6mm benchrest do's & don'ts

[thirty06]

Thinking about a 6mm benchrest Norma. Have nothing, so what's the worst and best dies to start with?
Anything that is must have versus would be nice to have.
This will be for informal target shooting. And I ain't the best shot in the world.
Any tips or tricks before I jump in appreciated.

[bootsmcguire]

For my 6BR I am using a Lee Collet Die for the 6PPC (works just great on the 6BR), a Redding 6BR Body die for bumping shoulders, and I am running a seating die I made by using a Lee 243 Dead Length Seating Die and shortening it to work with the 6BR. This system has worked great for me. There are many other seating dies out there from most of the big names that would work as good or better that could be bought rather than making one as I did. For me it was just an experiment and had great results.

[82boy]

IMO Worse is anything made by LEE or Redding.
Best is Forester micrometer seater, and the forester FL sizing die. If you want a better FL sizing die then send Harrell's a couple of fired brass and $70 bucks for a custom die. RCBS gold medal is good but pricey.

Must haves are a good trimmer like a wilson, primer pocket cutter, and a VLD champering tool. Buy some Varget powder, or RE15 and some good 90-108 gr bullets, and have fun.

[jglover_81]

Can you be more specific on problems with redding dies??

[memilanuk]

Yah... I'm kinda curious about that one myself. ???

[pdog06]

me too.. I have a Redding Type S 6br die set and really like it.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/default.aspx?productNumber=286682

[ttfreestyle]

also like my redding stuff.. i consider it very good quality.

[82boy]

Can you be more specific on problems with redding dies??


My experience with Redding dies has been on the bad side, out of all of the Redding dies I have had, they was all too long needing work to properly fit the case, and bump the shoulder back. Redding is well aware of this problem as they told me how to fix the dies. I have also found that I encountered consintrisity problems with the bushing dies, they fit the bushing too loose in the die allowing it to float too much, and letting the brass dictate how it is reshaped. Throughout the years on the internet I have see many others with this same problems. Then you consider the price, I just don't see why people flock to these dies. I had a couple of sets, and I sold them to get far better equipment, and never looked back.

[memilanuk]

Hmmm...

I had one set of dies (.220 Swift) that I had problems bumping the shoulder because the dies were cut too deep like you describe. That was probably 10 years ago... I thought they'd sorted that out by now.

Only caliber I've had concentricity issues with has been .308 Winchester - due in part to the gawd-awful range of sizes between a max SAAMI spec chamber and brass formed well under SAAMI spec (Winchester) leaving a huge amount of sizing of the neck every firing. I'm not entirely sure that's *Redding's* fault, though. In other calibers with more reasonable differences between fired and loaded round neck diameters (also using Lapua brass)... never really had any cause for complaint in that department.

As far as the cost... that one I will agree with you. They've gotten pretty proud of their 'Competition' seaters, and the Type 'S' F/L dies, and charge accordingly. God forbid you want one in a non-mainstream cartridge like a 6 Dasher - better hold onto your shorts cuz it gets spendy fast.

Problem is... until recently, they were about the only game in town for F/L bushing dies so unless I wanted to neck size w/ a Wilson and use a Forster F/L die - or send off for a custom die - a Redding Type 'S' F/L bushing die was 'it'. I've got a couple of the Forster Precision Bump dies - haven't really used them enough yet to say if I like 'em or not. Kind of disappointed that they didn't use 'standard' bushings like Redding and Wilson...

I do tend to order Forster Ultra BR seaters anymore when I have the option, mainly because I can't tell the difference in performance, but my wallet can tell the difference in cost!

[Terry Balding]

I like the L. E. Wilson neck sizing and bullet seating dies. They are very easy to use and produce consistent ammo with nearly 0 run out.
The Hornady dies work great as well.

Terry

[tiny68]

At the club (North Texas Shooters Association - Denton) where I shoot BR, I see way more Redding F/L S-type dies than anything else - including customs or semi-customs. These guys know their stuff. Two went to France on the US team to complete in the World Championship this year....granted neither was shooting Redding dies... I own 10 sets of Redding dies and the only problems I have had is when the reamer used doesn't match the die or brass and I was constantly overworking the brass.

I have good luck with my Lee sets, but hunting and pistol applications only for me.

Luck, Tim

[Dennis]

Best is Forester micrometer seater, and the forester FL sizing die

+1

[GaCop]

Best is Forester micrometer seater, and the forester FL sizing die

+1

+2

[Senderofan]

Best is Forester micrometer seater, and the forester FL sizing die

+1

+2

+3

[Nor Cal Mikie]

Forster Precision Bushing Bump dies. Size the neck, bump the shoulder as needed and throw in a body size when the bolt starts gettintg snug on opening and closing and you're good to go.
Swap bushings and with the same die and you can do 22 BR, 6mmBR, 6.5BR, 7mmBR and 30 BR. Havn't tried in with anything smaller, "yet". ;D Also works on my 6.8 BR Wildcat with no problems. ;)

[ourway77]

Mike that really makes sense I have almost all of those calibers and dies for each. I could have saved a ton of dough going the route you suggested. Thanks Lou

[Nor Cal Mikie]

I've tried most all brand of dies and after trying the Forster PBD, I don't bother to look back. Don't mess with a good thing. ;)

[k80skeet]

I bought a set of Redding dies when I first had my 6BR built and used it (3) times to resize the cases before last firing and sent the cases to Harrell's he made me a bushing die to match my chamber and have't used anything else. He charges $70.00 for a custom die made to your chamber a lot cheaper than Redding Bushing die in my opinion a whole lot better. But to each his own. I use a Forester Micro die for seating.

[Nor Cal Mikie]

I use RCBS Compitition seater dies for everything I load for. Pick them up used (if I can find them) then swap the internal parts to fit the caliber I'am after. Drill the seating stems deeper to work with the VLD bullets. So far, no problems. 8)