stubbi - Yeep, that's what I'm going for.
Last I knew, Chamber seating was the Wilson and Lee Classic Loader type (holds round in a chamber, uses precisely matched "plug/piston" to press the bullet into the case keeping it lined up.
The Redding/Forster Benchrest/competition dies (also Hornady, but didn't do it as accurately judging from the reviews) are "In-line", in that they will line up everything Before they start pushing items together, using a sleeve that keeps the case steady inside the die. I had read someplace that the Redding Benchrest Micro die actually delivered LESS runout than the Wilson variety - don't ask me for the link though, don't have it in history atm.
But, the consensus is that a press-mounted solution will do the same as the Lee Classic Loader (whack-a-mole) style.
The next question is - do I gain anything going to a Benchrest-grade seating die (HQ Redding/Forster in-line, w/o micrometer), or just stay with the Lee DL die? Keep in mind I'm still a rookie at this reloading thing (1-2yrs tops), and I'll be using a Lee FCD anyways, and have a Lee press.
Oh, Ok. I was not using the terminology correctly, thanks for correcting that.
LOL. I guess you gotta ask yourself, are you content with the level of accuracy you are obtaining now? If not, then is it your rifle which is your limiting factor, or is it your ammunition? If the rifle itself is not capable of the accuracy you seek, then that is where you start in your quest. If the rifle is capable of the accuracy you seek, then you start to look at improvements in your ammunition, and begin to walk the path of diminishing marginal returns, and to some extent, you begin to create the need you seek to satisfy.
Initially, you will need concentric cases, and concentric loaded ammunition. To determine this, you will need to buy a concentricity gage. Easily a $180 for a good one... maybe more. I like the 21st Century offering. Once you begin to see how much your standard sizing dies affect your concentricity, you will begin the quest to rectify that.
You may decide to start with the Lee Collet die, and maybe a Redding body die. Easy $80. Or you may determine that you would do well to use a bushing style die. Personally, I never felt I obtained uniform neck tension with the Collet die, YMMV. If you decide to work with bushing dies then you will want a neck turner. Again I like the 21st Century lathe style neck turner, it works great. Easily $200+, but necessary for uniform neck thickness so that you get uniform sizing with the bushing dies, which, when properly used, will give you great concentricity. In order to ascertain that you are indeed creating uniform necks and uniform tension and excellent concentricity, you will at some point need a ball micrometer. The ball micrometer will set you back at least $80, and upwards of $250 depending on what you choose. Now that you have assured yourself uniform necks and have created brass as concentric as can be made, you may determine that you need to find optimal seating depth.
(As an aside, I found that if I took the decapper assembly out of the FL Lee die, and ran my case up into that die, and then pushed it up into the Collet die, I got really straight, concentric, necks... YMMV).
So, again, now you buy tools to determine where the rifling is in your barrel, and to assist in arriving at the proper seating depth. Easily $50 for the right tools here, including a shoulder gage. Now that you can ascertain your lands, you will be right back where you started... a seating die.
A good micrometer seating die is critical for finding and maintaining the proper relationship of your bullet ogive to the lands in your barrel. So, a die with a micrometer top, which truly reflects the changes in seating depth which the markings on the barrel of the die suggest, will set you back well over $100.
So. I guess, I ask again: what standard of accuracy or precision are you willing to accept. If your brass is not concentric, no amount of seating die will change that, that is an issue for sizing, and that assumes you have weeded out the .003+ case wall thickness brass from your batch which is really an issue of the quality of the brass from the manufacturer. The need for a micrometer seater is in my opinion only in relation to seeking a specified dimension of your loaded cartridge vis the lands in the leade. If you are limited in seating depth by the magazine length into which your ammunition is loaded, then a micrometer die is not, IMO, a wise expenditure.. The Lee Dead Length seater is just fine.
I hope this sort of helped some. For my XTC loads, and blasting loads, and hunting loads, I use Lee dies, and a Lee Classic Cast turret press, and I am happy with that setup. For more precise ammo, more precise tools are required. But in my "military style sporting rifle," a one inch group tickles me pink, and I get that with the Lee dies just as they are.
Regards,
Stubb.
