SmallCaliberCentral

When I got into reloading awhile, I went with the Lee Collet dies for .243. I liked them and picked up .40 S&W and .380 Auto as well. When I bought my Tikka T3 Lite, Cabelas only had the RCBS and Hornady in stock for .204 so I got the RCBS. The bullet seater was terrible to adjust so it's packed up and ready to go back. Cabelas doesn't list any Lee Collet dies for .204 so I ordered one online.

Was it me or are all RCBS bullet seaters like this one? The Lee seater is so easy to adjust and use, I thought RCBS would be way ahead of Lee but I'm not sure now. Just wondering what everyone uses? Thanks.

REDDING!!! but if you are going with Lee I do believe most people would agree with me in saying that Lee would be a better way to go than RCBS. I do have some Lee dies and I have no problems with them. I do not have much experience with RCBS though.

I have not bought RCBS dies in over 20 years. I buy Redding and Forster dies and have been very happy with them. I hear that the upper end Lee dies are good. I have one older set of regular Lee dies and was not impressed with the accuracy from them.

I have not bought RCBS dies in over 20 years. I buy Redding and Forster dies and have been very happy with them.

That makes 2 of us.

IMO: Redding all the way!

+ One more for Redding. Been down the other two roads...... Redding all the way!

Redding or Forster...Both great dies.

I am not overly pleased with my hornady's they leave a ring just below the tip per hornady said to send back in and they would polish out the seater. Me thinks I have never had issues with my RCBS dies just the Hornadys... .o2 worth.

NE: You can "fix" that ring on your bullets by just chucking up your seater plug in a drill, and polish the opening with your finger tip in a rag with Flitz on it, or a piece of fine emery cloth....takes all of 30 seconds of drill time and completely eliminates the indent on your bullets.

Agree with Redding.

Gotta say though, in my limited experience, those Lee collet dies are as good or superior to Reddings type S bushing neck sizers. And for far less $$.

I used RCBS when I first got into reloading, mostly because that's what everybody sold. For pistol cartridges they're ok, but to get accuracy in a rifle I use Redding all the way. Their comp. dies and bushing neck size dies are great. RCBS stuff is alot cheaper, but you get what you pay for.

Redding!

Thanks Rick, I have already got them polished by them, they didn't charge just took alittle time and I wanted them to check their quality control issues was the only reason I returned them to fix.

Forsters setting die with the option mentionned here http://www.forsterproducts.com/store.as ... atid=19938

Redding for sure.

After reviewing my brother-in-law's RCBS die, the bullet seater adjustment was different on mine. His has a threaded rod with a screw driver slot in it and a hex stop nut - cumbersome looking but better than the screw inside another screw that was difficult to tighten while maintaining a specific height.

I return the RCBS to Cabelas and odered a Lee which is what I have for my other 3 sets of dies. The simple bullet adjustment screw with tension held by a simple O-ring is so much better to fine tune those last couple of thousands with. I'm happy now.