forming from 223 brass.
If you plan to shoot powder coated subs, you will need a 30cal neck expander so you don't scrape off all the powder coating on bullet seating.
Not all powder coated ammo is sized correctly; I had to buy a Lee push through die to run all my 311 sized bullets down to 308-309. Fortunately Leatherhead bullets is out of business.
In addition, a factory crimp die is highly recommended.
In addition, you should get the mighty armory decapper for extruding military crimped primers; the Lee decapper will NOT take this abuse.
With Lee standard set, you are looking 5-6 total dies just to manage 1 caliber... You have chosen a very labor intensive path in forming and reloading 300blk as your first venture into reloading.

 

[arakboss]

New to reloading. A friend of mine said over the holiday break I could come over and get my first lesson in reloading. I'd like to start with 300BLK. I'd like to pick up a die set, but I have no idea where to start. I keep hearing carbide is good? And micro adjustments are good? Any help would be appreciated!

James

Are you loading supers or subs? Do you have your components already?

 

[MobileTaylor]

Well, I ended up starting with 9mm. Going very well. Love shooting the subs out of my APC9K!

Finally got around to loading some 300BO. A little more complex than 9mm, but not too bad. First batch is ready to go.