Are high-end dies worth the money?

Started out with a green press and dies when I was 15 years old. Still makes better ammo than factory.
Bought a set of dies for 40S&W and bought Lee recently. Have this feeling of guilt like I cheated on my wife or something. I'M SORRY RCBS!!

Caplock said:

Started out with a green press and dies when I was 15 years old. Still makes better ammo than factory.
Bought a set of dies for 40S&W and bought Lee recently. Have this feeling of guilt like I cheated on my wife or something. I'M SORRY RCBS!!

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Funny.

I also started with a green press around 1986. Everything on my bench was green for quite a while, but now there are more colors.

I should be ASKING the guy who has been doing this for 40 years this question, not ANSWERING it.

I use Lee dies for my father's and grandfather's old hunting rifles I inherited. I don't plan on doing anything fancy with them. (At this time.) So, straight out-of-the-book recipes, no tweaking, the Lee Dies do exactly what they are supposed to do. I started with 22-250 on RCBS dies, 38 grains of H380 under a hornady 55 grain bullet, and whaddaya know, it worked......exactly like it's supposed to. 1/2" groups.

Now I am about to start reloading for ARs in 5.56 and .243, and I will get small-base dies to start with since they are for autoloaders. I want to stretch the .243 out to some long distance, so I may get a high-end seating die, like a Forster. But that's after I have decided that conventional dies aren't good enough. (I may not even hit that level.)

If I were shooting at 1000 yards for bullseyes; yes, I would have the best. I am not doing that so I buy standard RCBS and Redding dies. I have been re-loading since 1976 and I have not seen the need for the high priced dies. But, that could change tomorrow.
kwg

RealGun said:

I have a micrometer seating die for 41 Magnum because I couldn't find anything else at the time. I haven't used it in years, because if I buy 500 bullets, I have used a dummy round to set up and won't revisit the die adjustments for the duration. The micrometer is set for XTPs that I rarely have to replenish, so it effectively is a die that cost way more than necessary, given die choices for the cartridge.

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I agree. I do not use micrometer seaters for my handgun ammunition because I set up for one style bullet that I load the same bullet for a while. Like you, if I had bought a micrometer seater die for a handgun cartridge, the feature would largely be un-used.

But rifle is a different matter--sometimes. Some rifle ammunition I load different bullets for the same cartridge for different applications and the micrometer seaters are nice for quickly reseting the seater stem.

But, for rifle bullets and ammunition that do not change, the micrometer seater is not necessary. My generic 30-06 Garand ammunition is an example, I load the same bullet for ever for my Garands. I do not need to adjust the seater stem on the seating die for that ammunition.

But on the other hand, I like the RCBS Gold Medal seater die, a very premium die. For what cartridges that they are available, I like the way they operate even though I may not take advantage of the micrometer seating feature.

As expected answers vary. I have custom size dies, made for a particular chamber reamer that are more expensive than some off the shelf size dies and they produce excellent results. Other things, I can load with the cheapest dies on the market and not see any difference at 15 yards, with the most expensive dies one could buy.

If it’s not too obscure, you can buy and try the “good stuff” and sell it off, if it doesn’t do anything for you.

I bought a competition seating die for my .357 after having a really bad experience trying to load wadcutters with the Lee die. I like it a lot. Enough so that I have since bought seating dies for .41 mag and 6mm. I bought used Redding and RCBS sizing dies for these calibers too. I still use the Lee through the die expander die. I thought the upgrades were worth it to me. So my answer is that if you can easily afford them the better dies are well worth it. The sizing dies are "slicker" and require less lube and the seating dies put the bullet in straight. It is more fun to reload with them. And they might make the ammo slightly more accurate. What is not to like?