3.5mag

I know this could be as bad as a Ford/Chevy debate but I wanted everyone's opinion. Whatare the best dies out there for rifle ammo (270)? Also, I have saved all of my previously shot brass for relaoding and will be shooting it out of the same gun. Question is, how many times can I expect to get away with just neck sizing before I have to full size the case?

kirby375

RCBS, as to the second question, that all depends on the loads, brand of brass, sizing lube, etc, etc

bigcountry

Best dies out there are Redding competition dies. Especially the seater dies. I love em. I just don't like paying over 100 dollars for a set of dies. So I buy RCBS. I had bad luck with Redding regular dies. Some love em.

Depends alot on your load, brass mfg, etc. But anyone should be able to get 5 loads out of 270 brass. If you anneal your necks every 4th time shot, they should last you upwards of 10 fires or more.

HEAD0001

I agree with BigCountry about the Redding dies. However I have started using the Forester seating die-without the caliper. It is available with the caliper. The caliper makes the die a lot easier to use, but it is not necessary if you pay close attention(and write down) everything you do. I have also started using their sizing die, and I like them alot. IMO the seater is every bit as good as the Redding(they work exactly the same, with the brass aligning encasement). They are priced less than the Redding. As B.C. said-you need to get a good seater. Tom.

Pawildman

I'm kinda favored to RCBS. I guess that's just how I feel about it. I think if you take a reasonble amount of care and check your fired brass, trim it regularly and watch your primer pockets with max load or close loadings you should experience 5 or more loadings per case. I personally toss 'em at 5. Some keep on. I once decided to see how many deer I could kill with a single casing. It stopped at 9, with a blowthru at the top of the web. I don't reccomend doing that.
I also reccomend setting your dies to your individual chamber/gun. You may get some more neck/shoulder life if you are experiencing some neck splitting by annealing. I think this is what bc was getting to..... but I sure don't want to speak for him....

SJAdventures

Not saying they'e the best by any meansjust that I like RCBS, for the $$$ spent they are hard to beat.

speyrjb

I use the standard RCBS dies because they are inexpensive. One of my buddies has a set of RCBS competition dies that has a micrometer on the seating die and it's pretty nice. It saves some time when you are seating the bullets to your desired length but I'm just not attracted to the price. They aren't as expensive as Redding but I still do not want to spend $80 on a set of dies, plus you need a special shell holder for those dies.

Once you get the hang of the course seating depth adjustment and have a good set of calipers you can achieve your desired OAL pretty efficiently. I can normally achieve my desired length to the 1/1000 after 3 trips up the press with the course adjustment because that is all I have ever used.

I would rather spend my money on something else personally, like an electronic powder dispenser.

By the way, does anybody use one of those?If so, what say you? I suppose I should put this in a different post....

rhans53

I haven't had any reason to use anyone's service except RCBS and they are top notch. 6 of 8 of my dies are RCBS. To the electronic powder dispenser, I think they are great or at least mine is. There are times for some reason that it looses it's calibration and I have to recalibrate in the middle of a set but it works really well for me

handloader1

I use Forster dies. Good luck.

eldeguello

Best dies:1. Redding = Forster
2. RCBS
3. Hornady=Lyman
4. Lee - all others

This list does NOT include specialty & custom-made or one-of-a-kind caliber dies that are hand-made.