Diminishing returns on reloading dies

SavageHunter11

SavageHunter11

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Jan 17, 2017
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My barreled action in 280A.I. should be arriving soon and I've been starting to plan out my load development. Been trying to decide how much money to spend on my reloading dies. At what price point do you start to get diminishing returns on your reloading dies? I was looking at a 3 die Redding set (Master Hunter series I think?) for about $120-$130 but i don't know enough about reloading equipment to know if this is the best way to spend my money for reloading dies. Any help, advice, or guidance would be appreciated. Thank you.
 
The very best setup humanly possible is to get yourself a Lee collet neck sizer die and fire a few pieces of brass 3 times with only neck sizing it. Dont size at all after the 3rd firing and send a few of these pieces to a custom die manufacturer such as Whidden and get a custom die set with a full length NON BUSHING sizing die.

The second best thing and much cheaper route to go would be to get a set of Forster dies with full length non bushing sizer and a set of the Redding competition shell holder's for your particular cartridge.

Redding produces pretty good dies but you can have better for less money by going with Forster.
 
I generally make the decision based on what I'm using the rifle for. I have both Redding and RCBS dies. I just bought a light weight Weatherby Altitude in 6.5 CRDM. It's my close quarters woods gun. I figure 95% of my shooting with it will be under 200 yards so I got standard RCBS dies for it and they are more than sufficient. For my 6.5-284, 6.5 X 47 and my .204 for that matter, I went with the Redding Type S dies and could not be happier. I think that 280 AI, as a custom build justifies the extra expense for the Reddings. Good luck.
 
I just recently purchased a set of RCBS Gold Match Die Set based on a recommendation of a well known gunsmith and I am very happy with its quality and what it produces. The reason going this route is rumor that Redding has slipped in its quality. However, I have Redding, Whidden, lee and RCBS and have no complaints with any of them.
 
Rick Richard said:
I just recently purchased a set of RCBS Gold Match Die Set based on a recommendation of a well known gunsmith and I am very happy with its quality and what it produces.
Click to expand...

I'm glad they worked out for you. When I got my .204, I thought I'd try the RCBS competition series set that had the micrometer seater and that convienient little window that you can load the bullet through. Only problem was they produced too much run-out (.006) and I always had to correct them on my concentricity gauge. I find that the Reddings consistently produce less than .002 run-out and it's gotten to the point that I don't even bother checking for run-out after seating when I use them. All that said, I agree RCBS still makes a pretty decent die for most applications.
 
YZ-80 said:
I'm glad they worked out for you. When I got my .204, I thought I'd try the RCBS competition series set that had the micrometer seater and that convienient little window that you can load the bullet through. Only problem was they produced too much run-out (.006) and I always had to correct them on my concentricity gauge. I find that the Reddings consistently produce less than .002 run-out and it's gotten to the point that I don't even bother checking for run-out after seating when I use them. All that said, I agree RCBS still makes a pretty decent die for most applications.
Click to expand...

In the RCBS competition dies, you need to take the little pin out that holds the bullet in the window. This is what is creating the .006" of runout. With the little pin removed these dies will generally load ammo with less than .001" of runout on well prepped cases.

The little pin is held in place under an o-ring in the bottom sliding collet. Take the die apart, pop the o-ring out of the collet and the pin falls out. Put the o-ring back on and load.
 
i disagree with a non bushing die.
neck thickness can vary by lots even if turned.
no way to vary neck tension without a bushing.

just not a good starting point IMHO

Lonewolf74 said:
The very best setup humanly possible is to get yourself a Lee collet neck sizer die and fire a few pieces of brass 3 times with only neck sizing it. Dont size at all after the 3rd firing and send a few of these pieces to a custom die manufacturer such as Whidden and get a custom die set with a full length NON BUSHING sizing die.

The second best thing and much cheaper route to go would be to get a set of Forster dies with full length non bushing sizer and a set of the Redding competition shell holder's for your particular cartridge.

Redding produces pretty good dies but you can have better for less money by going with Forster.
Click to expand...
 
I don't think you would be disappointed in the Redding Master hunter set I have noticed Redding is now making two diffrent style of micrometer seater dies I have the older style and it works very well. For my next set I'm going with the Forster FL non bushing sizer and Forster micrometer seater. Probably about the same money if you catch the Redding set on sale.
 
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