I bought a .223 Rem RCBS X Die sizer die. The purpose of the die is to limit case length growth in bottle neck cartridge cases when the case is resized. The short answer is the die really does work and gives excellent results.
Now for some details about the die. I used the die in an RCBS RockChucker press. I adjusted the die in the press per the instructions except the die body was backed out 1/2 to 3/4 revolution to minimize shoulder set back. The sized case fit into a case gage and easily chambered in a custom barreled S&W 1500 rifle and a Bushmaster AR.
The decapping stem is also the inside mandrel that reduces case length growth. The decapping stem was set to achieve a sized case length of 1.755" (.005 less than max case length). This was an easy adjustment and gave consistant results.
Now the rest of the story about the brass. All of the brass (1,200 + pieces) was range pick-ups; once fired commercial, once fired military, and commercial and military reloaded brass, plus a few Berdan primed cases snuck in. The brass was tumbled in corn cob media to clean it and knock all the dirt away. Case lube was RCBS in the little spray pump bottle. When a Berdan case was resized, the press just stopped. Neither the decapping pin nor the decapping stem / mandrel bent or was damaged in any way. About 15 cases hit the waste basket.
Another 15 to 20 cases were too long to resize. The case necks collapsed without a problem. The decap stem was removed from the die, broken neck removed, and back in operation in less than 2 minutes.
The 1,200 cases took about 2.5 hours to resize. I didn't have to trim any cases to length, didn't have to deburr any case necks, and now have 1,200 pieces of shoot and forget rifle brass for matches. I may never trim another piece of 223 brass and now I'm eager to try the 308 Win X Die.
Now for some details about the die. I used the die in an RCBS RockChucker press. I adjusted the die in the press per the instructions except the die body was backed out 1/2 to 3/4 revolution to minimize shoulder set back. The sized case fit into a case gage and easily chambered in a custom barreled S&W 1500 rifle and a Bushmaster AR.
The decapping stem is also the inside mandrel that reduces case length growth. The decapping stem was set to achieve a sized case length of 1.755" (.005 less than max case length). This was an easy adjustment and gave consistant results.
Now the rest of the story about the brass. All of the brass (1,200 + pieces) was range pick-ups; once fired commercial, once fired military, and commercial and military reloaded brass, plus a few Berdan primed cases snuck in. The brass was tumbled in corn cob media to clean it and knock all the dirt away. Case lube was RCBS in the little spray pump bottle. When a Berdan case was resized, the press just stopped. Neither the decapping pin nor the decapping stem / mandrel bent or was damaged in any way. About 15 cases hit the waste basket.
Another 15 to 20 cases were too long to resize. The case necks collapsed without a problem. The decap stem was removed from the die, broken neck removed, and back in operation in less than 2 minutes.
The 1,200 cases took about 2.5 hours to resize. I didn't have to trim any cases to length, didn't have to deburr any case necks, and now have 1,200 pieces of shoot and forget rifle brass for matches. I may never trim another piece of 223 brass and now I'm eager to try the 308 Win X Die.
