Reloading Die Brand?

[Trickymissfit]

Gary.. I have a Hornady for those rare instances. I have the hammer style too, I use the hammer style when I'm frustrated about something and I need to vent.....

I had to make one out of aluminum once to take apart some ammo that had bad primers. The plastic one would contain the case, but would not hold it in place under impact. Got ****ed and made my own caliber specific one. Worked well, but was sorta messy. Now I can pull them with the Forster or the Ericson drill extention.
gary

 

[Brian49]

I got started W/Rock Chuck Bullet Swag when i was a teen when i live north of Redding Ca., then after about 5 moves in the Forest Service i ended up in Oroville with the RCBS factory and Huntington's store next to each other. Their Customer service is great and they will handle any issue as a drop in, they'll even pull a stuck case or similar issue while you wait. I don't think they are leading the pack in inovation anymore, which is a shame.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I got started W/Rock Chuck Bullet Swag when i was a teen when i live north of Redding Ca., then after about 5 moves in the Forest Service i ended up in Oroville with the RCBS factory and Huntington's store next to each other. Their Customer service is great and they will handle any issue as a drop in, they'll even pull a stuck case or similar issue while you wait. I don't think they are leading the pack in inovation anymore, which is a shame.

The new Summit from RCBS looks interesting for an intermediate press. I like the design but haven't seen one in the flesh yet. I like thye idea of an unside down die thats moves with the case stationary. RCBS also came out (last year) with a Dillon clone military crimp bench mounted removal tool for quite a bit less than Dillon's asking price.

I don't really beiieve there is much to 'innovate' in the realm of reloading dies. IMO, most bases are covered and I still like my RCBS front load competition micrometer seaters better than any other for ease of projectile insertion, repeatability and overall quality.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I got started W/Rock Chuck Bullet Swag when i was a teen when i live north of Redding Ca., then after about 5 moves in the Forest Service i ended up in Oroville with the RCBS factory and Huntington's store next to each other. Their Customer service is great and they will handle any issue as a drop in, they'll even pull a stuck case or similar issue while you wait. I don't think they are leading the pack in inovation anymore, which is a shame.

The new Summit from RCBS looks interesting for an intermediate press. I like the design but haven't seen one in the flesh yet. I like the idea of an unside down die thats moves with the case stationary. RCBS also came out (last year) with a Dillon clone military crimp bench mounted removal tool for quite a bit less than Dillon's asking price.

I don't really beiieve there is much to 'innovate' in the realm of reloading dies. IMO, most bases are covered and I still like my RCBS front load competition micrometer seaters better than any other for ease of projectile insertion, repeatability and overall quality.

 

[DennisPA]

I like my RCBS but we need to add Wilson to the Poll.

 

[flur60]

I prefer Redding and Forster for FL sizing and bullet seating. The Lee Collet dies for Neck Sizing.

 

[Brian49]

In my previous reply i ended stating RCBS wasn't leading with inovation, but that was probably sour grapes. I have the Case Master Gauging Tool and am disappointed, I think the station is doing to many functions and with many devices when you try and do that it ends up not doing any very good.

 

[DocB]

The new Summit from RCBS looks interesting for an intermediate press. I like the design but haven't seen one in the flesh yet. I like the idea of an unside down die thats moves with the case stationary. RCBS also came out (last year) with a Dillon clone military crimp bench mounted removal tool for quite a bit less than Dillon's asking price.

I don't really beiieve there is much to 'innovate' in the realm of reloading dies. IMO, most bases are covered and I still like my RCBS front load competition micrometer seaters better than any other for ease of projectile insertion, repeatability and overall quality.

Sir,

Regarding the RCBS front load competition micrometer seater... Is the stem compatible with VLD bullets, or does it require a different stem?

Thanks,

DocB

 

[DocB]

Sir,

Regarding the RCBS front load competition micrometer seater... Is the stem compatible with VLD bullets, or does it require a different stem?

Thanks,

DocB

You know, I asked this question over 3 weeks ago.

I don't want to come off as indignant or unappreciative but...

I ask questions when I don't understand something or I'm unsure. I have no experience reloading, none, zero, zilch, zip. I only think I know what I know by what I read and a lot of that is confusing. So I ask questions.

I DO KNOW that when I do start reloading for my 300WM I will be using almost exclusively Berger Hybrid and VLD bullets. My alternative is the AMax. I do know that Berger VLDs require special seating stems and the case must be chamfered using a special tool.

So as I slowly acquire the tools to begin reloading piecemeal, I want to ensure that I purchase the right tools the first time. It's kinda hard to just run down to the gunshop or Cabelas and check out dies and tools when you're 8000 miles away in Afghanistan and all your research is restricted to the internet.

My only alternative is to ask my wife to check stuff out, but she's even more lost than I am. But she is willing to learn and wants to reload for her guns also.

So I ask questions of those here whom I consider to be without a doubt experts in long range precision shooting and reloading.

And I read some more.

But like Socrates is quoted as saying " The more I learn, the more I learn how little I know."

So help is appreciated, positive, negative, or otherwise.

Thanks,

DocB

 

[bowhunthard88]

Sir,

Regarding the RCBS front load competition micrometer seater... Is the stem compatible with VLD bullets, or does it require a different stem?

Thanks,

DocB

I honestly don't know for sure on the RCBS, but most seating stems are "usable" with VLD bullets in the basic sense. The internal shape of the stem dictates how much surface area of the individual bullet will be supported while seating. Most seating stems are deep enough to keep the bullet tip from contacting and deforming, if not, that's an easy fix... If you go by Hornady's recommendations, even the A-Maxes require a different shape seating stem... And these stems are available for the Hornady dies, of course no one else makes them . So, to answer your question, it should work...

Good luck.

 

[TXshooter]

Sir,

Regarding the RCBS front load competition micrometer seater... Is the stem compatible with VLD bullets, or does it require a different stem?

Thanks,

DocB

I won't say that I read it or was told by someone that knows but I do own a set of the .30 dies with the rcbs front load competition micrometer seater. I just last week loaded .308 berger vld and had one hole results at a hundred yards. It never occurred to me that the stem might not work. Anyway in my case it worked no problem.

 

[rancher5]

+1 on your answer, I just worry about overall length, though I am finding with a Sako Bolt action its very flexible and accurate, I love RCB Competition Dies if for nothing else besides the ease of bullet seating.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I won't say that I read it or was told by someone that knows but I do own a set of the .30 dies with the rcbs front load competition micrometer seater. I just last week loaded .308 berger vld and had one hole results at a hundred yards. It never occurred to me that the stem might not work. Anyway in my case it worked no problem.

I happened to talk to an RCBS technician a week ago concerning a competition die issue... I broke the expander ball and bent the rod....duh and he told me they do offfer specific sgtems for varying bullets but they have to be ordered directly from RCBS, plus you caqn order direct, a variety of seater plugs/shellholders so one micrometer seater can do every caliber by changing out the seater plug/shellholder and seating stem.

I do like mine, I have a couple. One thing I found was cleaning the seater with gunscrubber and oiling it to keep the slide and micrometer head working freely.

BTW, he sent me not only a complete expander ball/decapping end for the comp F/L die, but an extra standard expander for the N/S die and new knurled top nuts....no charge. I've never had an issue (this was my own foolishness btw), but RCBS has a lifetime replacement policy on components.

 

[rancher5]

Thanks for the info, very helpful, always liked RCB