Which dies? 300 WBY newbie

[Autorotate]

I'm sure this topic has been beat to death...but still looking for some direction.

Which dies....looks like Forester and Redding are very popular here...but I'm overwhelmed on all the choices.....Competition vs. Bushings vs. Neck sizing vs. Full Length.

Innovative technologies @ Innovative Technologies - Reloading Equipment looks like they've got a great product for belted magnums.

Full length resizing...vs. neck sizing...I've read about the difference, but would like to make the right investment upfront in a set of dies.

I know how this usually goes...you go through a couple of generations of equipment before you end up with what you really want..but if any of you could help just get me pointed in the right direction it would be appreciated.

Gun: MK V 300 WBY stock 26" #2 barrel
Press: XL650
Use: 600-800 yd Deer/Elk hunting rifle
Shooter: First time reloader that has watch over the shoulder of a few reloaders over the years, looking to take the plunge and start myself now.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

 

[Autorotate]

Forester Bench Rest Ultra Seater Die No Go with Dillon XL650

I'll reply to my own post to share with others.

The Forester Bench Rest Ultra Seater Die will not work properly with the Dillon XL650.

Bench Rest Ultra Micrometer Seater Die

The Forester documentation has you adjust the die until you compress the Die Chamber (this part prodrues approx .5" from the body of the the Die Sleeve) with shell plate. The problem is the Auto Indexing shell plate will attempt to index the cartridge with the seated bullet to the next station before it clears the die.

Dillon and Foresters answer is that this die will not work properly with the Auto Index feature of the XL650.

If you disable the Auto Index, the die works fine.

Thought I'd share.

 

[Longshot38]

Personally I like Hornady dies. From everything that I have seen lately they seem to be the best bang for the buck. I've been so impressed by them that I am working on converting all of my dies over from RCBS to Hornadays. But this is just my opinion.

It all boils down to this. All dies (at least in theory) work the same. I have used Lee, RCBS, and Hornaday and all of them do the job they are supposed to however I have found that Hornaday gets you the most bang for your buck. Most of there dies run just over $30 and then you can get a micometer seater added on for just over $20. So for around $50 you can get a set of competition type dies.

 

[rg1]

Weatherby used to sell their own dies. Whichever set of dies you decide on you may want to get a 4 die set with a regular sizing die plus a neck size die. I haven't gone to any bushing dies myself so I can't comment on them. Redding makes a really nice die set. I do like the Hornady seating die with it's sliding alignment sleeve. If you full-length size the Weatherby belted case each time you'll likely only get 3-4 loadings before case stretching just in front of the belt makes it unsafe due to the possibility of case separation. I highly recommend a case gauge to set your sizing dies to only push the shoulder of the belted case back to the minimum that it will chamber. Partial full length sizing will save your brass and prevent a separated case with the belted magnum case. In other words, treat the belted magnum case like a regular case and set your dies so that the headspace or fit in the chamber is adjusted by sizing the shoulder back. Also closely inspect the inside of fired Wby cases for stretching just in front of the belt with the bent sharpened wire feeler method.
My 1980ish Weatherby die set has the ability to neck size or full length size plus it has an in-line bullet seater die with a window to insert the bullet into the sliding alignment sleeve. Also, if you're just starting, Remington brass has less internal volume than Weatherby so adjust your loads down when using RP brass versus Wby.