Henry Rifle Forums

So I do alot of benchrest shooting and varmint shooting...and have been handloading for quite some time. As far as the 45-70 goes..what die(s) sets would be a good starting point?. Most of my dies have been either from whidden or redding with Wilson or forster micrometer seaters. Are plain jane rcbs or hornady good enough for this ol thumper?

Are plain jane rcbs or hornady good enough for this ol thumper?

yep - and they have been giving good service to reloaders for quite some time - however...
I really like the 'benchrest' style die sets that have a seating die with a spring loaded 'follower' that supports the bullet and keeps in in a vertical position while being seated.
I only have one right now (.223) but I plan to replace my other seating dies with this style.

I would highly recommend a Lee Factory crimp die also or some sort of a taper crimp die. Redding makes a good one in the taper crimp.

BigAl52 wrote:I would highly recommend a Lee Factory crimp die also or some sort of a taper crimp die. Redding makes a good one in the taper crimp.

So crimp dies for cast bullets and non crimp for jacketed? FYI I have some nosler 300 gn jacketed bullets coming with no cannelure.

So crimp dies for cast bullets and non crimp for jacketed?

For used In a lever action rifle ALL bullets need to be crimped.
A bullet without a cannelure still needs to be crimped but a Factory Crimp Die (collet style) creates a better crimp with them.
Read up on the Lee Factory Crimp Die on their site.

If you are to use copper plated bullets in the future some of those also do not have a crimp groove. You also need to crimp those
as mentioned just be sure not to crimp them so much that you damage the plating

I use the Lee .45-70 four die set (crimp die included). I use the factory crimp die on cast and jacketed bullets. All of my reloading dies are Lee, so I cannot give input on other brands.

Ended up getting the lee 3 die set...

I used RCBS Cowboy Dies for 45-70. The belling die used after the resizing die helps a great deal when loading cast bullets.