Is it worth the extra money?

T

Tikka223

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
74   0   0
Location
New Brunswick
Folks, I am wondering if it is worth the extra money to buy top of the line dies vs basic dies ex: Redding Type S or Match vs their basic lineup or RCBS Gold vs their basic lineup.

I am shooting .223 with the goal of one day (perhaps a year from now) shooting F-class. I am looking for accuracy and I'm wondering if the pricier dies will give me more of it.
 
its really 50/50..

the FL dies, garuntee easy feeding from mags on bolt a semi auto, but will shorten brass life

neck dies only size the neck so the brass lasts longer.. then is some magikal voodo to some people that think a fire formed case is more accurate then a FL sized case. iv yet to see any differance.

i prefere neck sizeing for the sake of brass life.
 
There is a very old saying out there. If a person wants number one Oats then you have to pay the price. If you want number two Oats then the cost is less. If you don't mind the stuff that has been through the horse then the cost is very little. In short the more you pay the more you get and the longer they will last and the better they will work. I have never been upset with an expensive set of dies but I can tell there have been a few cheap sets that I never keep very long. Remember you get what you pay for.

Graydog
 
Accuracy and dies

This is NOT LIKE OPTICS, The two sets of dies I would look at is the redding bushing dies "neck die,body bump die and the seater" or the LEE DIE Delux includes the collet, full lenght and seater DIES. I use both and there is very little difference in run out when the dies are set CORRECTLY in the PRESS.
Bill
 
If you want to compete someday, you'll end up replacing anything in your kit that isn't really good.

Years ago, when first checking runout, I ran ten rounds of perfect zero's through the 6.5/55 on a calm morning. .... Wow.

Chased runout for 20 more years till it finally came together, and have been shooting more consistently since the lights went on.

For me, ... it's Lee collet, "m" die to 2 thou. neck tension, Redding body(when needed), and BR seating die.

Of late, not 1 in a hundred goes over 2 thou. T.I.R., measured just behind the bullet tip.

My rifles love it.
 
Yes huge difference, also depends on what you are doing with your ammo and what you expect out of it. Over the years my opinion has changed, now I will only buy Forster or Reddingfor competition and use RCBS for others. That being said I have made 1000's of great loads with Lee colle dies, I just get angry when they crush the odd $1 a piece Lapua case....Never be afraid to buy the best....
 
I've got a pile of S- neck dies,S full-length dies,S small base dies competition seaters, collet dies, body dies, small base body dies adnaseum.

Observations:

If you are dealing with a minimum spec chambered and necked target or varmint rifle there are measureable benefits. Measureable on a roll test at least, proveing it on a target is another matter. Proveing that the incremental improvement will get you one more point or game animal is another.

On a more ordinary, sloppy chambered factory rifle it changes a bit. If the neck is sized down more than a few thou, it's probable that the high dollar neck die will produce more runout that a plain vanilla FL die. The micrometer seaters are worthwhile for convenience if nothing else.

Conclusions:

If you are a no compromise guy who started his system by picking the specific premium brass, buying his own reamers and building from there, then the premium bushing dies fits into that program. If your setup in more pedestrian, then pickup an extra-large cuppa self-delusion first.;)

Personally, I would have been farther ahead spending the money on good barrels and good brass.:)
 
To the previous post about Lee Collet die crushing your brass, it is my understanding that the only reason a Lee Collet die would crush your case is if you ran the press without brass, then the die closes and crushes the case? If this is correct then it is operator error and not the die's.
 
slick39 said:
To the previous post about Lee Collet die crushing your brass, it is my understanding that the only reason a Lee Collet die would crush your case is if you ran the press without brass, then the die closes and crushes the case? If this is correct then it is operator error and not the die's.
Click to expand...

Lee collet dies are made for a certain range of neck thickness. Think about: the circular area of the collet's fingers are cut to a certain diameter. If the necks are too thick, the edges of the fingers of the collet are squeezing the brass more than the center. If the necks are too thin, the center of the fingers are squeezing the brass more than the edges. The collet will squeeze the brass between the fingers in either of these situations. The dies were designed for US domestic brass and works best with cases that have similar neck thicknesses to those. I have several collet dies and they work well IF the necks on the cases are the right thickness. Mismatched neck thickness will lead to uneven neck thickness in the long run since you're swagging material around, especially with necks that are too thick.

Bushing dies are more versatile than non-bushing dies and provide better alignment in neck-only sizing dies since the bushing is floating and the case body is completely unsupported during sizing. FL bushing dies allow you to tailor the neck tension to the specific neck thickness of the cases you are using. Most regular dies put on way too much neck tension, especially on thick military cases.

The ultimate solution for FL dies is to hone the neck of the die to the specific cases you are using. For 308 Lapua brass, this is around 0.336". With a FL die, even if the neck goes in a bit crooked, it can get straightened out when the body material flows (if things are well lubed and not sticking).

Forster will custom hone their FL dies:
http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/reloading/fl-bushing-dies-vs-honed-fl-dies/
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom