.223 carbide dies

sf1911a1

Private
Minuteman
Oct 22, 2008
23
0
San Marcos, Texas
Are they worth the money? Dillon wants well over $100 for a single die. I find it hard to pay that much, but I do find full length sizing to be a bit laborious. I guess I was coddled by loading .45 ACP exclusively for about a year. Now lubing seems like a huge pain in the ass. I've been using the RCBS lubing pad and RCBS lube. Is there a faster and more efficient way to lube that would negate my want of the carbide die? I tried hornady one shot on .308 and it did not end well.
 
Re: .223 carbide dies

You still have to lube the bottle necked cases with the carbide dies. Only useful if you are loading hunbdreds of thousands of cases and wear out steel. Highly unlikely. Try using the spray lube by Dillon (and several other makers). I make my own: 10% Castor oil, 10% Liquid lanolin (get both at health food stores), and 80% denatured alcohol. Put in a spray bottle and shake well. Put 100 or more (more with .223) cases in a gallon zip-lok bag, give two or three good sprays, zip the bag shut and roll them around smartly. Dump them in a clean cardboard box for the alcohol to evaporate and size away. You can tumble them or clean in soapy water to get the lube off. If you tumble them after sizing, inspect all primer pockets to ensure no media left in. The lube has no petroleum products to kill primers. You'll find that after lubing a couple of batches in that zip lock, enough will remain coating the inside of the bag so that only 1 or 2 sprays will be enough for the cases. Hornady one shot works, but you need to shake it really well, use enough to coat, and allow the spray to evaporate. It is more expensive in the long run than the homemade stuff. Castor oil was one of the first and best extreme pressure lubes and really helps the lanolin work. JMHO