Man there's a lot of testosterone excreting itself all over this post, I think we should do our best to honestly answer the questions as posed, most else is not helpful. I've been loading for about 45 years, in the '70's I used a Lee Target Loader with a mallet, shot a three round .24 group at Bailey's House of Guns with my Remington 788 in 22-250 using the same case and reloading it at the bench each shot. All that to say that well made dies are important, I haven't found Hornady dies to be well made from a tolerance perspective. I have Wilson, Forster, Redding and 40 year old RCBS dies that when set up properly produce some excellent results. I shot a .12 group with my Wilson's in a .308, using my Forster's I've shot .2 groups at 200. I was going to send some cases to Whidden for my 6.5x55 AI but bought Redding and saved $200. They work just fine. If I were still competing I would get some Whidden dies built for a specific chamber for that anal 'nth degree and be very content with my purchase. Cost is relative, if I feel something has enough overall value for me, I don't worry about cost. I've come to like Forster benchrest dies over most others, I find that they size the web a littler better and the finish excellent. I don't find the micrometer that helpful (I have some Redding Competition dies) so I don't buy them but would never be critical for someone liking them and buying them as they do reduce repeated measuring for COAL. I saw one comment on this post where the contributor said that COAL was not important, I say that it is because that's where consistent jump comes into play. Your personal goals are also a very important component of this post, if you want to shoot tiny near caliber sized groups in competition it's one thing, if you want accurate hunting ammunition it is something else that requires no where near the time and money. Remember that all of these comments, including mine are people's opinions and should be weighted accordingly. Good luck and enjoy!