How critical is a quality seating die?

I like the bullet seater die (window) in the RECBS Competition dies so when I got a new caliber that's what I got (308)

It also happens to work nicely with what I am loading (30-06) for seating so a plus.

Biggest annoyance is that instead of using the 30-06 shoulder the 308 went to a different one so I can't use my trimmer die on both.

I have to laugh, 308 for better extraction yadi yadi, Brits seem to have done fine with the obsolete 303 for two World Wars, Korea etc and the US did fine with 30-06 so was extraction problem (none) really that big a deal?

Me thinks its the buzz of all new but then that's just my opinion and I get off track.
 
I do agree about Forster dies.I prefer their spindle design.

My interpretation of the OP's post,he already has some Lyman dies,and he does not want to spend a bunch of money if he does not have to.

I spend my money on sleeve type seaters.I like Forster benchrest sets.and I particularly like Forsters spindle.

I make some assumptions.Usually,a .270 is in a big game hunting rifle.
Without limiting the .270 or putting it in a box,its not ordinarily used for bench rest,1000 yd competition,or long range prairie dogging.

Pretty darn good ammo can be loaded with conventional dies,especially if it is setup with care.

For the purposes of a 270 hunting rifle.....I'd use the dies I had and spend my money on an 8 lb jug of my favorite powder.
 
That's a good and practical point of view. I wish I were more practical with my hobbies. It's cheaper. At this point I've already spent the money on this gun and if it benefitted to pick up a different seater, its 30-70 more bucks on top of the already $1200 I've invested. The gun (700 barreled action) was 400, HS stock was 365, bottom metal DBM was 300, Timney trigger was 100+ and the supplies to bed the action were 75 or so. This gun will indeed be used as a hunting rifle but I really enjoy reloading my ammo and if I'm going to do it, I'd like to put forth the effort to get the best results as possible. When I'm testing hand loads at my range, the gun (even though it's a typical big game hunting cartridge) is playing the role as a bench rest gun (at the hobby level) and I just like it to be the best it has the potential to be.

HiBC, please give details on the Forster sleeved seater you mentioned and even compare it to comparable brands and types if you don't mind.
 
While a seater that is sloppy or seats crooked is obviously a problem, many loaders concentrate more on the sizing operation to improve run out.

Some shooters swear by Lee's $20 collet die as producing the straightest cases & thus the least run-out. I'm still testing this.

A famous magazine writer tests his dies & ammo run out & found that on some, not all, sizing without the stem as one step, then with the die backed-off, expanding with the stem as a second step. This seemed to produce the least run out. This was with standard RCBS 2 die sets.

Also, there was some old advice that you should seat the bullet half way, back-off & rotate the case 180 degrees then finish the seating operation. Supposedly this minimized any sloppiness in the seater. I have never found any advantage to this, but to each his own! :)

FWIW
 
I wonder if all else being the same (dies, case prep habits, etc), if using Nosler or Lapua brass instead of Remington or Winchester would in itself have any measurable affect on run out.
 
Here's what I did before I bought the Redding type "S" bushing dies . I bought the standard Redding two die set http://www.midwayusa.com/product/134104/redding-2-die-set-270-winchester

Then added the micrometer seating stem http://www.midwayusa.com/product/72...7-roberts-257-weatherby-magnum-270-winchester

Now that was for 308 but I still use the seating die and went to the FL bushing die . When I stepped up to better dies for my 223 ( was using Lee ) I bought the single seating die and added the micrometer stem for a total of $75 and also went to the FL Bushing die there as well .

I can load some pretty fine ammo with those combo's with out breaking the bank .
 
dahermit, If the seating die does not offer case body support etc., etc.. I would think there was more going on than the make, brand and model. I have had seating dies that were powered by the palm of the hand that did better than that.
Like I said, it was the worst RCBS seating die I ever encountered. I suspect a lemon in that instance. I ended up buying a premium set of dies for that gun, but it was so long ago, I do not remember the brand of dies I replaced the RCBS dies with (I think Redding, but not sure). In any event, runout with the new dies was very good.
 
One good thing about the Lee Collet Die is that it does not care what neck wall thickness your cases have. It still helps to lightly turn the necks. With a bushing die, for best results, your case neck wall thickness needs to be consistent.

These days, for most calibers, I use the Lee Collet Die, which only resizes the neck, until the case shoulder needs to be bumped back slightly. For the shoulder bump, I use a Redding Body Die.

All in all though, unless you have an extremely accurate rifle, fancy dies and special techniques are pretty much wasted.
 
Another practical statement... I'm a big fan of practicality. The gun I'm loading for has good potential and I'll see if it's a shooter after a session or two with hand loads. It's certainly not a custom rifle but it's a REM 700 barreled action wrapped up with good aftermarket parts so it should be sub MOA with the right load unless it's just a lemon.

I have the Forester and Lee collet dies in my pocket for now. I'm going to start with what I have on hand combined with careful technique. Really it will all come down to my groups and runout. If one is way off, I'll switch gears.
 
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