lovetohunt93 wrote:I am curious to know which dies everyone is using for the 450B and how they like them?
I am going to order some soon but looks like Hornady, Redding, Lee, and Lyman 450 dies can be purchased from Midway. Not sure which ones to go with.
Thanks
I have not tried the Lee dies but I do own sets for other bottleneck style calibers. They seem to work fine for my needs. Members who have the Lee 450b die set don't seem to be complaining about them.
That having been said. I use the Hornady dies in other calibers as well and they are my 450b set. IMHO, as long as you chamfer the mouths, the Hornady seating die makes them easy to start bullets without having to use the expander, which I don't like doing. So, my money's on Hornady.
IMHO: Here's why:
Brass, like many other metals has a degree of springback. We know that the 450b needs all the neck tension it can get. If you seat the bullets into an unexpanded case, it springs back in the direction it came from. IE towards the bullet = good. Applying the taper crimp reinforces that inclination.
If you expand the case and then seat the bullet, the case stays expanded until you force it back towards the bullet using the taper crimp die. Once that die is removed the brass wants to spring back in the direction it came from, IE away from the bullet, albeit a very small amount = less good. If you're using a stab/side crimp, it won't matter.
Hoot