Best rifle dies

[z06man]

I have only used a couple of types of rifle dies so far, but will be looking for more in the future. My current favorite is the Hornady dies because they have the floating bullet seater which makes it much easier to ensure the bullet stays aligned with the case. Other than that I don't have a lot of reason to prefer them. What dies do you think are best and most importantly, WHY?

 

[Shifty]

Ive only used Lee, and had good results. But Im still a relative rookie when it comes to handloading. Id like to see some good answers on this thread. Ive asked myself a question similar to this one many times, but havent had much luck with finding good specifics on how dies are conctructed internally on websites.

 

[338Shooter]

I have redding, lee and RCBS dies. Reddings are the best IMO.

 

[T.R.]

+1 on Redding.

 

[liliysdad]

Redding and Hornady

 

[Glocktogo]

Redding, particularly the competition dies. I use a mixture of Hornady, Lee and Dillon for everything else. I particularly like the Lee Undersize sizing dies and the Hornady seating dies for pistol cartridges.

 

[Fyrtwuck]

I have a mixture on my Dillon toolheads. It depends on how I want the cartridge loaded.

I use Dillon, RCBS, Hornady and Lee.

 

[DRSNINER]

I am sold on the Lee pacesetter dies,great quality,work well and even if you do manage to screw something up outstanding customer service with most things covered by their gaurentee.

 

[Jeff3C]

Redding Comp gets my vote as the best but they are expensive. Forster make some good stuff too and a little cheaper. I have Redding, Forster, RCBS, Hornady, and Lee. All of them work but the adjustment and consistency is better with some.

 

[Cedar Creek]

I use mostly RCBS and still have some Lyman dies ordered from Herter's 'back in the day'. I have one set of Hornady dies for .35 Remington with the floating bullet seater - it is a throwback to my old Lyman Precision Alignment dies form the late 60's in .22-250. They were popular for small diameter bullets back then because of the difficulty of getting them started without buggering the case mouth.

No experience with Redding dies, but the reports sound good. I may have to try some when I do my retirement rifle - rebarreling a Marlin 336 to 22" slim taper barrel in .25-35 with 1 in 14" twist.

Cedar Creek