.223 semi-auto dies

[moosie]

My brother just purchased a .223 semi-auto rifle (some off brand for plinking and hog hunting).  He wants me to help him reload for it--which means of course that I will be doing all the reloading and he will be watching, drinking beer.  I have not reloaded for semi-auto rifles before.  Is it necessary for him to buy Small Base dies or will the regular Full Length dies do just as well?  Seems like I remember reading that for auto loading rifles the Small Base dies were necessary.
Moosie

[Savage]

Often a standard full length sizing die will produce functional ammo in a semi auto. It may work fine in one, and not chamber in another. It's kind of an "Iffy" situation. For any rifle round I load for a semi auto, I use small base dies. My rds, especially for ARs absolutely MUST function in any rifle I might need to use them in. I also crimp as a final operation with the Lee Factory Crimp Die. It insures that the bullet will not set back in any rifle that might have feeding problems as well. For ammo that just has to work in whatever rifle they might be used in I would recommend them to anyone requiring the same of their ammo.
Savage

[R.W.Dale]

I've found that in 99% of threads advocating or inquiring about the need to purchases SB dies the need magically disappears once proper die adjustment procedures are followed. IE camming the press ram over against the die by 1/4 turn.

Even the sturdiest presses have a surprising amount of upward flex in the frame, breaking the toggle over against the die eliminates this. But the bottom line is if you're just kissing the die with the shellholder you're only partial length resizing.I've loaded .223 for bolt, semi, pump and break action single shots. Not once have I need e a small base die set, the only thing SB dies will do fer ya is overwork your brass sooner

[LHitchcox]

I wouldn't buy small base dies unless I absolutely had to to get proper function. They work the brass really hard. My son's ARs run fine on Lee RGB dies with proper adjustment.

I have small base dies in .30-06 and .308 and I only used them on my uncle's Remington autoloaders. He bought them thinking he had to have them. Later when I got guns in those calibers, I bought standard dies and my brass lasted longer.

Leon

[Savage]

My bottleneck rifle brass is usually scrapped due to case neck splits. That holds true for both neck sized and full length sized cases. Never had a case failure in the web or head. Probably helps that my loads are on the moderate side.
Savage