Proper dies needed for high quality .308 rounds

Bart B. said:

If you're using a full length bushing die or a standard FL die with a honed out neck, yes remove the expander ball.

You don't need to turn necks unless the neck wall thickness varies more than .002". Most cases won't need it. Never saw any difference between neck walls with zero tolerance in thickness to those with up to .003" spread. A .002" spread will make the case mouth .001" off center in the neck and .001" off center in the chamber which ain't no big deal at all. 308's with .003" bullet runout at their tips will shoot half MOA at 600 yards; well under 1 MOA at 1000.

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Isn't 1/2 moa at 600 yds also 1/2 moa at 1000? It's an angular measurement.

Back on topic as others stated a micrometer seater is the same level of precision as the non mic version, just more convenient.
Redding bushing FL dies are nice because they can be tuned for many applications, and they are very high quality.
I've been playing with the rcbs "X die" for 308. Interesting design, but not sure if it will fit with my reloading style.

Paddy said:

Isn't 1/2 moa at 600 yds also 1/2 moa at 1000? It's an angular measurement.

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Yes, but bullets don't subtend the same angular dispersion all the way down range to distant targets. The spread of muzzle velocity and subtle air currents cause that dispersion to increase about 10% for each hundred yards past the first 100.

For example, a 308 Win load with a 50 fps spread in muzzle velocity will have about 1/10th inch/MOA vertical spread in drop at 100 yards. At 1000 yards, it's 2 MOA; 20 inches.

Sometimes, 1000 yard groups will be smaller in angle than at midrange when bullets leave the muzzle on its upswing and slower ones go out at a higher angle to compensate for their greater drop at 1000. This enlarges their 600 yard groups.

Not a BR shooter, just an AR10 but the RCBS works fine for me. I do use the Lyman M die expander. HIgh $ stuff is for long range/comp. shooters with the 'better' rifles..