243 LBC DIES

G

GLShooter

Active member
I got a cal from CH4D yesterday and they have finally finished a run of 243 LBC dies. Sizers are right at $77.00 and the full sizer/seater set up is around $107.00. These dies were made up using Ritch's LBC chamber design prints that I sent them.

Call them direct as these will not be listed on their site. They have 9 sets on the shelf. Guess who got #10..LOL

Greg
 
Greg - what do you think, if any, the advantage of the CH4D set may be over a Redding Type S Bushing 6.5 Grendel Sizer with a .269” bushing and a Redding Standard 6ppc Seater with a VLD stem??
 
Originally Posted By: VarminterrorGreg - what do you think, if any, the advantage of the CH4D set may be over a Redding Type S Bushing 6.5 Grendel Sizer with a .269” bushing and a Redding Standard 6ppc Seater with a VLD stem??

The advantage is to some people they just hate trying to learn about bushings. I personally use both styles on my 6X6.8 both Type S and Hornady standard style. I use a regular Hornady generic 6 MM to seat my bullets though I've added the Micrometer Seating Stem. There is something to be said for the one stroke convenience.

I will admit the first time I used a bushing style I was making 20 LBC and that my friend was alearning curve. Now I have around 30 different bushings from 17 up to 38 so mixing and matching is no big deal for me now. I can say though that now that I have standard style 6X6.8 and 22X6.8 dies, the 22 was a Redding custom BTW, I can crank out 20X6.8 PDQ and I have enough 6.5 Type S sizers I can mount them up on a turret press and flat crank them out.

Greg
 
That’s largely what I do when necking down. Have a Lee turret meant just for that - bushing dies plus a Sinclair expander - just a brass factory. If I need to neck in multiple steps, multiple bushing dies. If I’m going up instead of down, I can put multiple expanders in front of a bushing die, with a final expander. Really handy and fast.

But yeah - $107 isn’t a bad price and I’d get another set if it were worth it, but I’m very happy with my current 243LBC set up so far.
 
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Agree with Greg on one die for each cartridge.
I'd screw it up at some point, with the wrong bushing.
Don't have near as many cartridges as some (Greg), but enough to be problematic (10).
 
If you're going to shoot a lot of 243 LBC I would highly recommend dies. The 6 x 6. 8 Dies are just so much simpler than bushings.
 
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I've been blessed that every 6.8 and 6.5 variant I have share a common head space. I just leave my two bushing dies in place and can load from 20 on up to the standard neck.

Greg
 
I’m reducing how many rounds I load for, but it’s still a long list. My wife counted 41 turret heads on my “active rack” this winter, more dies aren’t cost prohibitive, and if I pick up another 243LBC barrel, I’d buy another set.

Having matched bodies/chamber headspaces would be slick. Swap bushings and mandrels and go to town!
 
Originally Posted By: varminter .223If you're going to shoot a lot of 243 LBC I would highly recommend dyes. The 6 x 6. 8 Dies are just so much simpler than bushings.

Simpler than bushings? How so?
 
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I had issues when using the bushing die for my 6 x 6.8. The issue might have been with the federal brass though. After switching to Hornady with the Hornady dies I never had an issue and never went back to the type s die. Nothing to remember with neck tension etc. Just put the die in a set shoulder set back and away you go.
 
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Unless you have extremely thin necks, the neck tension will be the same across all brands of brass. Neck tension in a standard FL die is set by the expander ball not the neck portion of the die. The downside is we *might be* working our necks a little bit more than in a bushing setup but so what. Brass is garbage from loose pockets usually well before any neck splits. In fact, I have never had a 6.8 neck split. Ymmv
 
Originally Posted By: midwestpredatorUnless you have extremely thin necks, the neck tension will be the same across all brands of brass. Neck tension in a standard FL die is set by the expander ball not the neck portion of the die. The downside is we *might be* working our necks a little bit more than in a bushing setup but so what. Brass is garbage from loose pockets usually well before any neck splits. In fact, I have never had a 6.8 neck split. Ymmv
Well said.
As I stated before when I switch to Hornady brass all my issues went away so I no longer look or worried about other brass. This combination works good for me and when my brass is wore out I will buy new. With any luck it will be lost out in some once coyote infested area anyway.
 
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Sure sounds great to say the neck tension is the same, but it is absolutely not true.

A 13thou neck batch of Hornady on my bench ran through a .269” bushing would yield a slip fit of 0.243” on a 6mm bullet. The 14.5 thou lot of Lapua beside it yields 3 thou neck tension.

It’s really that simple. Dies push on the outside, if they yield the same OD on the necks, the ID’s will not be the same for different neck thicknesses.
 
If you run an expander ball back through the neck it will leave the same size diameter ho oki e and when you push a bullet in it the tension will be the same irregardless of neck thickness.

Greg
 
Originally Posted By: VarminterrorSure sounds great to say the neck tension is the same, but it is absolutely not true.

A 13thou neck batch of Hornady on my bench ran through a .269” bushing would yield a slip fit of 0.243” on a 6mm bullet. The 14.5 thou lot of Lapua beside it yields 3 thou neck tension.

It’s really that simple. Dies push on the outside, if they yield the same OD on the necks, the ID’s will not be the same for different neck thicknesses.

And that is the exact downfall of bushings! When your running bushing dies *without and expander button* you have to account for neck wall thickness. Brand A brass vs brand B brass will often require the use of a different bushing to get the same neck tension.

In a standard FL die, and even in a bushing die *when using an expander button* your neck tension is set by the diameter of the expander. I don't care if the die or bushing sizes the neck down 10 thou, if your expander is .240 diameter... Guess what... Your inside neck diameter will be. 240 or very close to it depending on brass hardness.

So to my point, with a full length standard die set virtually all brands of brass will mic the same inside diameter +/- a small amount. Now if you turned necks down for 13 thou thick to say 8 thou thick, you will probably have trouble getting any neck tension because the brass wall thickness is so much thinner than what it was intended to be resulting in the neck portion of the die being too big to properly size down the neck which will make it so the expander ball cannot do its job and open the necks back up to the right diameter.


Typical off the shelf dies for something like a 223 are often times hard on the brass because they size the necks down alot and then bring them back up to size with the button. What yiu have to remember with these custom made dies is the reamers wer cut to spec based on the chamber print used to cut the barrels and on actual fired casings from such barrels. These dies, Hornady in particular, don't over work the brass nearly as much as a standard Sammi off the shelf die might
 
Originally Posted By: GLShooterIf you run an expander ball back through the neck it will leave the same size diameter ho oki e and when you push a bullet in it the tension will be the same irregardless of neck thickness.

Greg

and that's how you say the same thing with less wind than I used
lol.gif
 
I agree but the weak point of standard dies is you get what you get on tension. I run some guns at 0.0015 and others at 0.006. I want flexibility and dealing with various neck thickness is not that problematic.

Greg
 
For sure, pros and cons any way you slice it. Bushings are not that hard to figure out. I'm not into BR and in my expirementing I never gained accuracy from changing neck tension. I havent tried it enough to nullify others experience but enough for me to decide I'll throw a standard style die set in my cart first. Even better if I can have them custom made to my chamber.
 
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