Is your 223 or 270 an auto loader? If yes, get the crimp die. If yes, you may be better served with bullets that have a cannelure (crimp ring). If no, it doesn't matter. I load 223 for my bolt gun and use bullets with a smooth side and don't crimp but I pay attention to the amount of neck tension I have on the processed brass.

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Nope, they are both bolt actions.

I'll be honest with you guys...the dies are the most frustrating part about all of this. I would like to get a good quality seater die for both calibers, but it seems everywhere I look I'd have to wait up to 30 days before they would be shipped.

Then you don't need a factory crimp die for the .223.

For a loading block for .223, just get a tray out of an ammo box of 9mm. It's the same diameter, very compact & uniform.

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Do not confuse liberal with liberty, especially when the Right to Keep arms is concerned.
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eBay has both Forster Benchrest die sets advertised right now. Just do a search on Forster 223 and Forster 270. If those are the dies you want you might get them via auction or Buy It Now.

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Remember - always have your democrats neutered or spayed - Ann Coulter

Ah, ebay...blast it, I'd never even thought of that. Thanks, flash!

Thanks for the pics of your loading blocks Stretch, nice visual effects. If you scroll down slowly it changes the magnafication not sure how you did that.

I made mine out of 1/2inch plexiglass, they work well but yours looks nicer. Also I see you found an additional purpose for the yellow Lee neck sizer die box just as I do. They fit real well in my range box drawrer.

Marsms, I may be at odds with some others, but I'm confident you are getting a quality bullet seater. There is nothing wrong with Lee's seater die. I've taken a flex-shaft with cutting wheel to most all my dies, especially the seaters, and ground some reference marks on the heads and necks. Now admitedly, it's not accurate like a Redding or Forstner Competition die, but the Lee dies will be fine for you. You can always "upgrade" [spend more] later.

I use the crimp die on many of my bolt-action cartridges without cannelured bullets. I just don;t crimp heavily enough to "form a cannelure" - I do it just to give the neck that extra "squeeze" tension on the bullet. I have noticed an accuracy improvement in some rounds, so I always crimp those loads. The Crimp die is a necessity (for me) for all rounds I reload. Now, with the .35 Rem and .44mag, they need a heavy crimp, so I can;t do without it there even if I wanted to.

Thank you both for lauding me in the same breath as Flashhole, but it's not deserved. I'm a yearling, having only been reloading metallic since Jan 2009, and have nowhere near the years of experience of Flashhole (et al). I've reloaded about 1600 rounds now in 5 calibers, and I've learned alot, but my experience is limited and my knowledge comes from the likes of Flashhole and others. Anyway, a nice compliment, thank you. I'm excited to help and offer opinions on what's worked for me, but it isn;t always correct or proven.

Jimbo, I have no idea how the special effects attached themselves to my pictures!

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Stretch ®

"If you are a reloader and you don't know Lee, you don't know Jack" - Floydster

DON'T BE SCARED©

Well, if I can't seem to get what I'm looking for, I just may have to go with Lee. Hey, what about shell holders? I really don't know their function (well, besides holding shells), so I'm not sure if I need those? Also, if I do need them... how do I know what kind of size to get?

If you buy Lee dies they include a shell holder. Google "shell holder cross reference" and you will come up with a few charts that will point you in the right direction. There is no numbering standard and very little coincidental numbering. A #1 shell holder from Lee, RCBS, Lyman, Redding, Dillon, and Hornady may all be for differnt cartridges so you have to be mindful of what you buy. Hornady is the odd man out with shell holders. Their press primer system only works with thier shell holders because the hole in the center of the shell holder is larger than the other manufacturers. To me that's just a reason not to buy Hornady presses. Once you get your equipment we can give you a few pointers that will make your work at the bench easier.

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Remember - always have your democrats neutered or spayed - Ann Coulter

Thanks for all the kind words.

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Remember - always have your democrats neutered or spayed - Ann Coulter

Shellholders. For the press, like Flash said, all Lee dies come with the shellholder for that caliber.

Now, for the auto-prime hand primer, you will need to order a set of Lee's shellholders. They're not a "true" shellholder, they're slip-ins for the hand primer. They won;t work on the press and the apress shellholders won;t work in the primer.

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Stretch ®

"If you are a reloader and you don't know Lee, you don't know Jack" - Floydster

DON'T BE SCARED©

Is there any way to end up with essentially a "Deluxe" kit where they don't offer one? For my .223 I can get the Deluxe set, but I can only get the Pacesetter for my .270 WSM

RCBS sells a handheld priming tool that's essentially the same as Lee's. But, the RCBS primer tool uses the same shell holder as the press, so one doesn't have to buy an additional set of holders.

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.co...sku=0004490200 or http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct...tNumber=329291

But, the Lee costs a lot less.
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct...tNumber=807875

__________________
Do not confuse liberal with liberty, especially when the Right to Keep arms is concerned.
Liberals are like Slinkies - Not really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when pushed down the staris.

So, here's an interesting quirk of fate.

I went to a new jobsite today, renovating a fellows place. Turns out he's a long time reloader, and has Lee's Reloading Manual. I got to see some of his equipment (all RCBS, though he said it's just because that was available when he was upgrading. It's probably about 20 years old or so). He said however, that if he were starting out today, he would not hesitate to buy all Lee equipment. He feels it offers above average quality for a less than average price.

Though, he also told me to buy the perfect powder measure instead of the trickler. Seems like I might have to learn the hard way, cause I think I'm still going with the dippers for now!

Try the dippers. They don't cost much and can be modified if necessary for a particular powder. I have a perfect powder measure but use the dippers. The perfect powder measure is cheap and you can decide to get one later for not much $$$.

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"Had his shooting been as good as his running, he might have given a better account of himself."
James. C. Henderson

What do I need for shellholders? Just one for each caliber for the press, and one each for the auto primer?

Whether you use dippers or a powder measure, you'll still want the trickler, I'm sure.

When they don;t have a "Deluxe" set of dies, you have to order the Collet Neck Sizer by itself. Problem is, when the caliber is not offered in Deluxe, only Pacesetter, I've noticed that Lee doesn;t always provide the Collet die by itself. You have to buy a 2-die Collet set, so you end up with an extra bullet seater (I think is what comes with it). I'm going through that same thing with my .35 Rem right now.

However! If you go to the Lee Factory Sales link that Flashhole provided earlier in this thread, you might be able to get it by itself. If nothing else, order the parts seperately. The collet die has four parts: die body, collet, sizing mandrel, and cap. Treat it as though you have the die and something's wrong with one of (in this case all of) the parts. I'm not 100% sure this will work, but it's worth a try.

Aside from that, Kempf can get you the 2-die collet set from Lee.

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Stretch ®

"If you are a reloader and you don't know Lee, you don't know Jack" - Floydster

DON'T BE SCARED©

I forgot one thing if you piece your collet die together from factorysales: a collet sleeve.

I used .35Rem for the following example because that's what I'm looking for. I didn;t see the 270 wsm but Lee can do that for you, I think.
- SD2152 LOCK RING $1.00
- SD2153 O-RING 7/8X.103 $0.50
- NS2578 NS BODY 3.073 $8.00 (die body)
- NS2579 *CAP FOR COLLET DIE $4.00
- AD2299 "O"RING 016 ID 5/8 $0.50
- NS2630 DECAP MANDREL .355 $4.00
- NS2716 CLT.SLV.35 REMINGTON $4.00 (the collet sleeve)
- NS2715 COLLET 35 REMINGTON $9.00
Looks like about $31 or so if you piece it together. Better to just get the 2-die set for $27 and suffer having an extra seater (maybe use it for parts if ever needed?) Plus, you'll have instructions, another shellholder, scoop, and die box to put spare parts and brushes in.

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Stretch ®

"If you are a reloader and you don't know Lee, you don't know Jack" - Floydster

DON'T BE SCARED©

Thanks Stretch..guess that's the route I'll go then!

Here's an alternative if you are set on getting a neck die too. It's not the same design as the Lee die but it is a good way to size just the neck. You may be able to do better with pricing on Midway or another on-line seller but Redding makes a good set of dies. I have a few. The Redding S-Die set is more expensive and geared more to people who turn case necks but you can buy bushings of an exact size.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Redding-270-WSM-...item35a50deef5

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Remember - always have your democrats neutered or spayed - Ann Coulter