In my haste to get into reloading, I made a bit of a mistake and ordered an Lee RCB die set which I’ve just realised does not contain a neck sizing die, just a FL die.
So, are you able to buy individual dies anywhere or would I need to order an entire new set?
Hehehehe Lee I have a feeling do it on purpose. I have purchased sets just to get a collet die. You could have looked for Lee premium set, which comes with FL and Collet, but they are about as expensive as doubling up. I think you might have to google a little more than usual for one, but I suspect a set would be the easiest option.
Alternatively have a look for RCBS neck sizing die with correct bushing, you might get lucky there.
What are the dies for?
6.5x55 Swedish. All good, lesson learnt. Hopefully when gun shows start back up I’ll find a second hand set.
Regardless, at some stage you’d need an FL die, either way you look at it, you’d end up at this intersection.
I have bought quite a few Redding dies by themselves. I have purchased them direct from the US from a really good store that has great prices and really good service. I will try to find the catalogue and post the details. The Redding dies are a bit more expensive than the Lee but the quality does show. Otherwise you can purchase the Lee dies by themselves or in sets. I have done the buying of two different sets before to get all the dies I wanted it doubled up on the seating die which was fine as you can then modify a seating stem and adjust and leave set a die for a particular bullet. The best place I have found for them was Midway Australia mostly on ebay but you can go direct to them, same price so it doesn’t achieve much.
Added a few individual dies for my .500 when they didn’t come in the lee kits
Simplex make individual dies - and they’re Aussie made, too: http://simplexreloading.com.au/
I wouldn’t count on it. IME the second-hand sets tend to be for weird calibres, not for stuff normal people might want like 6.5x55 Swedish.
Mate I purchased a Lee RGB two die set for a 270, then purchased a neck sizing for separately. They are available as individual items.
Link?
All the Redding dies I have purchased have been sort of specialty dies as well. Like body dies sizes body only no neck. Some small base dies and the one normal one is a competition seater die. it has a really nice way of engaging the bullet and supporting it all the way as it is seated. It also has a micrometer at the top which is kind of nice but I really never use it that much and the same can be achieved with other dies they are just not marked but moving the die top in similar amounts give the same results. On nearly all my Lee seating dies I have modified the seating stem as much as I can to push more on the ogive part/size of the projectile rather than the tip.
Mate I have checked several websites and although they sell neck sizing die separately, they don’t appear to have 6.5x55 in stock. I shall go and check my local on Monday, they have a large selection of lee neck sizing dies although their website does not always reflect what they have in stock.
Hang in there @Nomis, don’t buy a whole new set. They are available individually, lee and other brands.
http://westernfirearms.com.au/reloading-supplies-reloading-dies-die-a-rama-65-mm-264-neck-die-by-hornady-p-1166.html
There you go mate,
Cheers
I’ve never had any issues just using the FL die backed out so that it sizes about half the length of the neck. I’ve done this for years on a number of different calibres including 6.5 x 55. I use these for hunting and silhouette competition loads. Some batches of cases have been reloaded dozens of times without issue.
You can neck size with a FL die. Simply back it off 1 turn or so. You will be able to see the neck sized portion, on the case neck, adjust to suit…easy as
To add to that… Grab a lighter and smoke the top half of the case, that way you know how far you need to back off, etc.
Never felt the need to that, but for the uninitiated…could be handy…
It’s pretty useful to get an idea where the die touches the case.
My eyesight is not that bad yet…