Which dies - Lee, Hornady, or RCBS?

[tpcollins]

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.

[ryutzy]

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.

[Sidewinderwa]

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.

[K22]

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.

[Vartarg]

IMO: Redding all the way!

[Rick in Oregon]

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

[willyp19]

Redding or Forster...Both great dies.

[NESHOOTER]

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.

[Rick in Oregon]

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.

[bigcatdaddy]

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 $$.

[restosteve]

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!

[NESHOOTER]

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.

[Varoum]

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

[steve]

Redding for sure.

[tpcollins]

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.