Originally Posted by
1hole
Choosing sizing and seating dies. ??? I do have a concentricity gage and I love it. Rolling a reload over a flat surface while looking for small bullet tip wobble is pointless, any visible wobble is huge.
Lee's Collet Neck Die used with a body die from whoever and good cases make straighter Full Length sized reloads than any other dies I've ever checked - and that's a LOT of dies! (Meaning that NO dies can consistently make straight reloads if we're using lousy cases with bad necks. But, carefully selected cases with lightly turned necks and small weight differences can make some very good ammo!)
We have TWO die makers that make excellent seaters and they are virtual duplicates: Forster/Bonanza's Competition and Redding's Bench Rest. All of the others are pretty much tied in a distant second place no matter what they're called or how much they sell for. I've found as much variation between individual seaters of the same brand as there is between brands!
IME, Lee's simple but tight fitting rifle seaters are generally in the top tier of the second place seaters; I'd rather use it than any other second tier seater of any brand or price.
Seaters with micrometer thimble heads help the loader when making small seating changes but those pretty mike heads don't do anything to improve the actual quality of the ammo.