Which reloading dies to buy?

[bluegrass bubba]

I am currently having a gun rebarreled in 7MM Rem, and am looking to you for advice on which dies to buy, my only experence has been with a set of Forster in .270, I've been reading a lot about the Redding Type S dies, is the neck sizing bushings worth it, I will be mainly hunting with this rifle, and havent spent a lot of time reloading in the past. Thanks.

 

[FOTIS]

aLL i HAVE IS hORNADY

 

[Greg Nolan]

I have a mix but if I can I always buy Lee dies. I've never had a case stick and they are easy to use and reset for different bulet types ( they have O rings to hold the adjustments instead of allen set screws). I have a lot less problem with bullets sticking in the bullet seating dies. They also have the factory crimp dies available in most sets which are nice for lever action or hard kicking callibers. Hornady are my next favorite.

 

[Guest]

All I use is Lee dies. For the price they can not be beat. Look at their web page and see their dies. If you only neck size you don't even need to lube the cases. I have not have had a depriming pin break, they slide out if there is a problem.
I love the Lee family of products not a complaint here.

 

[JD338]

I started out with RCBS and they are fine, 2-3 Hornady sets and I am not that impressed with them. My last die purchase was Redding, which IMHO, is the way to go.

Regards,

JD338

 

[Guest]

I second Redding dies. I have several sets of Hornady, RCBS and now Redding. Redding are by far my favorites for a full length set. As far as neck sizing, I am a fan of the Lee Collet die.

 

[Casey]

Bluegrass,

I have more dies than a guy should, from 1950's Lyman and RCBS to the Redding S Bushing dies.

First: The bushing dies are expensive, about 80$ plus 12$ for each bushing, 20$ for the nitrate coated bushings. The Redding 3 die set (FL, Neck, and Seater) is about 60$.

The bushing dies CAN make a difference--sometimes. By using the bushing the neck is sized just enough to have proper tension on the bullet. By not "over working " the neck, the brass tends to stay more concentric. If you read Redding's website, a person must first measure the neck of a handload using brass originally fired in the rifle--which means a person must already have access to dies for his cartridge. From that measurement he then determines what size of bushing to buy. My first purchase of a S Bushing die resulted in my buying 3 bushings to find the neck size that was the most accurate. The S Bushing die set also comes with a "bump" die that sets the shoulder back just the amount you chose without sizing the body (at least on non-belted cases--I'm not sure about belted). The bump die works well with my .243W, but my other set of 270W S dies, the bump die works on one rilfe, but doesn't produce good accuracy with the other.

Conventional dies CAN be just as good. Making sure the expander button stem is straight is important. Removing the expander/decapping assembly and straightening/bending is sometimes needed. Some handloaders remove the expander button entirely and let the neck size "float". Sometimes this works, more times not.

In either case, a concentricity gauge is the only way of really knowing how concentric your loaded rounds are.

The S Bushing dies are certianly all the rage currently, I still like the Forster dies (although they have become expensive too), but I have conventional and competition dies that work well too. RCBS, Redding, Forster, Wilson, Lyman I currently own. I've used other brands, Hornadys seem to be fine, about half the folks love their Lee dies, the other half don't.

Go here for an excellent article (at least I think it is excellent, 'cause I entirely agree with the author).
http://www.24hourcampfire.com/reloading.html

Casey

 

[rick smith]

Redding, Forster, Dillon,RCBS in that order.Rick.

 

[longwinters]

Well, I guess I gotta be different. I started with RCBS and have not found any reason to change. I have no doubt that some or all of the others are good tools also, but since I have never felt the need to shoot smaller groups than 1/2" then I guess I will never know.

Long

 

[Guybo]

RCBS :mrgreen:

 

[transonic]

RCBS-customer service is second to none!

 

[Nic_58]

Redding dies are the only ones I use. They are very well made. I think you would be very happy with them!

 

[bluegrass bubba]

Thanks for all the useful info.

 

[Tom1911]

How can there be that much difference in dies in order to support a preference? I do have Hornady and RCBS, and there is a difference in operation, yet they both accomplish the same thing equally well.


Thanks,

Tom

 

[john-brennan]

I use RCBS cause i have had them for years but anything new i buy gets Redding.

 

[john-brennan]

I use RCBS cause i have had them for years but anything new i buy gets Redding.
soory about the double post guys, got a new computer and i have a heavy hand.

 

[longwinters]

I think Redding would be a great product. But every store I have access to sells RCBS. Granted I could order off of the net, but I have had such good luck with RCBS and their warrantee that I cannot see how I can go wrong with their products.

Long

 

[Guest]

I own dies from 5 different manufacturers and I prefer the Redding Bench Rest followed by the RCBS Bench Rest. Assuming your rifle doesn't have a custom neck diameter I would buy the standard neck die and bench rest seater then get a carbide expander for the neck die. Having the case supported during the bullet seating process really does a good job seating the bullets true ... at least on my NECO concentricity gauge.

 

[bluegrass bubba]

Now if I go with the dies that need the bushings, I will need to measure a reloaded round and subtract .002, to get the right size , so I am going to need a set of regular dies to load the one I am suppose to fire in my rifle. That doesnt make sense. I dont need two sets of dies.

 

[cal sibley]

I reload for 16 calibers, and all my dies are Redding S bushing, neck sizing dies or Wilson neck sizing knock out dies. I think they're the two best made. The only problem is neither bump the shoulder back, and sometimes you'll have to bump it back, in which case you'll need a body die. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal