Friends-

If a fellow such as myself is really trying to minimize "runout" in his reloads are the Redding Competition Die Sets worth the considerable money that they cost or is their a less expensive route to go?

A potential alternative would be a Redding Type S bushing neck die and a Wilson seater.

Are there alternatives that I am presently overlooking?

Also, if Redding is the way to go, where would one find the best (least expensive) prices for these dies.

Thanks in advance.

buy the Redding type S bushing die but in FULL length resizing, it supports the case better than the S NECK sizing bushing die. If you want to neck size only , u need to buy the comp set, as the neck sizer die controls the case as it is sized.

YES it is worth it.
It don't matter much where you get them, as far as price goes.

Tough question. I went this route with my 300RUM. Started with RCBS full dies. Then deprimed separately and raised the expander ball up as far as it goes. Then finally bought a competition Redding Full length set. The seater didn't improve runout much. But one thing it does is accurately seat a bullet dead nuts on.

I am disappointed with the runout still. Only way of fixing I see is with turning necks. Or starting with good brass from the beginning. So the Reddings are not a cureall but another thing you can mark off your list as potential problems.

The Competition dies are top notch quality. Here is what I do. For guns I like to target shoot all the time, I buy Redding comp Full Length. For guns where 1.0" groups good enough like my ultra lights, I buy RCBS.

i have a Redding competition die set with bushing neck sizing die for my.22-250. I was checkin the runout on them over the weekend (winchester cases, neck turned with sierra bullets) and they averaged .002 runout. I only had about 10 out of 75 rounds that were above .0025 runout. The max runout on them was .004. all rounds were loaded on a RCBS rockchucker press. I really enjoy my redding dies. I can guarantee the next set i buy will be redding also.
Ruck

You guys will think I'm nuts but the last 10 rounds of .308 I loaded on my hornady dies I had 8 rounds at .0015 and under and 2 between .0015 and .0025. There is a simple trick to getting the sizing stem seated EXACTLY in the middle of a hornady die but once you do it you can build amazing ammo. AND this was with non neck turned win brass.
Only problem with a seater on a die set like this is that it has to "like" or match the profile of the bullet tip or you wont' get this good of a result.

I guess the bottom line is it's definately more fun to own and travel in a cadillac but a chevy can get you from point a to point b too. AND I'm still not 100% convinced that extremely low runnout will benefit any hunting rifle I own anyhow!! BUT, If I can build ammo that good why not do it.

A small amount of runout does not seem to matter much in sporting rifles. But consistant ammunition is what we all want. The key to it is to make all the necks and cases the same with adequate neck tension and minimum sizing so as not to iron in problems.

A competition seating die might come last on the list. If you already have a decent seater then what to get first is a Lee Collet die. Next on the priority list would be a Redding "S" type FL die. Another very important tool that all of us should use is a 15 degree inside neck chamfering tool. Seating a bullet in a neck that's chamfered with the typical 30 degree tool can cause a poor start for the bullets base.

I have a couple of Redding Competition seating dies and they are a nice piece of machinery but another rifle gets ammo out of a RCBS seating die and thats as good a shooter as any.

30 Cal. I think they're worth it.....top notch quality. Check them out at www.dnrsports.com They used to offer a pretty competitive price, and don't forget the nitride coated bushings. You will like them.

As mentioned the Redding FL bushing die is very versatile for shoulder bump control. For bullet seating, consider the Forster Ultra Seater Die (micrometer dial)at about $50. I have both. To me Forester is better than the Redding equivalent. Why? The Forester is less expensive and it has a very sensitive bullet seating stem that can be adjusted down to the tip of the test round without pushing the bullet into the test case. The Redding micrometer seater is too insensitive during setup. You sometimes accidentally force the bullet down into the test round when doing the initial contact with the bullet tip during setup.

What is nice about the micro-seaters in general is that you can set up a reference round and set the seater at 0.0. Then reference each other bullet type's zero lands position to that base setting. Example: 69 gr Sierra is 0.0 setting on my micrometer dial for zero jam into the lands. The 52 gr. Sierra HPBT is +1 turn in and then goto 17 for zero lands jam. The 50 gr. Sierra BT MK is +1 turn in and down to 22. This lets you quickly get to the zero lands contact positions for several different bullets. If the seater gets chnaged, just reset the 0.0 position with the 69 gr. test round and the others come to within 0.001 easily. Note that some bullets do change from batch to batch so you should check the overall length periodically.
Ron

Definitely give the Lee Collet sizing die set a try. Most likely less than $25, but they have a money back guarantee if they don't yield the most accurate ammo you ever shot. I have them for every rifle caliber I own except .416 Rem mag. Even had custom ones made for the Ackley Improved wildcats.