Die question

T

TSPIRI

CGN Regular
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Montreal, CANADA
Hello reloaders, I started loading about 3 years ago, and started buying up lots of Lee products to get started. Now it's a few years later and I'm looking to up my game a little, I got a taste of long range shooting this summer and I'd like to purchase a redding competition seating die. Now the die comes alone and in various sets, and as far as cost its not that much more expensive to get a die set.

How much better is the Redding FL die compared to my Lee, and is having a carbide expander really all that much better? I'm definitely getting the seater so I thought I'd look into if it was worth swapping my die.


Thanks
 
The best part of the Competition sets is the seating die. After that; what sizing die is best is a resounding "it depends". In the calibers I use most, I have FL, FL small base, neck bushing, FL bushing and both regular and SB body dies. Even a few collet dies.

I believe that unless you are shooting both a tight neck chamber and sorted or turned brass the bushing dies are mostly a waste of time. It routine to get less case runout with a regular FL die; whether reducing case run-out is going to make any difference you will ever be able to measure is another matter. In a general sort of way the superior internal finish of a Redding FL die over a Lee is worth it by itself, so if you get a good price on what they used to call a Hunter set it would be worth while.
 
Alright thanks for the info, I'm not going to the extremes of fclass reloaders where I weight sort every primer, bullet and case... not yet but eventually I may go down that rabbit hole.

My lee dies do the trick for my hunting ammo, but for my target rifle I'm looking to stretch out to 500 - 800 yards. I was wondering if the die might help reduce variations in my headspace when resizing, and the bullets seating depth is always a little off with the lee dies, there's always a +/- of a strong thousandth sometimes 2 when I compare. I'm not OCD but it pisses me off when everything should be identical, I always have tolerance stacking in the back of my head when my groups aren't tight. DId I throw a tiny bit too much powder is my case volume affecting pressure is one case jumping an extra thou or 2...

No way it's me having a bad day... that's impossible ;)
 
The Lee seating die is better than you think. I doubt you'll find much improvement in seating consistency with the Redding die. The click adjustment is nice, but not a game changer.
 
My dies are 1/3 each:

RCBS

Hornady

Lee

I think they all work well and I've not really had any big failures with Lee dies any more than the others. Although the RCBS has lifetime warranty second to none. The replaced parts for free that were over 50 years old, warn, and paid for the shipping.
 
I won’t buy anything other than a micro adjustable seater die. Worth it 100%.
However even with better dies you still can get a variance in shoulder bump, and bullet seating depth.
Is you brass all in the same number of times shot? Same headstamp? same lot number? High quality brass? do you anneal? Do you hood the press Ram arm a few seconds before lifting? Do you sort bullets by BTOG? Even after sorting, does the bullet comparator measure off the same spot that your seating die contacts your bullet? Always lots of variables to navigate though.
 
Chamber type seating die is the way to go. Some are way more expensive than others, but they are all way better than a simple seating die.

I am a big fan of the bushing type sizing die. Dump the expander ball and just size the neck enough to hold the bullet. Way easier on the brass and the bushing can self centre on the case.

Good dies are expensive.
 
I Dont Care About You said:
Chamber type seating die is the way to go. Some are way more expensive than others, but they are all way better than a simple seating die.

I am a big fan of the bushing type sizing die. Dump the expander ball and just size the neck enough to hold the bullet. Way easier on the brass and the bushing can self centre on the case.

Good dies are expensive.
Click to expand...
Personally I like Wilson seater dies. Pretty hard to beat a seater die that you have to wait for the air to slowly slip past the projectile on its way down to the top of the case. (Not the proper way to use the dies but it is fun once in awhile to do it just to see how straight and consistent your bullet is seated in the case.)
 
Bushing dies work great when you turn necks.
With the Lee collet die, you can size the neck, and take the mandrel out of the die, put your finger over the primer pocket, and insert the mandrel and it will compress air and bounce up and down.
 
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