Whats everyone's thought on these.  Do they work as advertised.  I ask because i'm in the market for some new 223 dies.  Its either the X-dies or redding dies.

Redding Competition. No argument. Also, get the type S sizer die, with a .245 nitride bushing, and the carbide size button kit

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productnumber=367998

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=6&f=42&t=320167

I have the X-die set for .223 Rem and .308 Winchester.  Since all my .223 guns are autoloaders, I chose a set with a full length, small-base size die.  There is a lot of discussion over whether small-base dies are a good or bad thing, but I have them because I load only for semiautomatic rifles.

Haven't loaded much .308.  Have loaded a good bit of .223.  However, I have only trimmed and reloaded my .223 brass once.  Can't tell yet whether the X-die actually reduces the need for trimming.

I'm not so familiar with the Redding Competition diew.  Everyone has their pet tools, but you should be fine with either one.  I haven't had any problems with the RCBS X-dies, reloading either commercial .223 Rem or Lake City 5.56 brass.

I *love* my .223 X-Die.  It works as advertised, eliminating the need to trim cases.  For a volume shooter, they're great.

never had one personally, but using one means you have to keep your brass separated in lots forever and forever - X die prepped/sized brass vs. non X die prepped brass.  



X die prepped means trimming to 1.740"

That's the other thing about the X-die.  You trim to a special case length, for some reason.  Not a problem if you're only going to load with the X-die.

I've been using a .223 X-Die for about 3 years.  Followed the instructions and after a few firings they haven't grown past 1.751".  

How it works, I don't know or care, all I know it it does work and I'm happy with it.

yup, it's like f'in magnets.

I solved this issue by prepping ALL of my brass at once, and putting my Lee sizer on the shelf. New brass gets put into a bucket,and then prepped in the same manner in big batches.

The X-die prepped brass is good stuff. Having to track it has meant that I've been able to compare it against my pre-Xdie reloads. I've shot 5 round .75 MOA groups at 300yds using it my bull barreled AR,and smaller groups at 100yds with 10+rounds using my RCBS Xdie. So it produces a better reload than my old,trusty Lee die did,given the same components. I'm happy with it.

Same here, except the X-die is the only .223 die I own, so there's no chance of mixing differently-trimmed brass.

Neat.  Is there a generalization to be made here - somehow shorter case length is good for accuracy in your particular gun?