RCBS Competition Dies

sandman22250

sandman22250

Active member
Any of you use RCBS Competion Dies i was thinking of getting a set in 22-250 and just wanted some feedback if they are worth the money? and do you like the bullet window on the die or is it just a pain?
 
I have a couple sets and they are a dream to use! Feeding the bullet in the window you refered to is much easier and uniform than holding it freehand under the die. The micro adjustment is wonderful and makes dialing in the exact COL a snap.

I wish I had these for every caliber I reload! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif


Dave
 
Quote:
I have a couple sets and they are a dream to use! Feeding the bullet in the window you refered to is much easier and uniform than holding it freehand under the die. The micro adjustment is wonderful and makes dialing in the exact COL a snap.

I wish I had these for every caliber I reload! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif


Dave


+1- the seater die is awesome. the only problem is that if you are useing a progressive press you may not be able to use it. the seater uses an extension shell holder to acomadate the extra length of the die with the micrometer adjustments. lee
 
The other side...

I bought a bunch of them years back and was VERY disappointed.

They looked kewl, but were not any more precise than standard dies.

If your rifles are accurate enough to take advantage of match grade dies, then look at the forester and Redding dies.

NO SERIOUS match shooters use RCBS dies of any flavor.

I have 5 sets of the RCBS "Comp" dies that haven't been used in ~15 years.


.
 
Quote:
If you rifles are accurate enough to take advantage of match grade dies, then look at the forester and Redding dies.




As BAD as I hate to.......I have to agree with Shooter on this one. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I am using the Redding dies and like them. They have actually made a noticable improvement on one of my rifles. I'm sure there were benefits on my other rifles as well, but not as noticable.

I'm sure the RCBS dies are great, but I KNOW the Reddings are the real deal. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Steve,

No offence but it's hard to agree If you have not used them! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif



I've got Redding, Lee, RCBS and dies you have not even heard of. Maybe I'm not a Serious Match shooter but I've fiddled with lots of stuff and the Comp dies are great for the money IMHE!

Give one a whirl then come back with your input. You may have some good things to say. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif


LOL, Dave
 
Steve,

No offence but it's hard to agree If you have not used them! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif

I think you mis-interpreted my response Dave. Or perhaps I wasn't clear. I was agreeing with the statement about the Reddings being great dies.....not that the RCBS was not.

Give one a whirl then come back with your input. You may have some good things to say. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

I DID have a good thing to say...."I'm sure the RCBS dies are great, but I KNOW the Reddings are the real deal"....wasn't a knock on RCBS. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif

Sorry if I wasn't clear about the statement. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
I just bought a 3 die Deluxe set of Redding dies from Sinclair. I set them up a couple nights ago and loaded about 10 rounds of 243 with them. Several nights before I had loaded about 30 rounds with a brand new set of the plain jane RCBS 2 die sets, which I have always used for all my rifles. I will say that the Redding dies impressed me. The die box is very useful as a shell holder to start with. It came with the appropriate wrench and an extra decapping pin, never got that with the others. The finish of the dies is great, and set-up seemed much easier. The lock rings seemed to hold better without the slippage my RCBS usually gives me. I haven't gotten to try the neck die yet, but expect I'll find the same results as the full length die. The RCBS dies leave a sharp ring around the ogive of my bullets and the sizing dies leave streaks and rings at the base of my brass. The Reddings seat the bullets without a mark and the cases come out sized and unmarked. Did I get a good set of Reddings or a bad set of RCBS /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif? I think I know why I paid the extra $30 now and it wasn't just for the extra die in the set /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif. I'll definately by Redding the next time before the RCBS, even if they cost a little extra /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif.
 
Well... here's the deal.

The RCBS Comp sizer uses a high expander ball, which is NOT available in the standard RCBS sizers - that's nice, but Forester uses the high expander ball in ALL of their sizing dies... no extra charge.
(The Redding standard sizers, both FL and Neck, SUCK!!)

On the seaters - the RCBS uses a poor copy of the original Vickerman design, copied (cheaply) when the Vickerman patent ran out.

In the Vickerman Seater, the sliding sleeve was an air gauge fit (less than 0.001" clearance).

The base of the sleeve was bored so the case neck went inside the sleeve. Plus the bore hole for the bullet was ~0.0015 over bullet size.
So alignment was absolute!!
They were expensive (about $175 in today's worthless dollars).

The RCBS sleeve is loose in the die body (it rattles), plus the base of the sleeve is just a cone, so alignment is approximate. Plus, the bore hole for the bullet is way over size.
So the bullet rattles in a sleeve, which rattles in the die body, that sits on top of the case with no alignment! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

The Forster and Redding seaters use sleeves that have a complete cut chamber in them - there is no place for the bullet to go except straight into the neck - the same each time.

And I have owned all of the above (and more).

There is a company that has re-introduced the original Vickerman dies again for around $75 and up...

http://www.gmwvickerman.com/new_page_1.htm


.
 
learning lots of cool stuff today. ive been using rcbs comp dies for about 15 years when i found some at a gun show reasonable. they are in 243. they have always given me good service, most of my loads were more capable than me. countless deer, yotes, gophers, badgers, stray cats, wilderness kittys(skunk), have all fallen to the loads. i have 4 duces that i load for, the worst one shooting 3 quarters and the good ones shooting 3 eights. all my guns so far are -off the shelf-, with minor home smith work, bedding, bolt lapping, barrel floating, trigger adjustment. thanks to ackleyman, i have my first competition barrel and reamer coming, pacnor 3 groove , going to end up 6-250 on 700 sendero. time to start entertaining neck turnig, die choices,etc, all the stuff that goes with serious bench work. are the rcbs dies worth the money, for the stuff i turned out and convenience of the seat die, i thought so. will a custom set for my new project be adequate; probably. but it sounds like maybe for the same or slightly more there are way better ones out there. with the investment in custom guns, the extra few bucks may well pay off. lee
 
Thanks guys looks like Redding dies are well liked im going to get a set and try them out /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
I am not impressed with the amount of runout they allow in the seater die (RCBS). I feel the Redding comp dies make much straighter ammo.
 
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