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Which Die Set for 300 Blackout?

Jeremiah Johnson

Jeremiah Johnson

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Oct 19, 2019
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Texas
Hello,
I have a Dillon 550C. What die set would you recommend for 300 Blackout? Reloading for my hog hunting rigs. Typically run Lehigh Controlled Chaos 115 grain.
I appreciate the help.
IMG_5927.jpg
 
It depends on if you are ever going to form brass. If there is even a remote possibility of that stay away from Lee. For some reason it doesn't reform 223 brass very well at all.

My favorite dies are mighty armory and Forster. For a progressive press I would go Mighty Armory all day every day.
 
alamo5000 said:
It depends on if you are ever going to form brass. If there is even a remote possibility of that stay away from Lee. For some reason it doesn't reform 223 brass very well at all.

My favorite dies are mighty armory and Forster. For a progressive press I would go Mighty Armory all day every day.
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Weird. I’ve formed a few thousand with Lee dies. No issues. The 300blk dies and assorted collet dies are the only Lee products I like.
 
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Aggie1819 said:
Hello,
I have a Dillon 550C. What die set would you recommend for 300 Blackout? Reloading for my hog hunting rigs. Typically run Lehigh Controlled Chaos 115 grain.
I appreciate the help.
Click to expand...
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you might call and ask if have Carbide if you want .
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30-221 Blackout.jpg

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vinniedelpino said:
Weird. I’ve formed a few thousand with Lee dies. No issues. The 300blk dies and assorted collet dies are the only Lee products I like.
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Johnny's Reloading Bench has a whole series on it. There are other websites that document it as well.

For whatever reason when I tried to form blackout brass from 223 it never worked for me. I could take a bullet and just drop it straight into the case. When I switched to Forster the problem went away.

I'm not casting shade on Lee because it's Lee. I used them for years in all sorts of calibers. But for that application it would not do what I was asking it to do. I'm definitely not the only one. It's documented all over the place.
 
alamo5000 said:
Johnny's Reloading Bench has a whole series on it. There are other websites that document it as well.

For whatever reason when I tried to form blackout brass from 223 it never worked for me. I could take a bullet and just drop it straight into the case. When I switched to Forster the problem went away.

I'm not casting shade on Lee because it's Lee. I used them for years in all sorts of calibers. But for that application it would not do what I was asking it to do. I'm definitely not the only one. It's documented all over the place.
Click to expand...
I'm not doubting you. Just glad I'm not experiencing any problems.
 
Aggie1819 said:
So far we have Redding, Forster, Mighty Armory, Lee and to avoid Lee.

I was looking at the Redding Set. https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1018047141?pid=680890
Click to expand...
It a few bucks Cheaper if you get this 3-die set .at the same dealer you looking at in your Link
It's ALL in the market labeling but , all is the same ... / 30-221 remington / 300 whisper / 300 Blackout .

300 Whisper . . $ 105 .75 . . 3-die set .
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1018047141?pid=244465
.
 
I would definitely choose Forster over Redding. Redding has an ancient reputation of being the best, but having a Redding micrometer seater in 45 acp and a Forster micrometer seater in 300 blackout, the Forster has better fit and finish. There is a thread here where people were asking which die between Redding, Forster, and Whidden and most people were reporting less runout with Forster compared to Redding (and to stay away from Whidden).
 
You can do much worse than a Dillon carbide sizer for 300 blk if you are running it on a progressive in one toolhead. If you are running multiple toolheads, it doesn't matter, but the increased slickness will help when you are charging powder on the next station.
 
Choid said:
You can do much worse than a Dillon carbide sizer for 300 blk if you are running it on a progressive in one toolhead. If you are running multiple toolheads, it doesn't matter, but the increased slickness will help when you are charging powder on the next station.
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They are sold out. I went there first.
 
Odysseus1911 said:
I would definitely choose Forster over Redding. Redding has an ancient reputation of being the best, but having a Redding micrometer seater in 45 acp and a Forster micrometer seater in 300 blackout, the Forster has better fit and finish. There is a thread here where people were asking which die between Redding, Forster, and Whidden and most people were reporting less runout with Forster compared to Redding (and to stay away from Whidden).
Click to expand...
Not really seeing them available right now
 
Aggie1819 said:
They are sold out. I went there first.
Click to expand...
I replaced mine with a Mighty Armory sizing die. I don't really like the MA pistol dies, for a number of reasons, but the rifle sizing dies are great. That said, they are not as slick as the carbide, but I do case prep and loading on two different toolheads, so it doesn't really matter. They are definitely good dies.

A lot of dies not made from progressive presses are going to have narrow funnels that can get caught up if your indexing isn't right on. Shouldn't matter in station one, though. As far as Redding, Forster, Whidden etc, they are all good, but they are untreated dies, so they are going to require more lube than the MA or the Dillon carbide.

FWIW, I adore the Redding comp seater in 45 ACP, because the stem is built to press down on the lip of LSWC bullets, so even though there are better pistol dies out there for some things, there is no better seater for the bullets I shoot.
 
Choid said:
FWIW, I adore the Redding comp seater in 45 ACP, because the stem is built to press down on the lip of LSWC bullets, so even though there are better pistol dies out there for some things, there is no better seater for the bullets I shoot.
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I only load JHPs for our 45s, but I can certainly see where that would be desirable for LSWCs.
 
Odysseus1911 said:
I only load JHPs for our 45s, but I can certainly see where that would be desirable for LSWCs.
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Yeah, it sits right on the shoulder. I think it was badly designed for today, but perfectly designed for back when everybody shot those bullets.
 
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.....if you are just reloading, any of the brands will work fine, including those by Dillon.

...the issues reported with Lee dies early on during the advent of 300BLK dealt with the case web not being sized down enough when forming .223/556 cases to 300BLK. It was not across the board on all brands of barrels, was more related to individual barrels chambers. Compounding it was Lee's response that their dies were not designed/made for forming. For those that encountered the issue, a FL/SB die set resolved the problem. Many mistakenly mis-diagnosed improper shoulder bump/forming as a case web issue. A good tool to avoid that is the Sheridan slotted gauge ;)



.
 
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I tried a bunch and I'm a huge fan of forester. It's a great size (but so is RCBS small base), but that micrometer seat die is the bees knees for this caliber. 300 probably has the widest range of any caliber for bullet profiles. Dialing in to to switch bullet types is a breeze with that thing. I keep 1-2 dummies around for each bullet. Back off the mic and jam in a dummy, then dial down until it just touches the bullet. Back off a quarter turn, and load the first real round. Measure and adjust just once by the micro and you're all set for volume loading.
 
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Choid said:
I replaced mine with a Mighty Armory sizing die. I don't really like the MA pistol dies, for a number of reasons, but the rifle sizing dies are great. That said, they are not as slick as the carbide, but I do case prep and loading on two different toolheads, so it doesn't really matter. They are definitely good dies.

A lot of dies not made from progressive presses are going to have narrow funnels that can get caught up if your indexing isn't right on. Shouldn't matter in station one, though. As far as Redding, Forster, Whidden etc, they are all good, but they are untreated dies, so they are going to require more lube than the MA or the Dillon carbide.

FWIW, I adore the Redding comp seater in 45 ACP, because the stem is built to press down on the lip of LSWC bullets, so even though there are better pistol dies out there for some things, there is no better seater for the bullets I shoot.
Click to expand...
I had terrible issues with a redding comp seater in 40. I kept getting inconsistent COAL, even with flat nosed bullets. I removed the spring from the die and it got a little better (WTF right there). In the end I got a hornady seat die and put a micrometer on it, and I'm getting much better results.

I got good results with the comp seater die for 223, no issues at all really. I did get a forster micro to replace it, though. I like how on a forester you dial in what your caliper tells you and you're done. But the comp seater from redding for 223 was never "bad" like the one for .40 was.
 
With handgun seating dies a lot of it has to do with how well your bullet and the seating stem match up. If they don't, you can get fucked.
 
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