Alternative dies and use .

I don't want this to devolve into that serves no purpose and just makes it harder later , its stupid, etc . If it's stupid and works for me it's not stupid and if it makes a difference on target it's useful.

Sometimes cruising the various www forums and FB we run across stuff we need . Ok we don't need it but it's useful. We the old codgers have lots of useful stuff that took sometimes years to figure out we had a use for it .

I don't max loads .
I live 5 decades and hunted 4 of them with a minimum energy requirement of 22 or larger caliber with 1000 ftlb at 100 yd for a big game rifle cartridge and a minimum case length of 1.280 of 24 or larger caliber for a primary pistol . I won't go into how quickly that can become really stupid and require field demonstrations .
I load mostly cast bullets .
I load for lots of old high mileage junk that is simply not even close to sloppy specs .

Nope this isn't about any of that but rather a preface for the discussion of dies and why I use what I use the way I use them .

222&223 probably not far 22-250 .
I have a FL die sets , no small base .
Frankly 222 is a PITA to form from 223 . Which is why I have a 256 Win Mag step die to bump shoulders . I have a supply of correct 222 now so it's not a big deal anymore. I gave $25 for the 256 dies and a 222 form die is like $60 . I have a neck die for the 222 but the dies and chamber are a good match .

257 Roberts and 25-06' . You just 7×57 or 270 through the size die and trim it right? That's great unless you have a 7×57 too . While more available it's not common like 30-06' which doesn't have to be trimmed for 25-06' . Fortunately I also have enough of both correct 25s that it's not likely to be an issue any time soon . There was a 6.5 Arisaka acquired because so many were "fixed" dies were tracked down for assorted fixes as well as the OM . 1 of those sets was a 6.5-257 AI . Well shooting cast the .257+ neck ID left by the 6.5-257 and spacious shoulder makes it a perfect neck die and with the .255 finish dia expander installed it's perfect for the .259 dia cast in both rifles .

The 6.5s are extremes . The 264 WM I have a 458WM body die as I found it would correct converted brass easier than the 264 FL . I have a Forster Bonanza bench rest set with the In line seater and Unique size die that will support the shoulder for bump control. Cool set . Not needed for the rifle in question but it does save considerable case movement . 264 WM is probably nearly $70/20 loaded on the shelf and over 100 per 50 new brass .
The 6.5×50 SR is a different fish all together brass cost is about the same but with the rise of the 6.5 CM I have a great source of almost correct marked brass and having a big press it's not hard to swage the heads down as most of the bulge goes into the large extractor groove. The body isn't bad from either the Lyman or RCBS sets . The bore however presents another issue. The groove is .270 and the Metford lands are only .265 so even the correct .268 bullets could skid over the lands . It's possible that a correct.268 monolithic copper would work better , but I'm not spending $1.50 ea 50 at a time and since there's only 3-4 out of print 6.5's with .268 groove Barnes probably doesn't run them . It shoots good as new with a .272 paper patch or cast so I have spare 6.8 expander in the RCBS set which is set up to short size only down to kiss the shoulder OD . A little stone and polish and it gives me .269 and .270+ depending on the state of annealing .

7mm . Unfortunately my Savage has put me in the dreaded new chamber reamer , last die reamer cuts . So I have a small sizer and a fat chamber. My solution came in the form of a 284 Win set . I have a loose Lee sizer I'll be trying on the next 100 after fire form . The necks are landing at .282 so I can live with that as my cast only needs to be .2855 .
Yep it's neck only nope at least through factory new fire form and 1x it doesn't seem to be a problem.
The 7×6.8 has a custom expander in the Lee 6.8 die it's hard on the necks but so far annealing has a 100% save record .

30s .
The 06' isn't too fussy and now that I have it down to 2 it's just a matter of having 2 sizers one set up to just hit the the fat shoulder and one set for the almost match chamber with a dedicated shell holder.
No 308 but the 30-30 gets neck sized with the 308 sizer , cast at low pressure in a bolt gun . I have a set of Lyman and CH 30-30 dies so when I get to the handy rifle I'll be able to set up a set for each and still use the 308 die if desired .

The 7.7×58 Arisaka presents and interesting circumstance not unlike the 6.5 . Fortunately there are still some sources for the 8×57J .318 dia bullets if I wanted to go there . I don't but a .318 cast or paper patched seems to be working. The Hornady 8×57 neck die with a 30 call decapping pin is perfect leaving the necks at .316 in deference to the old .318 8mm bore which functionally makes the 7.7×58 an 8×58 wildcat , unfortunately the 8×57 FL makes a too fat shoulder. Conversion brass is plentiful and new brass will cam in with a firm hand .
I have a x39 that shares the fat bore condition a .318 expander does it up with short sizing.


The 32 Rem has a CH custom die set it was $15 difference between it and a special order RCBS set . I slip in the 38/357 die spacer for neck sizing .

358 Winchester . I have a neck die coming , sizing left me in a similar place as the 7×57 . Unfortunately when I got the new Lyman set I sold off the Lee sets that were cut a little bigger .

The first set of 2nd hand Redding 45-70 dies had no expander but an extra RCBS FL . I borrowed and expander from the 458 WM . It was shortly replaced with a Lee through powder die . I eventually bought a set of RCBS dies in the end I ended up using the Redding set with the RCBS expander and seater with the Redding used as a separate crimp die .

The Lee 460 S&W set is great for the 45 Raptor but the chamber was cut with a 45 ACP reamer .

The pistols are almost all steel dies now that allow me more flexibility than the carbide dies .
The 45 Colts for example sized the brass from the .484 Ruger and .492 Rossi brass down to .468 then back up to .479 to take the .454 dia bullets. Again I short size to get a .450 ID mouth and keep the carbine and pistol brass separated.

45 ACP forced me to add a taper crimp die to the sets . Fat range gave me a use for the Lee FCD I gutted it and used it as a push through sizer for the base parts not within reach of the FL carbide dies . The taper crimp is and old Bonanza, now Forster and presents a straight taper from .490 to .460 .

My system probably isn't perfect but it allows a lot of flexibility to load for stuff that's both minimum spec and way past anything resembling established numbers .