what is your opinion on rcbs competition or match dies?

[lee_stu1]

I'm getting started in reloading and have an option to buy in a group buy. Prices are fantastic but what are the pitfalls if any of the RCBS dies?

 

[jamesh]

The Gold Medal Match dies are excellent. I now prefer them over the Redding Competition dies, for long cases anyway.
I use the Full length bushing die for resizing, they are nearly identical to the Redding type-S FL bushing die. I like the window for inserting the bullet in the seating die for long cases.

James

 

[LRPV]

I have had problems with the seating stems not fitting the bullets and leaving marks and/or completely bottoming out especially with any of the higher bc bullets. They can custom make a stem to fit the bullets you are using but that is at an extra cost and more time to wait. I have switched to Forster dies for almost everything and have had no problems with them at all. The window is nice on the RCBS but that is the only thing I miss.

 

[clowdis]

Frankly, I don't see much difference in any of them as far as quality goes. There are different features for different manufacturers and styles, but RCBS is as good as anyone.

 

[jr600yd]

I have used standard RCBS dies for years and been very satisfied with them. Tried the competition dies (223) and had a LOT of runout using thier bullet seater. Finally gave up on them and went with Forster and Redding dies.

 

[Laurie]

Same results as jr600yd, with .223 Rem too. The seater is very easy to use with the 'window', but the runout was terrible. A friend had exactly the same result and got rid replacing the RCBS dies with a Redding Competition set. This was around 7 or 8 years ago, so they may be better today, or maybe it's an inbuilt fault caused by the die design. I also picked up a .222 Rem RCBS Comp die set at a giveaway price a year or two back and runout was bad with its seater too. But... again this was a fairly old die set, so criticising it may be unfair.

Norman Clark, one of the UK's top match rifle builders, and a demon handloader, told me once that he used to load lots of .223 on a turret or progressive press - I can't remember which now - with the RCBS competition seater in one die station followed by a Redding Competition seater in the next. He'd also found the RCBS die lacking but liked the easy bullet insertion, so rather than get rid of it, used it to just start the bullet in the case then followed up with the Redding to seat it fully which worked out fine.

Laurie,
York, England

 

[SS427]

I have a set of the cheapest .223 FL RCBS dies available and on average they give less than .002 runout. I have the companion neck die that goes with this set, and using the same FL seating die after I neck size, I end up with .005 to .007 runout. The neck die is hosed. Have tried swapping out the expanders but that didn't work. The die itself must be off. I would sell it but would feel guilty. Probably toss it into the scrape metal barrel eventually.

I used a 20% offer from Cabelas and got the Redding Competition set and now get runout between .000 to .001....occasionally above that but not often. These dies are some of the best, but are not cheap.

Bottom line on dies, I've found even the cheapest ones can be awesome. If they are made perfectly, they produce near perfect reloads. But the odds of that is hit and miss. You save money on dies you could end up with junk. If you can afford it, get the Redding Competition. The odds of getting good dies go up big time if you do. Like they say, buy once and cry once.

 

[NorCalMikie]

I've got RCBS Compitition seater dies that I've made for "dedicated" claibers. .223,.308,6BR and 22BR.
By drilling the hole in the seater stem a little deeper, they work real good on the Berger VLD bullets. No more "bottom out" problem. Sent one back to have it modified and drilled the rest my self. I "love" the loading window on the seaters!
Love to have one for the 6.8 SPC.

 

[Hector]

I have been using Lee Collet Dies, And RCBS Gold Medal Dies for quite a while and have had excellent results. I use RCBS X Sizer when full lenght resizing to cut down on trimming. I am not a bench shooter, but varmint loads and hunting loads are great.

 

[Steve Blair]

I own both RCBS and Redding Competition sets in .223, .22-250, .308 & .30-'06. Additionally, I have several other calibers in Redding Competition sets. The RCBS FL sizing dies seem fine but the seating dies, in all four cartridges, produce terrible runout. The Redding seating dies produce .000-.002, consistently. All results were obtained in a Forster Co-Ax press.

 

[Rust]

Buy the Redding Competition Seating die so you only have to buy a seating die once.