10 Most Popular Reloading Dies...

[BCB]

Or maybe the top 25?...

Anybody have a list of what they might be?...

Thanks...BCB

[lka]

Or maybe the top 25?...

Anybody have a list of what they might be?...

Thanks...BCB

Like company's? Or Calibers?

I can't even think of 10 die company's, lol

[BCB]

Like company's? Or Calibers?

I can't even think of 10 die company's, lol

Guess I should have specified CALIBERS...

Now I just did...

BCB

[jmort]

Here is search result from Midway USA for "Most Popular Reloading Dies"
http://www.midwayusa.com/find?userSearchQuery=most+popular+reloading+dies
Makes sense.

[Artful]

RCBS puts out annually a list of prevous years die sales - here's two years together before O and after...

I have edited this list from RCBS in 2009 and put the ranking of each caliber in the 2005 RCBS list in bold behind.

#1 .223 Remington 3
#2 .45 ACP 7
#3 9mm Luger 17
#4 .40 S&W 21
#5 .308 Winchester 4
#6 .30-06 2
#7 .357 Magnum/.38 Special (roll crimp) 12
#8 .243 Winchester 5
#9 .270 Winchester 8
#10 .22-250 Remington 6
#11 .44 Magnum/.44 Special 10
#12 .300 Winchester Magnum 9
#13 7mm Remington Magnum 13
#14 .45 Colt 14
#15 .223 Remington (Small Base)
#16 .30-30 Winchester 20
#17 .204 Ruger 1
#18 .25-06 Remington 16
#19 .380 Auto
#20 7mm-08 Remington 22
#21 .45-70 15
#22 .300 Winchester Short Magnum 11
#23 .270 Winchester Short Magnum 19
#24 .357 Magnum/.38 Special (taper crimp)
#25 .300 Remington Ultra Magnum 23

from 2008 I found this little jem


Readers' Choice:
The Most Popular Centerfire Rifle Cartridges
(Based on Page Views)

Compiled and annotated by Chuck Hawks
Source: Urchin Web Stats

Most readers have probably noticed that on the "Rifle Cartridge Page" of Guns and Shooting Online there are articles about all of the popular sporting cartridges in widespread use in North America (and much of the world, since Guns & Shooting Online has an international audience), as well as many of the less popular cartridges.

The Web Stats available to me as a "domain name" on the Internet can tell how many page views each individual article on my web site has received. This made compiling a list of the most popular articles about individual rifle cartridges possible.

What follows is a list of centerfire rifle cartridges. These are the cartridges whose articles have gotten the most page views on Guns & Shooting Online during the last complete year for which I have statistics. These are the cartridges in which the greatest number of you, the readers, have been most interested.

1. .308 Winchester - The .308 is one of the best selling cartridges in North America and the world (#5 on most lists), so it is no surprise that it interests many readers. It is the premier all-around cartridge for short action rifles.

2. .270 Winchester - The thousands of page views garnered by my article "The Great .270 Winchester" shows that interest in this classic all-around cartridge remains high. It is #3 on most North American sales lists, and it is popular all over the world. The .270 has been the standard of comparison for long range hunting cartridges for three quarters of a century, and it may be the best balanced all-around + long range hunting cartridge ever devised.

3. .30-06 Springfield - In sales, this is the most popular hunting cartridge in North America, and it is one of the elite worldwide cartridges. Many experts regard it as the best all-around hunting cartridge in the world. The .30-06 is in use on every continent where big game is hunted, so it is no surprise that its article gets a lot of page views.

4. .45-70 Government - The interest shown in this cartridge by the readers of Guns & Shooting Online came as quite a surprise. My article "The Good Old .45-70" must have been well named, as it has gotten a great many page hits. The .45-70 is, indeed, a very good old cartridge, and the most popular big bore in North America.

5. .30-30 Winchester - The .30-30 is one of the top selling rifle cartridges in North America (#1 to #4 on the sales lists, depending on which list you read). Interest in the cartridge remains high, probably partly due to its romantic association with the Old West, and partly because it is one of the best 200 yard deer and medium game cartridges ever designed.

6. 7mm Remington Magnum - The 7mm Rem. Mag. is the most popular belted cartridge in North America, number 7 on most ammunition sales lists. It is a fine all-around cartridge, deserving of its world-wide popularity. So it is not surprising that my article "Long Range Power: The 7mm Remington Magnum" regularly gets thousands of page views.

7. .223 Remington - This cartridge owes its popularity to its adoption by the USA and NATO as a standard military round. But it is also a fine, accurate, varmint cartridge and a pleasure to shoot at the range. Ammunition is widely distributed and inexpensive. The .223 (5.56mm NATO) is #2 on most sales lists and the top selling .22 centerfire rifle cartridge in the world.

8. .270 WSM - The .270 WSM has apparently taken the lead in the short magnum sweepstakes, at least among the readers of Guns and Shooting Online. This is not a surprise, as it is probably the most useful of the breed, and the only one that isn't simply a duplicate of another cartridge.

9. .300 Win. Mag. - The world's most popular .300 Magnum is the Winchester version, which is in the top 10 on most sales lists. This popularity is evidenced by the strong interest shown in this cartridge by Guns and Shooting Online readers.

10. .243 Winchester - The .243 is one of the lightest recoiling, long range, medium game cartridges in the world. It is also a capable varmint cartridge. The .243 is a very popular cartridge worldwide (number 6 on most lists in North America). It deserves the interest that its article receives.

Chuck also has this article
http://www.chuckhawks.com/12_rifle_cartridges.htm

The Question

What if there were only 12 rifle cartridges in the world, all others having become obsolete? Only a dozen cartridges to hunt all species of game, from the tiniest to the largest, everywhere in the world. Which cartridges would you want included on that list?

That was the essence of the e-mail question recently posed to me by Philip Koch, who included his own list (of 10 cartridges) and asked for my comments, plus a couple of additions. After some thought, I composed my list, which corresponded closely to his. I found it to be an interesting intellectual exercise, hence this article. You, gentle reader, might want to select your own dozen cartridges to see how they compare with the list at the end of this article.

here's another list
http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/hunting/big-game/2006/06/alien-rooteroink

[jmort]

Artful beat me to it and his is more recent but same data - his for 2009 and mine from 2005 which is referenced.

Here are some more

HANDLOADING EDITOR, GUNS MAGAZINE

SHOOTING EDITOR, AMERICAN HANDGUNNER

RELATED ARTICLE: RCBS Top 25 Dies For 2005

1. .204 Ruger
2. .30-06 Springfield
3. .223 Rem.
4. .308 Win.
5. .243 Win.
6. .22-250 Rem.
7. .45 ACP
8. .270 Win.
9. .300 Win. Mag.
10. .44 Mag./Special
11. .300 WSM
12. .357 Mag./.38 Special
13. 7mm Rem. Mag.
14. .45 Colt
15. .45-70 Government
16. .25-06
17. 9mm Luger
18. .500 S & W Mag.
19. .270 WSM
20. .30-30 WCF

[Dale in Louisiana]

It tickles me to see the centenarians on those lists:

.45-70 - 1873
.30-06 - 1906
9mm Luger - 1902
.45 Colt - 1872
.30-30 - 1895
.45 ACP - 1911
.380 ACP - 1908

dale in Louisiana

[jmort]

"It tickles me to see the centenarians on those lists"

Some things stand the test of time and for their intended purpose they still can't be beat.

[Legion489]

Sorry Dale, the .45 ACP came out in 1905, not 1911. Yeah I know a lot of reloading books and what not list it as 1911, but that is the pistol that came after the 1905 Colt in .45 ACP, not the year.

[W.R.Buchanan]

"It tickles me to see the centenarians on those lists"

Some things stand the test of time and for their intended purpose they still can't be beat.

This is so true it hurts.

Others on the list would be the B52, C130, DC3, DH Beaver, Piper Cub. All of these airplanes have stood the test of time for one reason and one reason only. They work and they do their jobs so well there is no need for replacements.

The B52 will be the first Military aircraft to be in service for 100 years. It is upgraded and rebuilt continuously. No new airplanes have been made since the 50's. The IRAN (Inspect and Repair As Needed)facility is located at Kelly AFB in San Antonio TX.

The C130's are being made NEW and our Air National Guard Unit at Point Mugu CA has about 10 of the new J Models. These are new airplanes and will also go 100 years. Nothing can do what a C130 can do, and they are without a doubt one of the most versatile airplanes ever built. Gotta love the Hercupigs. I have a good friend who made $200K out of his garage last year making obsolete sheet metal parts for C130's.
They won't be going away anytime soon. Here's a pic of My C130 Horn Button. One of my most cherished possessions.

The DC3 will also be rebuilt until there is no longer a need for them, which in the case of places like Canada, and many 3rd world countries will be forever. The IRAN facility for DC3's is still in operation at the Oshkosh Airport in WI. They can fly into and out of Dirt landing strips better than anything else ever built.

The DeHavilland DH2 Beaver is the mainstay of Bush Planes thruout the world. They haven't been built since around 1954. Each and everyone will be rebuilt until it is physically impossible to do it any longer. Then the ones not rebuilt will be used for parts. There were so many Pratt and Whitney R985 engines made before and during the war no one will ever run out of parts.

The Piper Cub ! The most popular bush plane ever devised. Can land and take off on a dime and can be completely built from scratch or rebuilt using aftermarket parts! It will never go away. There are even Piper Cub replicas available as kits.

Other things that will never go away,,,

55, 56, 57 Chevy's. Jeeps, Model A's 1932, 34, and 40 Fords.

All of these things do can do things nothing else can. They are known as "Ubiquitous." They are everywhere.

My list of most popular reloading dies goes like this,

Handgun: 9MM, .40S&W, .45ACP, .38/.357, .44Spec/Mag .45LC.

Rifle: .223, .308, .30-06, .30-30, .270, .243, .45-70, 7x57, 8x57, 7.62 x 39, 7.62 x 54R

Of these calibers the least popular are the .243 and .270 so what's that tell you?

If nobody had ever invented a new cartridge after 1960 we would have been just fine. The only cartridge newer than that on my list is the .40S&W and really we could do just fine without that one too.

All of these things have stood the test of time. I love this stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Randy

[Ken in Iowa]

Great post WR