Custom dies question

[odoylerules]

Hey guys, looking for a little insight from those of you that have had custom dies made. Basically...was it worth it? Did you see accuracy gains, or extended brass life etc?
I understand it's best to have them made from actual fired brass, rather than a reamer schematic.

 

[odoylerules]

Anyone had custom dies made?

 

[Alex Wheeler]

There can be accuracy in a die that fits your chamber. However, these days there are so many off the shelf dies that work well. Measure the amount your die squeezes your brass. I like to see .002-.003 at the shoulder and about .001" at the base on a hunting rifle. Some custom dies size the case very little, I am not a fan of this even for Benchrest.

 

[Rich Coyle]

Anyone had custom dies made?

I've had lots of custom dies made, but they were for wildcats. Therefore I can't tell you if they are better than other dies.

I did order Forester full length die for both a .270 Win and a 6.5 Creedmoor. I had the necks honed to .003" under neck size when holding a bullet. They have virtually zero runout without the bullet. I was using a factory Hornady seater for the .270 and getting lots of runout. I mean like .010"-.012". I switched to a Lee seater and reduced the runout to generally .001"-.003". I switched from a regular Hornady factory die to a Hornady micrometer die and achieved the same improved runout.

 

[waltercrouse]

I've had lots of custom dies made, but they were for wildcats. Therefore I can't tell you if they are better than other dies.

I did order Forester full length die for both a .270 Win and a 6.5 Creedmoor. I had the necks honed to .003" under neck size when holding a bullet. They have virtually zero runout without the bullet. I was using a factory Hornady seater for the .270 and getting lots of runout. I mean like .010"-.012". I switched to a Lee seater and reduced the runout to generally .001"-.003". I switched from a regular Hornady factory die to a Hornady micrometer die and achieved the same improved runout.

I ordered a Redding bushing die in 308 win. The bushings come in different diameters and you order the size you want. I also prefer Forester dies and you use the internals for RCBS dies and or use RCBS internals for the Forester dies. The internals are for Foresters are whimpy and not very thick in diameter.

 

[Mikecr]

A custom die is one piece within a plan, like a racing cam is one piece in a plan.
No plan, no gains.

 

[waltercrouse]

A custom die is one piece within a plan, like a racing cam is one piece in a plan.
No plan, no gains.

I work with a lot Ackley cases 243, 250,308,270 ,30'06 and 8MM. I neck size and using oversized dies. For instance 270 win-270 wby, 8mm mauser- 8mm rem mag, The larger dies are machined to length of the case I require to neck size. These are usually RCBS dies that I have machined to length. The 308 win is Redding bushing neck sizer die. The 243 win and 250 sav are dies from RCBS ,are made to order from the factory. I think you would call these custom?