Bushing Dies or Standard Dies

[Kaveman44]

Newer to reloading and I am wondering should I be purchasing full length bushing dies instead of the standard full length resizing dies that I already have started collecting?

Also I am starting to get into PRS shooting, that has gotten me reading more into precision reloading

 

[918v]

Learn to use what you have before jumping into advanced stuff.

 

[TheOfficeT-Rex]

Standard full length dies can produce great ammo. There's no need to swap over, especially now with die sets being harder to find and more expensive.

 

[Kaveman44]

Well let me say this, my new PRS build is gonna be a 6MM GT, I haven’t purchased anything for reloading for it yet. Looking into what will work best

 

[HemiPowrd]

I've read many great reviews on the Short Action Customs sizing dies and have one on order. Their website shows the 6GT out of stock, but I believe they have a new batch coming back from nitriding soon.

Orkan's in depth evaluation: http://www.snipershide.com/shooting...g-seating-dies-evaluation-discussion.7065752/

 

[IHFarmer07]

I like my standard dies, less expensive, less runout and less components for a given die/cartridge, KISS.

Some bushings are not made true, they can and will have a variance in wether the hole is exact size or placement.

 

[marchboom]

After doing considerable testing I have settled on using only Forster FL sizing dies. Runout is much less than the Redding bushing die I tried. In fact, the Redding bushing die actually induced runout into my cases. I tried everything because I wanted the bushing die to work but there was no way this die would work. Way too much runout...like.005". The Forster FL die did not increase runout more than what the case had after firing. It was .0005 out of the rifle and it stayed that way after going thru the Forster die. With the Redding die it went to .005"

Use the Forster FL dies. They just work. And you can get them honed to your desired diameter if you want to reduce the amount you work your brass.

 

[skl1]

In my mind it comes down to this: the bushing die allows you to adjust neck tension. Almost everybody uses the recommended bushing and stays with it. But if you might want to adjust, it gives you that ability.

As folks have mentioned, it adds one more component with hole concentricity and bushing OD fit to the die tolerances. If it's not concentric, you can buy or make a more concentric/tighter fitting bushing, but it's a little bit of a pain or expense.

It's probably only "worth it" for competition calibers. And you may not even want it for them.

 

[TheOfficeT-Rex]

In my mind it comes down to this: the bushing die allows you to adjust neck tension. Almost everybody uses the recommended bushing and stays with it. But if you might want to adjust, it gives you that ability.

You can adjust neck tension by getting a different expander ball, or using a mandrel set up with a standard die. The benefit I see is the ability to do a minimum of sizing of the brass, if that's something you're worried about. Or if you are neck turning and the thin necks can't get enough squeeze with a standard sizing die.

 

[Gtar]

I use Redding body dies and Lee Collet neck dies and have found this produces better concentricity than full length or bushing dies on cases that are not neck turned. See the video below, the gauge is metric, each graduation is just under .0004" (4/10ths of a thou). You can polish the mandrel on the Lee dies if you want to adjust neck tension.

 

[rustyinbend]

I get my best results using my Redding FL Type-S Bushing Dies followed by running the cases through my Lee Wilson Mandrel Die. The "shrink" from the bushing die, and then the consistent circular neck sizing from the mandrel die ... has been making my very best and most consistent cartridges. That's just me ... YMMV.

 

[IHFarmer07]

After doing considerable testing I have settled on using only Forster FL sizing dies. Runout is much less than the Redding bushing die I tried. In fact, the Redding bushing die actually induced runout into my cases. I tried everything because I wanted the bushing die to work but there was no way this die would work. Way too much runout...like.005". The Forster FL die did not increase runout more than what the case had after firing. It was .0005 out of the rifle and it stayed that way after going thru the Forster die. With the Redding die it went to .005"

Use the Forster FL dies. They just work. And you can get them honed to your desired diameter if you want to reduce the amount you work your brass.

Bingo! I like my forester dies for reasons stated here. I also like the idea of @Gtar and will be trying this out sometime in the near future.

With bushing dies, I’ve tried one out and did the whole deal of measuring everything out to get the best neck tension and when I did that, I didn’t like what it did......bad run out and seemed to have to work the brass extremely in a saami spec chamber. So the way I see it is unless you have a custom barrel with a custom reamer, custom neck diameter or neck turn, a bushing die would be perfect and work better, just my thoughts on it. I spent pretty good money to get the bushings and it took a great deal of time for trial and error.

 

[Dave62677]

U can Just run it with standard full length die without expander ball, then run though the brass with expander mandrel to straight up the neck and neck tension.

 

[Steel head]

The body die/Lee collet is my favorite setup.
a honed full length sizing die is second and a bushing die is my last choice.

 

[IHFarmer07]

The body die/Lee collet is my favorite setup.
a honed full length sizing die is second and a bushing die is my last choice.

The body die/Lee setup is cheap as hell too! Only thing is that Lee don’t make ALL the cartridges that are being made now a-days......wish they would keep up with the cartridges being made yearly.

 

[spife7980]

I think that for cartridges that are relatively recently introduced that the regular dies are fine. They don’t seem to overly work stuff and I assume that’s because there hasn’t be a whole lot of time for deviation from the original, everyone’s basically making the same thing.
For old stuff where some brass has .011 necks and another brand might have .015 necks that the bushings can be a worth while investment.
That’s my take on it at least.

 

[Dave62677]

People have to check their neck thickness first before ordering the neck bushing. Lapua and Peterson normally measure at .014~ .0145