SmallCaliberCentral

The Ruger 204 will be my first bottleneck cartridge reloading venture. In the past I have done either straight wall or tappered cases. Trying to choose which die set I will need for extremely good accuracy. I have read in the form of that Redding Dies are recommended and I see there are two types I think that I might use. The first is a premium series deluxe three die set or the competition bushing three die set. Would like opinions of which set do you think would be best for my needs please.

Get the best, Forster.

This is like the Chevy vs. Ford discussion, but I much prefer Redding Competition bushing dies for all my accuracy handloading. Their comp seater is the best I've ever used (and I've got about all brands around somewhere), and gives the absolute lowest TIR outside of using an arbor press and BR dies.

Some of my rifles shoot in the high .1's, so I doubt I could get better accuracy out of any other die brand, maybe equal, but certainly not any better. After I switched many of my rifle dies out to Redding, I quit looking at any other brand. Lots of choices though.

Rick in Oregon wrote:This is like the Chevy vs. Ford discussion, but I much prefer Redding Competition bushing dies for all my accuracy handloading. Their comp seater is the best I've ever used (and I've got about all brands around somewhere), and gives the absolute lowest TIR outside of using an arbor press and BR dies.

X2! Like many things, a lot of personal preference on this subject but I've always been partial to Redding dies and when possible I get the competition sets or at the least, Comp seater. I think they just make life easier. But, that doesn't mean I haven't seen good accuracy with other brands as well.

Something that I'm happy to see Redding finally do is they now make a micrometer stem you can purchase separate that'll work on their standard dies.

If you are not already familiar with the Sinclair International website, let me introduce you to the good stuff. Sinclair International carries some of the best reloading equipment out there. I bought an arbor press with strain gauge to reload for my custom .204 and have never looked back. Sinclair's has the quality equipment a lot of shooters demand.

When I first started shooting the 204 Ruger I was reloading using an RCBS Competition Die with the little bullet window cutout to make the job easier. I knocked a couple of rounds over and they rolled across the table. I watched as the very tip of the bullet wobbled up and down indicating that my reloads weren't concentric. Then I bought a Redding Competition Seating Die set and the Total Indicated Run-out (TIR) reduced to almost nothing. Now I roll my rounds across the table just to see if I need to separate any rounds from the group.

skipper wrote:Now I roll my rounds across the table just to see if I need to separate any rounds from the group.

All very good advice from Skipper. The Sinclair catalog also has tech-tips you won't find anywhere else.

Although rolling the rounds across the table will reveal any gross runout, it you really want accurate ammunition, invest in a concentricity gage. I use one from Holland's Gunsmithing, but all of them work well. Sinclair offers a very nice one also. You may not see 'wobble' of a round using the table method, but when that round is checked with a concentricity gage, even runout as low as .001" will easily show up.

Once you've used one for a while, you'll wonder how you ever got along without one. The results on your targets will make you glad you sprung for one also.

Thanks for all the advice… I'm starting to get my components ready while I'm waiting on my rifle to be delivered.

I use Redding's S sizer now for my .204 with the Redding micrometer seater. On my .308 and .260 I still use the Lee collet neck sizing dies with a Forster micrometer seating die which they share. I rarely get more than .001 runout no matter whether I use my old Lee collet or the Redding S die to neck size on my .204 and actually think the Lee collet is a bit more precise. I doubt anyone would ever see so much as a .1 reduction @ 100 yards if you gave them 10 rounds run through Lee vs 10 rounds run through Forster or Sinclair dies if the truth be known. Just my 2 cents worth but go with Lees and spend the money you save on powder bullets and primers because trigger time will bring down your group sizes faster than anything. A micrometer seating die is a nice luxury but I shot many a good group with the old Lee's

For those that like to dis the Lee dies watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZEas38vkKg.

My go-to setup (if I can get them for the cartridge) is a Lee collet neck sizer, a Redding body die and a Forester mic seater.