Redding Master Hunter Dies

[jcw001]

Primary shooting is hunting and target practice for hunts. We hunt with: .556, .308, 30-06 and 300WM.

I need a die set that can reliably load almost any cartridge as we change out based on game we are going for. I have been using Hornady Match dies in a Hornady LnL plant which I picked up for a song, but I want dies that are more accurate and repeatable in quality load.

I am looking at Redding Master Hunter dies, but tbh, the line up they have is a bit overwhelming. From what I can tell, the Hunter dies are what I'd want.

Any thoughts on these dies from someone who uses them and any advice on other dies that would work better?

Thanks in advance.

 

[spife7980]

More accurate and repeatable... its an inanimate object.

What is it about the hunter dies that you want?
Its a comp seater with a normal full length sizer, nothing exotic or anything.

 

[FLIGHT762]

The Hunter 2 die sets are nice since they come with a Mic. seater. The F/L die is a standard die. At $200.00 a pop, you will be in @ $800.00 for the four die sets. I do use the Mic seater in my precision 308's. It is a nice seater.

Since you already have the Hornady dies, I would just get the Hornady Micrometer top seater. You would only need to buy 2 of them for you four cartridges since you can switch them out on the other dies. The way the Hornady Mic top is designed, it has a stem that pushes the seating stem in each die. I use them on my hunting calibers for 30/06, 300 WM, 270 Win. 260 Rem. and 223. I switch out the Mic on the longer cartridges 270, 30/06 and 300 WM and the other for the 223 & 308 since they are set up for the shorter cartridges. The Mic seaters are about $40.00 each.

You keep notes on the mic settings for bullet seating depth in each caliber and just keep the long and shorter one seperated. Setting are repeatable in each cartridge. It works great and for me, has low measured runout.

Are you current Hornady dies not giving you good results?

 

[Bigfatcock]

Do you sort your bullets with a comparator?

 

[jcw001]

Yes, I have the Hornady comparator kit. That is why I'm asking this question. There seems to be a sizeable difference across loads.

I am also concerned about runout.

I am wondering if a full length die set with a mic seater will help with longevity and accuracy.

 

[spife7980]

I am wondering if a full length die set with a mic seater will help with longevity and accuracy.

No

 

[jcw001]

No

Thanks for the reply. In all of my reading, it seems the Redding dies cause minimal run out compared to the Hornady match bushing dies.

I appreciate straightforward advice as I have no need to spend money needlessly.

 

[spife7980]

You’ll find just as many people say Redding is trash as those that say hornady is trash.
Sure, maybe luck of the draw gets you a particular die that’s better than average but you’re just as likely to get one that’s below average and worse than what you’ve already got.

If you do want to spend money on improvement consider removing the expanding from the sizing die and adding on a separate neck mandrel for your expansion. Pushing down on the case will deflect less than pulling on it when expanding the neck.

 

[Supersubes]

Thanks for the reply. In all of my reading, it seems the Redding dies cause minimal run out compared to the Hornady match bushing dies.

I appreciate straightforward advice as I have no need to spend money needlessly.

Are you actually measuring runout now?



What spife said above covers it.

 

[AllenOne1]

I'm not seeing where you are lacking on accuracy or consistency from you first post. Are you measuring base to ojive and seeing inconsistent lengths or measuring runout and it is higher than " " or are you seeing this on the target? Round not fitting in chamber properly?

I have doubts that new dies are going to help unless you are having a issue specifically related to one die. Don't buy the crap about Hornady dies being junk, they can actually turn out some very good ammo.

There are a lot of other things that need to be looked at before replacing dies or you just carry the existing issues over to the new dies.
Are you using matching brass from the same lot?
Are you keeping brass with the chamber that it was originally shot out of? Not moving it between rifles.
Are you annealing your brass to maintain better consistency as the brass ages? Is so how often and what method are you using?
What bullets are you using?
Are you measuring base to ojive of the bullet itself?
Are you weight matching your bullets? Sorting by bullet weight.
Have you thought about taking the expander out of the die and finish expanding the neck to final size with a mandrel die?
Have you went through your LnL press with a fine tooth comb to make sure it is tight and cycling smoothly?
The list could continue to go on.

Identify a specific problem and address that, one issue at a time and it will come together.