RCBS vs Redding dies

[Anvil11-87]

I'm looking at getting a competition seater die for my .308 loads. Any opinions on RCBS vs Redding dies??

[flashhole]

Forster is a better choice, either their Benchrest or Ultraseat die give excellent concentricity results.

Of the two you mentioned, Redding is the right choice. Same design as the Forster.

[Anvil11-87]

Thanks for the info, I will look at the forster dies.

[Bart B]

For what it's worth, I found that if the sized case neck's straight, one can seat bullets very straight with a ball peen hammer or a conventional bullet seating die. No in-line "competition" seater I've tried does all that well with bent case necks. I've tried Wilson, RCBS, Vickerman, Bonanza and a couple other "in line" seaters, all with pretty much the same results. After seating bullets in even slightly bent case necks with these dies, they're still bent almost the same amount at the same place.

Expander balls are the biggest cause of bent case necks. Use a gelded die, such as the full length bushing dies made by Redding or RCBs with the bushing diameter about 2 to 3 thousandths smaller than a loaded round's neck diameter. They ain't got any balls so case necks are much straighter coming out of the sizing die.

[boomtube]

I' ve tried a lot of die sets and die combonations over decades of reloading to otain straight necks and straight seating. My best is a combination of anyone's body die and a Lee Collet neck die followed by a Forster BR seater, with or without the micrometer head. (Note that no part of that includes an RCBS die.)

[Bart B]

Originally Posted by boomtube

I' ve tried a lot of die sets and die combonations over decades of reloading to otain straight necks and straight seating. My best is a combination of anyone's body die and a Lee Collet neck die followed by a Forster BR seater, with or without the micrometer head. (Note that no part of that includes an RCBS die.)

I'm not surprised. A lot of how good the reloaded ammo ends up depends on the techniques used for a given set of tools. Which is why there's a few good tools out there for us to choose from.

Sierra Bullets gets best results (cartridge straightness and best accuracy) using Redding full bushing or standard Redding full length sizing dies. They agreed with me that the RCBS versions of both dies would perform the same. The minute differences between them aren't worth a hoot.

[newmexkid]

Over the years I stumbled upon the Forester BR dies and have never looked back. I get some very good, (concentrict) reloads.