reloading dies

[NeedForSpeed]

It depends what type of reloading you do. High volume, pistol and ar15 type stuff Dillon is tough to beat. Other general reloading for hunting rifles...I've had good luck with my Forster CoAx press. Best press ever in my opinion. I use Lee dies in the Forster press (with Forster lock rings) and Produce pretty good quality hunting ammo. My 308 and 223 I want some more precise ammo I use the Forster bench rest dies. I get decent bullet run-out results with those. I don't neck turn or bushing size. I either full length size for most hunting ammo and just bump the shoulder or I use the Lee collet dies. I don't hold any National records for shooting but I'm not after that.

I've got the Forster coax and really like it. I've been using Lee and RCBS dies.
What do the Forster bench rest dies add to the party?

 

[cgarb]

The Forster dies are just well designed in my opinion. The expander ball on the sizer dies are high up in the die that way the case is still supported by the dies some when you drag the ball through the neck and I like the way the seater dies work. If you check bullet run out, you just have less rounds with run out and less total run out.

 

[NeedForSpeed]

The Forster dies are just well designed in my opinion. The expander ball on the sizer dies are high up in the die that way the case is still supported by the dies some when you drag the ball through the neck and I like the way the seater dies work. If you check bullet run out, you just have less rounds with run out and less total run out.

Thank you Ill look into a concentricity guage and some Forster dies It seems like every time I learn something new im out a couple hundred more bucks!

 

[cgarb]

I have the Hornady concentricity gage. It works ok, but I feel a lot of the run out I find is case neck thickness variations. Without turning the necks you are chasing your tail. I feel that when you are making reloading so much anal retentive work it takes the fun out of shooting. If I were shooting benchrest as a hobby that's a whole different story.

 

[ROCKCREEKARMS]

Dies have many brands bought them at pawn shops and gun shows bad ones sent back for repair never had a problem with any, as to scratches well clean your stuff and keep it clean, whos better do not know or care they all work, now for the get down and dirty I do the big neck sizing thing shoulder bump and all the guru sh t use redding, but grunt work rcbs, hornady **** any one works even lee and lee has the crimper market sewn up so in the final look they all get the job done and how can you ask for more than a good job

 

[Kansaswoodguy]

I like cheap Lee dies and in fact I think their collet die is second to none for low runout. I have had to polish the inside of some of them on occasion but that's not a big deal. Runout in itself is a odd duck most guys couldn't tell a difference on paper between .0005 of run out and .005 now get that runout in the .015 range and then one might see a difference. Neck turning is also a huge waste of time and money for most folks they will never see the benefits of on paper. If your OCD then have at it and enjoy. I have and like a great deal a Redding micrometer seating die but I shoot a wide range of bullets in my AR's and it's fantastic for making any seating depth changes. In my 6.5 Creedmoor I use the cheap Lee dies and can shoot sub MOA in a gas gun but never have to touch the die settings because I always use the same bullet. I have nothing agianst RCBS , Lyman or Hornady dies and own some of them also. Powder charges if your actually in an accuracy node do not need to be weighed a .1 grain difference that a good quality powder throw such as the Redding can throw is good enough. In many of my accuracy node loads I can shoot for instance 24gr 24.3gr and 24.6gr groups and a composite group of all three powder charges and get the same result on paper. I load to the middle of such a node so any minor differences like temperature or a slight difference in powder volume or even a change in powder lot will have minimal change on my point of impact. There is a old reloader on YouTube I think his handle is GunBlue490 his video's are spot on and a great deal of reloading knolwedge can be gleaned from him.

 

[Deviant]

That's a lot of questions. I'll tell you my experience. I bought my first reloading equipment in 1976. It was all RCBS. I didn't know much about it back then. Can't say that I learned much about making good ammo then. During college, getting married, and having a family, the reloading equipment was packed away for 18 years.

RCBS made good equipment back in the 70's. When I go back into reloading in the 90's I bought a couple sets of RCBS pistol dies. Both sets had problems. I had to send them back to RCBS and they corrected the problem. Since then I've an RCBS tool and it too had a problem. So now I avoid RCBS and I won't recommend it to anyone.

Nowadays I use Redding or Forster. Both of these companies seem to produce good equipment.

+1 on the above. Ive had nothing but problems with RCBS over the last 5 years. They have really went down the crapper. I have switched to Whidden or Redding dies and a Sinclair mandrel die for expanding. Case concentricty is much better now.

 

[bigedp51]

Any time you have semi-auto firearms that throw perfectly good brass away and makes you go look for it you can end up with scratched dies. When your cases hit the ground they pick up dirt and grit that can become embedded in the die, And wet tumbling with stainless steel media will scrub the cases clean before sizing.

If your dies starts scratching your cases you can polish them with a drill and a snug fitting bore cleaning mop. Just use a short section of cleaning rod and chuck the mop in the drill. Then apply J&B Bore paste, automotive rubbing compound, Mothers Mag and Wheel Polish, etc to the mop and clean and polish the die.

If you are lazy and have a vibratory tumbler with treated walnut media you can polish a die. Just take the die apart and put the die body in the vibratory tumbler and let it tumble over night. The die will come out looking better than new and the inside should have been scrubbed clean of any dirt and grit. The polishing time will vary depending on how new the treated walnut media is and its polishing compound.

NOTE, if you are shooting a standard type AR15 carbine the cheaper Lee dies below with their ridged and "centered" expander will produce concentric cases. And if they become badly scratched you will not cry as much.

Below the Lee clamping expander collet centers the expander in the die, and dies like RCBS and Redding will let the expander be tightened down off center. On top of this if the extractor on a semi-auto chews up your case rims any ding in the rim will cause the case to tilt on the down stroke of the ram. And the only cure for this is a Forster die or a expander die that expands the neck on the up stroke of the ram.

You can use a Lyman type "M" expander with any type die and increase your bullet grip. And just bumping the case mouth on to the .226 section of the expander will aid in straight inline bullet seating. If you do not have enough brass spring back after expanding the case mouth you can use a taper crimp die to aid feeding.

Below I fitted all my older RCBS dies with Forster expander and spindle assemblies to reduce neck runout.

Below a Redding full length .243 die fitted with a modified Forster expander to reduce neck runout. Why drag the much longer Redding expander through the case necks with their increased drag. And a simple neck thickness gauge and a runout gauge will tell you a great deal about where the runout is coming from.

 

[birdiemc]

I like cheap Lee dies and in fact I think their collet die is second to none for low runout. I have had to polish the inside of some of them on occasion but that's not a big deal. Runout in itself is a odd duck most guys couldn't tell a difference on paper between .0005 of run out and .005 now get that runout in the .015 range and then one might see a difference. Neck turning is also a huge waste of time and money for most folks they will never see the benefits of on paper.

So I have often wondered how many on here agree with these statements above. Obviously he is not saying there is NO benefit, just that the majority of folks would never be able to realize it.

 

[Deputy819]

@NeedForSpeed

Check this guy out also. Very good information on reloading and the equipment needed. I've copied many of his techniques. He also has a video series on YouTube that I highly recommend.

http://panhandleprecision.com/