Redding dies, are they worth the extra?

[Longwood]

I have for sale a set of Redding dies for a 44 that a member is asking about.
Have you used a set of the Redding 'B' dies?
If you have experience with a set,
Do you think they are better made than most?
I know they are prettier than a lot of other brands, but do you seriously feel they are better, quality wise?
Do you think/know they make better ammo?
Do you think $50 + shipping is a fair deal for board members?
Any thing to add?
Thanks

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

I don't have any useful information about the Redding dies except:

If you have a specific application where the Redding dies make sense, they're worth it. If you feel great personal satisfaction using them, they're worth it. Other than those two cases, dies, any brand of dies, are just dies to me.

[303british.com]

I own seven or eight sets of Redding dies. They're nice, yes. Worth more than other dies? I don't think so.

I like their body dies. I like Lee collet dies over Redding's bushing dies. It's the Chevy vs Ford thing, much like Dave In Georgia suggests. Dies are just dies. It's what you like that counts.

[Lloyd Smale]

they have allways been my first choise in rifle dies. Im not really an anal enough rifle reloader to tell the differnce though. I just got in the habit of buying them because i was told back 30 years ago that they were the best. Personaly im not a big fan of lee products but I could get buy with only lee loading dies for everything.

[Walt]

Nearly all my rifle dies are Reddings. I have a couple of Forster seaters and a RCBS 223 X-die that are the odd ones. Over the years I have tried RCBS and Hornady rifle dies and just wasn't happy with them. I recently bought a Lee 223 FCD to see if what some say would hold true for me. The machining is hard to believe. The cuts in the sleeve which creates the crimp are cock eyed and look like they were made with hack saw. The burrs from the "hack saw cut" remain, no finishing at all. I set the thing up to crimp some lack luster AR ammo to see if it would improve accurcy as some folks say it will. The die was leaving gouges in the case neck from burrs still left there too. When it warms up a bit here I'll still give several loads a chance to prove their new found accuracy but....?
For pistol dies the vast majority of mine are Dillon with a few RCBS sets that are sometimes used on single stages. I have a Lee 9m/m-Super 38 taper crimp die I use with a set of old RCBS roll crimp Super 38 dies. The machining is pathetic on it but, it does crimp OK at the point the Super cases engage it. I say yes, the extra money spent for top quality dies is worth it (for me anyway).

[scb]

I buy them because I appreciate the quality. I don't know as they are any better than RCBS tho.

[Whistler]

Ask any serious handgun competitor what brand of dies he is using. Redding would be the answer. If you need more proof than that, get some quality measuring equipment, load up some ammo from each brand of die makers and you will find that the Redding dies are way more consistent in every aspect.

As always though, there is always room for operating errors. I've seen handloaders blaming redding dies for things that would have happened with other brands as well, like over/under crimping or under expanding with lead boolits etc.

When it comes to rifles it is a whole different matter, but for handguns there is nothing like Redding.

[Oreo]

My glocks don't know the difference so I use Lee dies for that stuff. For .223 I use a Redding Competition bullet seating die because I think it's the very best on the market. I use other dies for other stations though because of specific needs. Like, the RCBS X-die that helps retard case length growth, or the Lee FCD because it does a decent job for the price. So, like the other's have said, you have to consider your specific needs / desires for each station. If you just want to crank out ammo Lee will get it done all day long but other products have their benefits.

[canyon-ghost]

I have TC Contenders, Redding makes the B series that fits wildcats. It's as close to custom as you can order retail. I use the B series in 7mmTCU and 32-20, they're some good dies.

Are they worth $50, dang right they are!

[BD]

I have had better luck with them over the years, and they have been willing to make me what I needed precisely when necessary.
BD

[Danderdude]

I am not at all impressed with their 7.5 Swiss K31 seating die. The sizer works great, but the seater simply is not designed for cast boolits, especially those without cannelures.

To seat my NOE K31 boolits, I had to screw the seater all the way out and only engage 1 complete thread, then lock it down. It's still a hair too deep for my liking.

When crimping, the brass would rather try to collapse at the shoulder than crimp properly. The unsupported shoulder would bell out. Everything is designed for jacketed, not cast.

My email to Redding netted me a "Nothing we can or are willing to do about it". I didn't ask for anything to be done, though. I only asked if it were a known issue.

I can't get a consistent crimp with them.

[1hole]

Depends on how much someone is willing to pay for a beautiful but nonfunctional finish on a short chunk of tubular steel.

Forster's rifle seaters, and Reddings copy of them, are very good but most rifles - and shooters - will never see any difference from them.

(All crimpers - except Lee's FCDs - will push and bulge case shoulders back if the crimp is excessive.)

[largom]

I have numerous Redding Competition bushing dies that I use for jacketed rifle bullets. I consider them to be the best to produce the most accurate ammo. However, I do not use Redding dies for cast boolits. Their seating dies will not accept oversized boolits and I do not want to modify a die that expensive. For cast boolits I use a Hornady seating die body but make my own slideing sleeve and seating stem. Your Redding dies are well worth $50.00

Larry

[adrians]

i buy dies as the need arises, most my dies are RCBS which i'm very happy with,
i have a couple of sets of both Lyman and Lee.
my only Reddings i have are 8x57 and 45-70 and i have to say the quality is a tad better than RCBS but the final result is the same.
Are they worth the extra $$$ ?------ err i dunno. :evil::coffee::evil:

[Sonnypie]

I am not at all impressed with their 7.5 Swiss K31 seating die. The sizer works great, but the seater simply is not designed for cast boolits, especially those without cannelures.



That applies to all dies.
Cast bullet reloaders are the unwanted red-headed step children of the reloading industry.
I wish it wasn't so, but can anybody show me any mainline suppliers that offer equipment for cast bullet shooters?
I found I have to adapt or modify stuff.
It is all based on Jacketed reloading. :mad:

[Longwood]

I have TC Contenders, Redding makes the B series that fits wildcats. It's as close to custom as you can order retail. I use the B series in 7mmTCU and 32-20, they're some good dies.

Are they worth $50, dang right they are!

7mm TCU was the most accurate round I had for my Thompson Contender. I used Redding dies for it with excellent success.
I also saw a improvement with my 44 with Redding dies but I shot all jacketed bullets in it when I was competing with it.
I shot 4 different calibers. In all, I used at least 4 brands of dies (n0 Lee) and even mixed brands. I ended up useing a different brand seater for my 30-30.
That sure made a big difference in my group sizes but I can't remember what brand it was. Hornady I think, not Redding.
I used to carry a 100 yard target I shot with the 30-30 from the Creedmore position, in my shooting box. Five shots, all touching but one that barely had white between it and the other four. RCBS die with the different brand seater.
Open sights.

[Longwood]

Thanks guys.
The member was asking for another guy and they decided since he is only plinking, to look around.
Perfectly understood.

[WD2A7X3]

I've found that generally the more expensive brands are higher quality in terms of matereal. But they all load accurate ammo. Lee are great dies for the money but rust easier and the finish work is lower quality but it's usually the part that dosen't matter on the outside.

Redding is deff. worth $50 because the steel and machine work is higher quality.

[Sonnypie]

I just poked around and came up with this: Redding Dies Series B (http://www.eabco.com/store/products/Redding_Series_B_Standard_2_Die_Set-420-87.html)

Might be why the cold feet?

I grant you I didn't see 44 listed....

[canyon-ghost]

That sure made a big difference in my group sizes but I can't remember what brand it was. Hornady I think, not Redding.


Longwood, Hornady dies are really good too! I have two sets of Hornady dies I use.

[Longwood]

I just poked around and came up with this: Redding Dies Series B (http://www.eabco.com/store/products/Redding_Series_B_Standard_2_Die_Set-420-87.html)

Might be why the cold feet?

I grant you I didn't see 44 listed....

Sonny, Sonny, Sonny,:roll:
The 44 needs a 3 die set.:grin:

[Longwood]

Longwood, Hornady dies are really good too! I have two sets of Hornady dies I use.

When I was shooting at little critters too far away to see, I loaded all rifle rounds, using a friends equipment. He had all Herter dies, but the seaters he used were all Hornady.
That is why I bought the Hornady seater years later for the 30-30.

I just remembered a "Funny" about him.

He had a range on his property clear out past 1000 yards in Oregon and he taught me to practice long range varmit hunting by smearing a very thin film of dog poop on a white piece of paper then shoot at the flies that landed on it.
Really good way to learn how to quickly get onto a tiny target that will move soon.
We did that at 100 yards and my Sako 243, rechambered with a sharp shoulder, rarely missed if the fly hung around very long.

[Danderdude]

That applies to all dies.

I found I have to adapt or modify stuff.


How have you gone about it, if you don't mind my asking?

[Wayne Smith]

That applies to all dies.
Cast bullet reloaders are the unwanted red-headed step children of the reloading industry.
I wish it wasn't so, but can anybody show me any mainline suppliers that offer equipment for cast bullet shooters?
I found I have to adapt or modify stuff.
It is all based on Jacketed reloading. :mad:

RCBS Cowboy dies, Lyman M dies. Granted, not much, but let's not ignore what is out there.

[44 WCF]

I have mostly Hornday New Dimension for jacketed bottle neck stuff. due mostly to the expander ball and zip loc stem. A coupel RCBS, Several Lee's, no problem at all, and a lot of Lyman for my cast bullet rounds as I really prefer the M Expander die. I have a few Reddings and they are very good quality also.

[canyon-ghost]

Dog poop? Lol.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I got here late but feel compelled to add my.02

If Redding dies were the same price as RCBS dies then they would be worth the money.

I have several sets of Redding dies and in every case I bought them used and got them for virtually nothing. They are all nice dies.

I am a machinist. I look at all things that I buy or come across with an eye towards the machine work that was done to create them. This is what I do.

I have a very dim view of those who purport to be "the best" when I have many examples that say they are not even as good a the cheapest tools out there IE LEE. When they say Lee stuff is "entry level" it implys that theirs are some kind of "Master Grade" and when I see dies with burrs on the turned surfaces, inconsistant finishes, threads that are not deburred and knurling that is incomplete or poorly done. I have to say BS!

If you look a knulring it should be sharp and the individual pyramids should be fully formed, and there should be no lines of tool travel visable in the knurled field. These are all signs of poor machining, and poor quality control.

When you say you're the best. You need to act like the best. There is NO Machine shop on this planet that turns out 100% perfect work all the time. The key is to not let anybody see your bad work. That means you reject some product as not up to your companies standards.

If you just sell that substandard product to Midway as seconds to keep from scrapping it, then you are no longer the best. You are just another machine shop.

I have bought exactly 2 sets of Redding dies new in the last 3 years. I rejected them all and sent them back with very nasty letters explaining my disgust with their "can do no wrong" attitude.

If you're going to say you're the best, then you need to act like the best. There is no compromise in "Best" there is only perfection.

I donot see perfection in Redding products. Hence my statement "if they were priced similar to RCBS they'd be fine." And that's not to say anything bad against RCBS!

Are they worth the extra money. Not no ,,,, Hell no!

The fact that they don't know this means you need to look elsewhere. RCBS makes good stuff at reasonable prices. Lee makes the most inexpensive stuff out there and machine work wise I think they are the best. If Lee would just take more time to deburr and then maybe chrome plate their dies they would be way ahead of Redding as far as machine work quality..

just my .02

Randy