redding die question

[sydandpaigesdad]

I have been rethinking my choice of die sets. I am interested in only starting out reloading .308 first and then after I become more proficient I will then move onto .270 a little while later.
Anyways as I have come to this decsion I was looking to upgrade to a higher grade of dies. I have heard great things about redding, but not sure which one would fit my needs as a guy who wants to be as accurate as I can but I will also be hunting. Do they offer a 2 peice kit you would suggest or just buy seperate peices?

Also may be interested in rcbs dies, due to getting the rockchucker press, I think for the rcbs hand primer that comes with the kit I would need rcbs shellholders, would this be ok to use on any other die sets such as redding, thanks in advance. God Bless.

 

[USSR]

I have the Redding Competition Die set for 3 cartridges: .308, .30-06, and 6.5x55. This is a 3 piece set that includes a body die, which is a very handy die. Both the sizing die and seating die have micrometer adjustments, and the sizing die uses bushings which allows you to control the amount of neck tension. Highly recommend this die set for anyone looking for the ultimate setup for developing accurate loads.

Don

 

[Walkalong]

For loading hunting ammo, the Redding, RCBS, Hornady, or Lee standard two die sets will all do a fine job.

If you to upgrade from standard dies, about the best bang for your buck would be to buy some Forster dies. They do a great job. Of course, the Redding dies are very, very nice as well. They give you the versatility of bushing dies as well.

Shell holders are universal. Any brand will work.

 

[sydandpaigesdad]

Ok what exactly is the advantage of the bushings?

What if for example I bought different and bought the standard FL die and wanted to get the competition seater die, would I be able to do this as long as I got the bushing for the seater die?

 

[Walkalong]

Being able to vary the amount of neck tension.

 

[lordgroom]

The bushing does not go into the seating die.

You would use the bushing neck sizing die in place of the Full Length sizing die for shells that were already fired in your bolt action rifle. Shells from other rifles should be sized full length. Most people FL size shells for auto loaders.

The benefits of bushing dies... the neck is sized down to an exact tension and avoids over working the neck as a standard neck sizing die might do. You have to establish the amount of neck tension you want. It will result in longer shell life. Typically, people who use bushing neck sizing dies also turn their case necks for uniformity.

 

[sydandpaigesdad]

gotchya thanks, its always simpler when I can hear it in somebodys terms.

 

[MCMXI]

I have Redding competition dies for .223, .308, .300 WSM, .300 WM and .45 Colt and I just received a set of Redding dies for .45-70 from MidwayUSA today. Personally, I don't think you can buy better dies. I have a number of RCBS dies in the common pistol calibers and they work fine but the competition Redding dies are top-of-the-line. If you're going to order Redding neck sizing bushings, I would highly recommend that you pay a bit more and buy the titanium nitride neck sizing bushings and a nice little Redding box to keep them in. I ended up getting .244 to .249 and .329 to .337 (15 in all) because I wanted options since I reload for 3 calibers in the .300 series and I reload four different types of brass in .223.

Neck sizing as already mentioned reduces fatigue on the neck but it also reduces fatigue on the rest of the case too, and most importantly, it improves accuracy. If you full-size your cases, when the powder ignites some energy is used up to plastically deform the case by pushing it against the walls of the chamber. The rest of the energy pushes the bullet down the barrel (some is lost in the form of heat, sound etc). Anyway, this is not a consistent process and it is highly probable that the amount of "wasted" energy changes with each case. This translates into differences in muzzle velocity which means differences in the point of impact.

It may take two, three, four or more firings of a case in the same rifle before the case if fully formed to the chamber. One way to determine when your case has reached it's maximum dimensions is to measure the headspace after each firing. You will see the headspace increase but at some point it'll stabilize. For example, the chamber on my Remington Alaskan Ti in .300 WSM is 0.001" over SAAMI. The cases started off at 0.002" under SAAMI. The cases didn't all reach the +0.001" measurement at the same time. Some got there after one firing while others took as much as four firings. Also, you might find that the bolt gets harder to close after three or four reloads of the same case at which point you may need to bump the shoulder back 0.001" or 0.002". Personally I try to bump the shoulder back as little as possible i.e. 0.001".

 

[mallc]

Plus 1 for Redding

Redding is hands down the smoothest tooling I'm used. I have the completition dies set for 30-06 and .223 and Deluxe sets for the rest. Much better than LEE and costs a lot more than LEE. If your budget allows, Redding will be your choice.

Scott

 

[ClarkEMyers]

Nothing wrong with Redding but no single die set is the answer to all questions.

Nothing wrong with Redding but no single die set is the answer to all questions.

I do indeed have Redding Competition 3 die sets consisting of micrometer bushing sizing, bump and micrometer seating dies for varmint calibers - .223, 6mm Remington and such as well as for .308 and some others. I also have Redding Instant Indicators and RCBS mics and a bunch of other stuff as well described in Fred Sinclair's reloading book and in the book from Precision Shooting/Dave Brenner - it's a total waste to buy the pricey dies without buying the books first.

Micrometer heads are also handy for making adjustments, mostly seating adjustments, on progressive presses because the micrometer head is accessible and usefully indexed. The Vickerman pattern window seating dies from RCBS (previously available from Wichita and some others) have advantages in some short stroke portable load at the range presses - I use a Meachem Anywhere Press.

Just the same for hunting or plinking loads I may well use a different die FREX I've got a bucket of assorted 5.56 cases that will be used for plinking or EOTWAWKI war reserve that are all going through a small base die with conventional expander setup - in this case also a Redding die with the optional at extra cost carbide expander.

Similarly for big game hunting loads - not varmints but bullet weights from say 130 grains up - in the .308 I prefer fresh cases that are NOT fireformed to a tight fit in the chamber but will fall in and out no sweat under all conditions and in all temperatures. I think it's Forster who offer National Match dies which are no more precise than their other dies - which are all fine dies and I like them too as well as the CoAx press - but differ in being optimized for gas guns by squeezing the fired cases just a tad more than dies optimized for over the course bolt guns.

And just as the finest holster is wasted without a good belt so too the best dies in the world need a good press for the most precise work.

As somebody once said pay your money and take your choice.