Question on 308 Remington in a Dillon 650

[smallblockfuelie]

Folks, I have heard time and again that this place is jam packed full of knowledgeable shooters and reloaders and decided to come here to ask for your help. I'd like to ask for your recommendation on steel or carbide dies and where in the process do you lube?

I've got a 650 that I purchased primarily for pistol reloading and have decided to work on reloading 308. Initially I will reload several hundred rounds (300 to 500) but after my initial load up I'd only likely load around 50 rounds at a time. With that in mind, should I get the steel or carbide dies? Does the carbide offer any big advantages over the steel for the type of reloading I will be doing?

When loading 308 in the 650 where/how should I be lubing the cases? For all my single stage reloading I use sizing wax.

Thanks to Brian for providing the valuable forums.

[technetium-99m]

I use the same process for 308 and 223.

I lube then decap, size, trim. Then I tumble the lube off and the chips out. I usually hand prime the cases then second trip through is charge, seat bullet, and a little crimp.

For lube I like the spray on stuff from Dillon, One shot is fine for pistol cases but sucky for rifle cases.

I like my Redding dies, you'd have to pry them from my cold dead hands.

[RiggerJJ]

basically the same for me;

tumble clean

lube (Dillon lube)

size (Dillon Carbide)

trim (Dillon Trimmer)

(on a "case prep" head)

tumble clean

debur flash holes

swage primer pockets

prime & load on a different head.

jj

[smallblockfuelie]

It never occured to me that I can use my Redding dies on my Dillon. To use my current dies I'd need just the crimp die? Thanks!

[benos]

It never occured to me that I can use my Redding dies on my Dillon. To use my current dies I'd need just the crimp die? Thanks!

Yes, if you are crimping then just get Dillon's crimp die. Otherwise the Redding dies will work fine.

be

[smallblockfuelie]

Thanks, Brian. I'm loading up for an AR platform so I will get one ordered.