7mm Rem Mag Dies, which Ones???

[jcmckinney1]

I have the below components and wanted your professional opinions on reloading dies. I have researched several types of dies and the pro's and cons of each. But am not sure what is best. I plan on shooting out to 1,000 yds for animals, maybe more on paper/steel. Thanks again for all your knowledge and assistance. I would prefer a matched die set for body, micro bullet seating, and neck sizing.

What should I use:
Full Length or Collet
Lee Collet die
Larry Willis Dies
Forester dies
Competition dies
Redding Body Die
Bullet Seater???

Components:
Caliber: 7mm Rem Mag
Action: Stiller Tac 300
Barrel: 26" Obermeyer 1 : 8.75
Bullet: Berger 168 gr. Hunting VLD's
Powder: H-1000
Starting load of 69 grs. and will work up till I see pressure signs or around 3,000 fps, which ever comes first.

 

[woods]

Lee Collet
Redding Body Die
Redding Competition Seater

 

[Sully2]

Nothing wrong with starting out using Lee dies..including the collet die and should or if the need arises that you need something "better".....you can oil up the Lee's and pack them away for another day.

 

[jcmckinney1]

Thanks for the comments. Any others???

 

[MudRunner2005]

Why have you not listed RCBS?

 

[g0rd0]

lee sells a 3 die set, collet, fl, and seat. I use this set with a rcbs
13649 - GOLD MEDAL SEAT DIE 7MM REM MAG

this seat die has a slot for placeing the bullet inside the die from the front not the bottom, it also has a micrometer depth seat

 

[wisdeerkiller]

get a competition die and a full length size die.

don't mess with neck sizing. I did in my 308 and had a lot of problems

 

[MudRunner2005]

I necksize for all my bolt-action rifles and I have no issues.

 

[jcmckinney1]

Thanks for all the input. Ordered the Forster comp die set

 

[Clark]

That Forster FL die will arrive with ~ 0.302" neck.

I would send that die body back to Forster and have them hone it out on one of their Hardinge collet lathes to 0.307".

Custom Machining Services | Custom Case Trimmer Pilots | Custom Case Trimmer Collets
CUSTOM neck honing of Forster FULL LENGTH SIZING or NECK SIZING DIE to your specification. We custom hone the inside neck diameter by using a diamond stoning process. We enlarge the inside diameter to prevent over-sizing of the case neck due to thick neck walls. You may require this service for two reasons: 1) If you use some brands of brass cases, such as Norma or Lapua, which have thicker neck walls. 2) If you do not intend to outside neck turn case necks that have thickened after repeated firings. Please specify desired inside neck diameter. Note: 1) No more than .008" stock removal from your existing die neck diameter is possible. 2) Honing is done in increments of one half thousandth of an inch (.0005"), meaning that your specified inside diameter must be either.XXX0" or .XXX5".
$12.00 plus actual return shipping cost & insurance Please allow 1-3 weeks.

I have sent (8) FL die bodies back to them.
I did not send my Forster 7mmRM FL die, becuase I have a Bonanaza FL die that someone, it seems, already sent it back to get honed out to .307".

I am measuring the pin gauge that is a GO.
Forster measures what is a GO.
Neck bushing are measured with the highest NO GO.
Since I complained about that, Forster has gone to the half thousands system.

 

[jcmckinney1]

Thanks for the info. I will measure the outside neck of a fired case and see where it lands.

 

[Clark]

You want the inside diameter of the neck of the FL die to be hone to .002" smaller than the smallest outside diameter of your loaded ammo.

The fired brass from your chamber is something else.

 

[Depth Afield]

I have a Forster Ultra Micrometer Seater Die in my setup I am putting together for soonish reloading of 168 Bergers. Is this something that I should be concerned about? Or is it just the comp dies?

(sorry for the somewhat thread necromancy)

 

[Garycrow]

The honing process they're referring to is for the forster bench rest full length sizing die. You can have Forster hone the neck diameter of the full length die to .002-.003" under your loaded ammo neck diameter and then remove the expander ball from the decapping stem. Basically you turn the die into a non-removable bushing die.

Forster makes two different seater dies, the benchrest seater and the ultra micrometer seater die. They're the same thing except the ultra has a micrometer head on it so you can see how much your seating depth changes on the micrometer top. However, the honing process described above is for the FL die, nothing to do with the seater.