Which 223 dies should I get?

First and foremost, I have one stipulation, the dies that you recommend should be carried by Cabelas. Why you ask? Because I have $100 in gift cards to Cabelas and I don't know what to do with it because I don't shop much at Cabelas because of their prices. Right now, I load for 308 and 9mm with Dillon dies, but since I have the gift cards, I am open to all other dies that carried by Cabelas. What brand do you recommend? TIA

I've never had any issues with RCBS...

I'm a total noob but the Lee die's seem good enough to me. The sizing die does well with a bit of polishing inside, and I love the factory crimp die.

That is a loaded question if I ever heard one.

the Lee dies are cheap, I bought them initially and didn't care for the rubber o-rings used in them; so much so that I never even bothered to load anything with them

RCBS - for AR's the small based sizer die really works well and the small base set is a good solid deal overall.

The RCBS AR dies with the taper crimp seater (and small base sizer) should be good if you don't want to trim everything every time.

Forster neck sizing die works great but my overall favorite to use is the Redding Competition set, I use this exclusively for my varmint style AR and get exceedingly good results. Using the micrometer adjustment allows repeatability when loading several different bullets in one sitting without monkeying too much with the die settings.

I have all these sets in 223, if I were to only have one set and were on a budget the standard RCBS (bolt gun), RCBS Small base (AR) or the standard Redding set (Bolt) would be in my choices. For a precision rig, get the Redding Competition and you will not be disappointed at all.

I don't have the hornady dies in 223 but do in other calibers, overall they are a well made product if you are willing to work with their quirky floating seater. It works fine and makes good loads but has a tendency to bind a little from time to time.

Now that I have many rounds of 223 under my belt I would recommend a good solid press and RCBS or Redding dies with lots of lube, always make sure you lube well; for some reason every one I know has had stuck case issues with 223, regardless of die brand, at one time or another.

Lc

While Dillon's decap / resize die is great with the carbide expander button, their bullet seating die needs a wrench to adjust which I find a pain. For .223, .308, and 30-06, I've settled on a Dillon decap / resize die plus a Lee Pacesetter 3-die set (I don't use their steel button decap / resize die at all). Even buying both the Lee set and the Dillon die they are still cheaper than Dillon's set and you can adjust the bullet seating depth by hand.

I use RCBS full length sizing dies for .223/5.56 nato. There customer service is great as well.

For rifle I like Redding dies myself... I especially like the competition seating die...

I've never tried the Redding Comp die set, but the Forster Ultra set is the best I've ever used.

This.

I concur..........." There customer service is great as well" ...........The BEST!

Sir, FWIW I concur that RCBS customer service is great, but so is Dillon, Redding, and Forester/Bonanza. I've customer service experience with all of them and will say without equivocation they're all just as good.

Having said that, and with first hand experience with dies from all of the above including Hornady, my choice for a rifle cartridge is the Redding Competition and type "S" die set. I have the Ultra die set from Forester for .308 Win, and Redding Competition sets for two other rifle cartridges and can say that the quality and features of the two different makers are equally as good. The main difference that I can think of is that Forester doesn't have a carbide expander ball option like Redding does as far as I know.

Other rifle cartridges that I load that I don't use in competition or do reloading in small lots I have both Dillon and RCBS dies. The only rifle cartridge that I reload that I have Dillon dies is .30 carbine which is not a bottle neck cartridge and reloading is more like that done for a pistol cartridge. RCBS dies are good, they're the brand I started with, just that there are better albeit more expensive options. But once you recognize what makes one die better than another the price becomes irrelevant from my perspective. JMHO, 7zero1.

I've dealt with the customer service departments at RCBS, Dillon, Hornady, and Forster. Forster was the only one I was mildly dissatisfied with. The few times when I've called RCBS, Dillon, and Hornady with a broken part, they've replaced it for free, no questions asked. I've only contacted Forster once, earlier this year. They replaced my broken decapping pin for the retail cost with free shipping. I don't mind paying because I did break it, but I couldn't help thinking if I were dealing with RCBS or Dillon it would be free. The last time I contacted Dillon it was to BUY parts that needed to be replaced on a 550 I had bought USED. The Dillon customer service rep wouldn't let me pay. That's amazing customer service and I'll happily deal with Dillon and RCBS because of this level of service.

With that being said, I really do like the Forster bullet seating dies. The RCBS and Forster re-sizing dies are about the same. I do like that the Forster has it's case mouth expander higher up on the decapping pin so there's no noticeable hitch when you remove the case from the die.

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