Hi guys, ten years ago I bought the one of the lee kits with a press, scale, powder dispenser and all the other basics. I've loaded 223, 303 Brit, 308 and lately I'm getting more into 270 win. I've always loaded for the fun of it and if the accuracy was good enough I was happy, but I now have a savage 111 trophy hunter in 270, giving up an old remington 760 in trade. This thing is impressing the hell out of me, consistently grouping around 3/4 of an inch with factory remington 130 grain psp. The rem 760 was also a 270, and the loads I made for it always worked well, got a few deer, shot around 2" which I didn't think was bad. So I am looking at my reloading gear and I am wondering if I should upgrade? Is it really worth it? When it come to dies is there really that much difference between them? Is there anything close to a simple awnser to this? I probably load about 300 rounds of various calibers a year.
Whats the real difference?
- Thread starter SuperJohn
- Start date
Well you will get lots telling you this brand or that is better for this reason or that....
Lee makes decent dies and they guarantee it.
I use lee myself and do not have any problems with them...but I have not tried any others. Not everything lee makes is top quality, but they work and the price is right.
If I was to try any other dies, it would be redding, but they also cost 4 times as much. Are they worth that extra? I don't know, but other will pipe in
If you new gun is getting great groups with factory ammo and you already have 270 dies, what can it hurt to load up some charges for the new gun and see what it gives you. If you do not use Lee crimp dies, you may find that you will get a little more consistency using them.
Just my 2 cents.
Lee makes decent dies and they guarantee it.
I use lee myself and do not have any problems with them...but I have not tried any others. Not everything lee makes is top quality, but they work and the price is right.
If I was to try any other dies, it would be redding, but they also cost 4 times as much. Are they worth that extra? I don't know, but other will pipe in
If you new gun is getting great groups with factory ammo and you already have 270 dies, what can it hurt to load up some charges for the new gun and see what it gives you. If you do not use Lee crimp dies, you may find that you will get a little more consistency using them.
Just my 2 cents.
Some people say yes, some people say no.
There are more than enough people loading accurate ammo (1/2 MOA) with all Lee gear for it to be blamed for accuracy problems.
For loading 300rnds/year I don't see a point in upgrading.
If you where going to go progressive or start competition shooting where you may want micrometer seating dies I don't see a reason to upgrade.
There are more than enough people loading accurate ammo (1/2 MOA) with all Lee gear for it to be blamed for accuracy problems.
For loading 300rnds/year I don't see a point in upgrading.
If you where going to go progressive or start competition shooting where you may want micrometer seating dies I don't see a reason to upgrade.
Have you actually tried to reload for your new, "3/4-inch" rifle?
Especially in hunting-grade ammo, there is nothing you can't do with Lee tools that you can do with more expensive tools.
I have to say though (and it's not clear in your post), that if 2" groups are the best you could do with handloads, you need to do something different with your handloads... and it's not buy new loading gear.
I started on Lee gear, and of all my gear now, the only stuff that's not Lee was upgraded only because another brand of tool made some part of the process either faster, or easier. Those tools would be my powder measure (RCBS electronic), case prep (electric powered... but I still use Lee case trimmers), and one click-micrometer seating die for my precision rifle, because it makes dialling bullets into the lands faster when trying lots of different bullets.
Everything else is Lee.
Especially in hunting-grade ammo, there is nothing you can't do with Lee tools that you can do with more expensive tools.
I have to say though (and it's not clear in your post), that if 2" groups are the best you could do with handloads, you need to do something different with your handloads... and it's not buy new loading gear.
I started on Lee gear, and of all my gear now, the only stuff that's not Lee was upgraded only because another brand of tool made some part of the process either faster, or easier. Those tools would be my powder measure (RCBS electronic), case prep (electric powered... but I still use Lee case trimmers), and one click-micrometer seating die for my precision rifle, because it makes dialling bullets into the lands faster when trying lots of different bullets.
Everything else is Lee.
paperslayer
Regular
- Location
- Chilliwack
Depending on what you are using for dies, you have more finite control over seating depth and neck tension using high-end match grade dies. Let your results speak for themselves. For your purposes, if you can get sub MOA with your set-up, you are not going to get any better with different gear.
I understand for target shooters wanting severely accurate rounds whereas the hunter has more leeway. I use Lee dies for all my 12 different calibers am extremely happy with my results and I don't need to spend any more money than that. All my guns shoot extremely accurate to decently accurate (100 years old), but if you want to drive tacks at 300 yards and up, you might need to spend more money. All the die makers produce great stuff, you just have to decide what you want and be able to justify the money spent !
So, it's the Savage bolt gun that shoots .75 inch groups with the factory ammo that you are reloading for? For openers I'd mark down the brand and number of that factory ammo for sure. Its' a great baseline to compare with your reloads.
Different brands of dies don't make a lot of difference provided that they are properly set up. I've used all of RCBS, Redding, Lee and Hornady dies and really can't see much difference among them. If a person was to upgrade their set up, money spent on a heavy press and a quality scale and case trimmer is always good.
The .270 is a great one to load for and you can't go too far wrong with any of IMR 4350, IMR 4831 or H4831 with a 130gr bullet. I've done quite a bit of load development and testing in a Rem M700 and a Savage 110 and always come back to either IMR 4350 or H4831 loaded near the top end. 130gr Nosler BTs, 130gr Sierra BTs, and 130 gr Hornadys have all proven to be very accurate at MOA or a bit under, and they all knock down deer very well.
Different brands of dies don't make a lot of difference provided that they are properly set up. I've used all of RCBS, Redding, Lee and Hornady dies and really can't see much difference among them. If a person was to upgrade their set up, money spent on a heavy press and a quality scale and case trimmer is always good.
The .270 is a great one to load for and you can't go too far wrong with any of IMR 4350, IMR 4831 or H4831 with a 130gr bullet. I've done quite a bit of load development and testing in a Rem M700 and a Savage 110 and always come back to either IMR 4350 or H4831 loaded near the top end. 130gr Nosler BTs, 130gr Sierra BTs, and 130 gr Hornadys have all proven to be very accurate at MOA or a bit under, and they all knock down deer very well.
I find no difference between my Lee scale and an RCBS a friend has. Are you locking the small slider with the lock stud? I find it's common for people to not realize it's there so the 1/10 grain slider moves all over the place.
Upgrade? Why?
As a general rule:
- For convenience and speed ,yes.
- For better accuracy, no.
The upgrades I did go with from a RCBS rock checker supreme kit, was a Williams case trimmer, redding/forster competition seating and neck sizing dies and a gem pro250 scale.
I consider these excellent upgrades worth the money. Are they more precise, only marginally so. The value they bring to me is speed and convenience of control for making minute adjustments.
As a general rule:
- For convenience and speed ,yes.
- For better accuracy, no.
The upgrades I did go with from a RCBS rock checker supreme kit, was a Williams case trimmer, redding/forster competition seating and neck sizing dies and a gem pro250 scale.
I consider these excellent upgrades worth the money. Are they more precise, only marginally so. The value they bring to me is speed and convenience of control for making minute adjustments.
