What dies do you prefer? Have a new 7TCU on the way and need dies. Do you feel some center the bullet better than others? Do some brands open up the neck of the .223 case with less cracking?

fireball

Fireball
I bought a set of Hornady 7mm TCU dies a little while ago.I didn't want to buy an expensive set & didn't want a really cheap set either. They seem to work ok for forming brass & resizing. Mike says that their seaters are prone to run out. I can't really tell you how good/bad they are since I had a lot of trouble with the T/C barrel. I may just buy a better set in the future once I have a new barrel.
Rich Jake

Fireball,
I've been using Lee and RCBS for a long,long time. Never had a problem with either. I got an new, older set of Hornadys for my 6x223 and broke the expander ball on the first stroke...it came apart. They sent me the new style at no charge and haven't had any problems since.
Redding are tops from what I hear. I have one set of Redding dies in 250imp but I need to get it and the barrel back from Mike to try them out

Gents,
In that case I would recommend Redding. I have a 300-221 Whisper in a XP-100 that I use Redding dies for. They form the 221's to 300 to perfection. My set has 2 expanders on the shaft,one is a 270,the other is a 308. I also have a set of Redding for my 7mm International Rimmed. They also work flawlessly. I use 375 Win Brass and those Redding dies handle it without a hitch,ever. I have Lee,RCBS,C&H,Hornady And Redding dies and none have ever caused any problems. The Lee dies I have for my 38-56 WCF reform 45-70's to spec without the $400 RCBS trim & form dies I was told I would need. All & All I would think the most important part of the process is proper case lubrication. I use Dillon's Spray & Size for all rifle cases. All my pistol dies are carbide,so by definition do not need lube. Clean brass,lube and form. One thing more is a recommendation for commercial 223 brass for your 7TCU. If nothing else it helps in sorting your brass from lot to lot if not from 223 to your seven mm. Sometimes I take too many rifles to the range and shooting a 223 and a 7 TCU could lead to mixed cases later. Just something else to watch for. 45nut

Fireball, the Hornady expander works great, but that is about as far as I will go with them. I have had some runout in the 7 TCU with the full length sizer. You might want to look into just the Hornady neck size die to do the initial .224-.284. All in all though I would say go at least with the RCBS at least. The Redding or Forster dies are about the most trouble free I have had.
If you do go with the Hornady you might look at Varmint Al's web site on polishing the inside of the dies, I shouldn't single out Hornady as I have polished my Redding's and Forster dies. It made a big difference in all of them.

Jules, you broke the expander ball? Was it the tapered one like the New Dimension dies have? I used the Hornady 6 mm neck die to make my 6-223 and my 6 TCU seater to seat with. Have not made the commitment for this die set yet.
Jeff

I bit ov everything from everyone: RCBS, Hornady, Lee, but Redding is my favorite for precision.

Might try Dillon sometime to see how they are....

Jules, you broke the expander ball? Was it the tapered one like the New Dimension dies have? I used the Hornady 6 mm neck die to make my 6-223 and my 6 TCU seater to seat with. Have not made the commitment for this die set yet.
Jeff[/QB][/QUOTE]

Jeff,
When I sized the 1st piece of 223 brass the expander ball came off the spindle. They were new dies but the older style...Not New Dimension. They sent me a New Dimension spindle Assembly...twice, I guess one was for the phone call and one for the email ...with no questions. I forgot to add that I bought a Redding 6x223 size die from Lock-Stock as back up. I didn't wanna take a chance.

Stupid on my part. I should have just got the Redding set to begin with. DUH!!!

[ 09-16-2002, 01:34: Message edited by: Jules ]

RCBS, LEE, C/H4, Pacific, Herters, Hornady, Redding.
Hornady was the worst, Redding was the best tho I am going to get a set of Forsters to check out I just don't know what cal. yet.

Wes

A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention in human history-with the possible exceptions of handguns and tequila (Mitch Ratcliffe)

FIREBALL....
gots a few of them all except redding,,n' forrester,,,
but really like my hornady dies,,
maybe better than the RCBS ??..
just me two cents,,,,
buckweet

I use Hornady dies on my 7mm TCU and just about everthing I load and after reading the posting on runout I check my ammo on the runout gage. The max runout I could get is .003 most of it ran .002
Using 26.2gr of REL-7 CCI BR4 primer 120gr Nosler BT 2356 FPS my group of .44 at 100yds

The smoothest FL die a own is my Neil Jones custom FL die which has interchangable neck size shoulder bump bushings. Cases flow like butter.

Hornady size dies are to tight in the neck. But I use their seat dies in combination with my custom dies.

Redding are my favorite off the shelf with RCBS a close second.

Never tried Lee dies because they do not include set screw locking rings. I know they are only a few bucks extra. Just call me hard headed.

I'm like B_Koes about neck sizing and using body dies if I need to fl size. I use Wilson neck and seating dies. I feel the worst thing one can do to a case is drag the neck over an expander ball. Especially a sharp shoulder like an TCU case. I have a new 221 fireball barrel coming from VV (some day I hope) and have a set of wilson neck and seating dies, redding body die waiting for the new barrel on my bench. On my 7TCU I have a old set of Lee 7TCU dies for expanding the 223 case up and haven't ever had a problem.

I use Redding dies first, then RCBS usually. But I have about every kind of brand there is.
xphunter