223 small base ?

47studebaker

I'm going to be loading for a Contender with a rifle length barrel. I have 500 empty cases and some powder but haven't bought the dies yet. What is the correct set of dies? I see RCBS sets that end in 01, 02 and 03 and other sets that are listed as small base. Any help?

wanted man

Well.........
if the cases have never been fired (new) you should be okay with just loading and shooting them the first time around.
IF, you intend to only shoot these casings in the TC you also should NOT need to EVER use the SB dies.
Full length sizing will probably be needed at SOME point, but mostly you'll just want to neck size after firing, to avoid unnecessarily "overworking" the brass outside of the neck area.
Hope this helps

Ambrose

I wouldn't think you would need small base dies. I bought 1,000 once-fired cases quite a while ago (they were all R-P) and just full-length sized them in regular Hornady "new dimension" dies. Have had no problems in either the CZ or the Sako.

EDIT: As has been mentioned, I neck size for subsequent reloads. I don't know if it helps case life but I find I don't have to trim as often.

47studebaker

thanks for the replies, They will be used in the TC and a few reworked to 7mmTCU, should make a good mid-range whitetail round.

Steve H.

armilite

Small base dies are intended to be used in semi auto rifles as the chamber dememsions can slightly very and they don't quite have the omph to fully chamber the round. Small base dies resize the brass to just below the factory specs and you may also have to lower your powder charge slightly to be on the safe side. This makes the round chamber more more easily as compared to regular reloads. They should not be used in turret presses as there is a natural springing tendency in that type of press which defeats the purpose of the small base die. You do not need to use a small base die in your contender.

Rocky Raab

Dittoes to the comments about small-base dies. The 01, 02, 03, etc are simply the years of manufacture, BTW.

You may well find that neck sizing in a Contender doesn't work so well. The Contender depends on a quite precise headspace length to release the internal lock. Too long and the gun will close but not fire. Too short and accuracy will deteriorate.

That means that neck sizing only will soon allow the case to grow a bit - and you'll have loaded ammo that won't work in the gun. Unless you have another gun, you'll be pulling down the whole lot to resize it.

So just get the standard FL die set, adjust it to set the shoulder in the right spot and leave it there. I set mine by first setting the die per factory instructions (usually down hard against the shellholder). Then, using a fresh piece of brass each time, I'd back the die out in TINY amounts until I could feel just the smallest amount of resistance upon closing the action - and test it by trying a few primer-only rounds. test it again after firing loaded ammo, and if there is still some resistance on closing, yet every round fires, you have the die set correctly.

It is indeed a fiddly thing to do, but it only has to be done once, and it REALLY makes the Contender accurate. Some of my best .223 groups ever were fired with a 14" Contender pistol. Some in the low "2s" as in two-tenths of an inch center-to-center for five shots at 100 yards. Yup, one ragged hole.