My dad bought a "new" rifle, so I will be adding a new cartridge to my reloading never ending repertoire. 6.5x52 Carcano.

I have Norma brass already, and I have the 0.268 PPU 139gr bullets. I believe these mic about 0.267.

That said, which brand dies do folks recommend? I believe I've read Lee is 0.264 and Hornady is 0.268.
Can anybody confirm this?
Do the proper expander balls come with these sets new? Or do I need to order a 0.268 expander separately?

I've also seen that the Lee shell holder is too loose and rips rims off, and the Hornady shell holder wont fit the Norma brass.
Is the RCBS shell holder the way to go?

Appreciate any advice! Thanks

I've reloaded the 6.5 Carcano for many years to plink with various rifles that had. The only set of dies I have are RCBS and the bullets used were .264 Norma, Remington, and Sierra. I also used pulled G.I. 162 gr. bullets that miked .266 with the RCBS dies. No problems at all including the shell holder. The expander plug was most likely for use with .264 bullets. You may encounter neck distortion if using .268 bullets.

I was using Norma brass which if very soft and malleable, so no problems encountered.

Geoff

Yes, the Lee dies do have two expanded tapered "balls". .264 and .267.
The Carcano rifles and carbines are not crazy about boat-tailed bullets in the 140 grain class.
I only shoot the 160 grain RNFB bullets in my Carcanos.
Load for no more than 2,500 FPS. I load to about 2,250-300 FPS and get very good accuracy at long range. I do not shoot 100 yards / Meters.
My Close range is 200 meters where the bullet is stable in flight.
The bullet hits like a locomotive, 160 RBFB FMJ and will almost go through a 1" thick cold rolled Steel plate at 300 meters! I did a video on just that about 15 years ago. A flying drill-bit.

So the RCBS dies are .264 not .267?

In a case like this where bore diameters seem to differ, I would personally start by slugging the bore.

I also understand that Carcanos had gain-twist rifling, so perhaps slug both ends of the barrel (IE push one slug in from the chamber end an inch or so, then push it out from the muzzle end, and push a second slug all the way through from the chamber end)?