6.5 Creedmoor - RCBS Dies vs Hornady Match Grade New Dimension Dies

[steinmaster]

I just purchased my first 6.5 Creedmoor and am reloading. I purchased a set of RCBS full-length resize die and seating die. Hornady sells match-grade dies that have interchangeable neck sizer bushings. My question is what's the difference between the two and am I going to get that much more benefit from the Hornady match dies, which are much more expensive. I'm willing to spend the money on the Hornady dies if it is going to improve my reload accuracy. I don't want to buy something for just a marketing gimmick. Doesn't RCBS reloading dies resize the neck to the proper size?

Second question is: If I decide to purchase the Hornady match-grade dies, what size of neck sizer bushing do you get for 6.5 Creedmoor? There are many different sizes.

 

[flashhole]

Do you turn your case necks to a uniform thickness today?

If no, you will not get an accuracy benefit from the bushing die but you may extend case life a bit. Any accuracy benefits would be attributed to NOT pulling the expander ball up through the case neck (minimizing runout) but w/o turning the necks to make them all uniform improved accuracy attributed to the bushing die is a crap shoot.

If yes, you would be better off having the RCBS sizing die honed to the appropriate diameter. It's like have a bushing die that does not have the flexibility of changing bushings. It becomes a dedicated die to that gun with that brass.

As to the bushing size, that depends entirely on your guns chamber. What are the average inside and outside dimensions of a fired case (if the necks aren't uniform "turned" there can be quite a bit of variation in the measurements). You want the bushing to downsize the neck ID .002" - .003" for consistent neck tension.

I do not recommend purchasing Hornady dies, regardless of your intent.

 

[desert dog]

I have had bad luck with both Hornady and RCBS dies. I bought a set of Hornady match Dies for 6.5CM based off of some good reviews on SH, and the fact that our local gun shop has a huge selection of Hornady dies. The expander on the FL die broke after about 40 loads, and Hornady quickly replaced the whole set with a new one. The new set's FL die was severely out of spec, so was also worthless. I ended up getting the Redding set and it has been absolutely perfect through thousands of loads. My best friend recently had problems with his new Hornady 308 Die being grossly out of spec as well.

I like a lot of Hornady's products, but can not personally recommend their dies.

 

[Rob01]

You do not need to turn necks to use bushing dies. I have used bushing dies for years and have never turned a neck. It helps controlling the neck tension.

Bushing size also has nothing to do with the chamber of the rifle. The only way the chamber comes into the mix is if you have a looser neck and have to size down more than about .005". If you do then a step down neck size is a better option to keep the necks more concentric. My .308 fired cases are .344 and I need to size down to .331 then I size to .339, .335 then down to .331. With the Creedmoor you shouldn't need to do that many if any as my fired cases are around .293 and I size down to .288. Also as mentioned don;t use the expander in bushing dies as it opens up what you are trying to do and can mess with tension.

You can easily get the bushing size needed by measuring the outside neck dimension of a loaded round and subtracting .002-003". I use .002" for my standard cartridges and .003" for my magnums.

 

[steinmaster]

You do not need to turn necks to use bushing dies. I have used bushing dies for years and have never turned a neck. It helps controlling the neck tension.

Bushing size also has nothing to do with the chamber of the rifle. The only way the chamber comes into the mix is if you have a looser neck and have to size down more than about .005". If you do then a step down neck size is a better option to keep the necks more concentric. My .308 fired cases are .344 and I need to size down to .331 then I size to .339, .335 then down to .331. With the Creedmoor you shouldn't need to do that many if any as my fired cases are around .293 and I size down to .288. Also as mentioned don;t use the expander in bushing dies as it opens up what you are trying to do and can mess with tension.

You can easily get the bushing size needed by measuring the outside neck dimension of a loaded round and subtracting .002-003". I use .002" for my standard cartridges and .003" for my magnums.

Thanks for the useful information. Do you recommend a match grade die set brand for a 6.5 Creedmoor? I have an Accurate Ordnance 6.5 CM and want to maximize the accuracy of my reloads using a higher quality die set (other than the basic RCBS set) if it will make a significant difference.

 

[Rob01]

Thanks for the useful information. Do you recommend a match grade die set brand for a 6.5 Creedmoor? I have an Accurate Ordnance 6.5 CM and want to maximize the accuracy of my reloads using a higher quality die set (other than the basic RCBS set) if it will make a significant difference.

Sorry been out of town. A match grade set is always good and will load excellent ammo but honestly I have a standard set of dies from Hornady as that is all they were making back in 2008 when I started with the Creedmoor and they load very accurate ammo.

If you plan on using other brass like the Nosler or just want to tailor your neck tension then I would say get a bushing neck die set as the standard die sets are made for the Hornady brass. Mine give me .002" neck tension with the standard dies. Those are the ones i spoke of above.

 

[RRW]

Sorry been out of town. A match grade set is always good and will load excellent ammo but honestly I have a standard set of dies from Hornady as that is all they were making back in 2008 when I started with the Creedmoor and they load very accurate ammo.

If you plan on using other brass like the Nosler or just want to tailor your neck tension then I would say get a bushing neck die set as the standard die sets are made for the Hornady brass. Mine give me .002" neck tension with the standard dies. Those are the ones i spoke of above.

I can echo what Rob said regarding the Hornady std dies for the CM. I have a set of the std dies as they were the only ones available when I got my CM bbl for my AI. When using the std dies I am shot some 5 rd groups in the .1's and .2's and consistently under 1/2 moa at 100 metres using these dies. I am not going to bother with any of the higher priced dies right now as I honestly don't think I can get any better results than I am getting now.

 

[TreyMeTrey]

You do not need to turn necks to use bushing dies. I have used bushing dies for years and have never turned a neck. It helps controlling the neck tension.

Bushing size also has nothing to do with the chamber of the rifle. The only way the chamber comes into the mix is if you have a looser neck and have to size down more than about .005". If you do then a step down neck size is a better option to keep the necks more concentric. My .308 fired cases are .344 and I need to size down to .331 then I size to .339, .335 then down to .331. With the Creedmoor you shouldn't need to do that many if any as my fired cases are around .293 and I size down to .288. Also as mentioned don;t use the expander in bushing dies as it opens up what you are trying to do and can mess with tension.

You can easily get the bushing size needed by measuring the outside neck dimension of a loaded round and subtracting .002-003". I use .002" for my standard cartridges and .003" for my magnums.

Thanks..Great information for myself as Ima new reloader.