If I may add an opinion about seating bullets straight...

perfectly aligned bullet seating is useful in tight chambered benchrest guns, and in them does demonstrably contribute to better accuracy or precision, whichever is the shooter's goal.

In loose chambered hunting guns however it may not only be no help to accuracy, it may sometimes be a detriment.

In a loose chambered gun, the cartridge is lying loosely at the bottom of the chamber, and if the casing has been full-length sized, and as a result becoming a bit smaller, it may be very slightly off center and at an angle in its presentation of the bullet to the rifling. If that is true of the case, it will be guaranteed to be true of the bullet also IF the bullet is perfectly aligned with the misaligned case.

Whereas, if the bullet is a bit akilter, it may be presented straight on the bore, even if the case is not.

Of course, that is just sort of a lottery, so it is no reason to intentionally seat the bullets crookedly into the cases.

At the same time, it also doesn't justify spending a bunch of extra money on top quality, concentricity-producing dies to make ammunition to be used only in hunting rifles.

quote:

...dickhead like me cause you couldn't hack working for me. i ain't seen nothing yet? i see wannabes like you all day. only i see em face to face, not behind a computer screen.

Let me guess that a dick head like you first needs a row of real men and some iron bars between you and any face to face contact with your guest of the state "wannabees."

I think Alberta Canuck is on the right track. What kind of rifle are we talking about here that your trying to build the utmost accurate ammo for?

quote:

Originally posted by Jim C. <><:

quote:

...dickhead like me cause you couldn't hack working for me. i ain't seen nothing yet? i see wannabes like you all day. only i see em face to face, not behind a computer screen.

Let me guess that a dick head like you first needs a row of real men and some iron bars between you and any face to face contact with your guest of the state "wannabees."

no, we're pretty much face to face most of the time. and lots of the "real men" w/me are actually women. so take another guess.

quote:

Originally posted by Alberta Canuck:
If I may add an opinion about seating bullets straight...

perfectly aligned bullet seating is useful in tight chambered benchrest guns, and in them does demonstrably contribute to better accuracy or precision, whichever is the shooter's goal.

In loose chambered hunting guns however it may not only be no help to accuracy, it may sometimes be a detriment.

In a loose chambered gun, the cartridge is lying loosely at the bottom of the chamber, and if the casing has been full-length sized, and as a result becoming a bit smaller, it may be very slightly off center and at an angle in its presentation of the bullet to the rifling. If that is true of the case, it will be guaranteed to be true of the bullet also IF the bullet is perfectly aligned with the misaligned case.

Whereas, if the bullet is a bit akilter, it may be presented straight on the bore, even if the case is not.

Of course, that is just sort of a lottery, so it is no reason to intentionally seat the bullets crookedly into the cases.

At the same time, it also doesn't justify spending a bunch of extra money on top quality, concentricity-producing dies to make ammunition to be used only in hunting rifles.

now THATS a new concept, to me anyways. but makes sense. i think. and i have absolutely no defense to my spending all this time and money on rifles that you are correct about being hunting rifles other than i like to do it. its fun and it generally works out pretty well.

quote:

Originally posted by mad_jack02:
I think Alberta Canuck is on the right track. What kind of rifle are we talking about here that your trying to build the utmost accurate ammo for?

at present a rem. plastic stocked (my only one) in 7mm mag. the others are a win mod 70 made in 1972 in 30-06, a rem. bdl in 30-06, a rem 721 in 300 H&H. except for the 7 mag. the others i have glass bedded and free floated, trigger jobs, etc etc and can get sub moa from. whether spending 15 minutes or so to build a loaded round really works or just makes me feel better i really don't know, but like i said, its fun and keeps me relatively sane, contrary to what i have demonstrated in earlier posts.

Just let him continue to flop around like a fish out of water lol..

quote:

Originally posted by Boss Hoss:
Just let him continue to flop around like a fish out of water lol..

ur kidding right? thats the best you can do? hahahaha!!

quote:

Originally posted by john c.:

quote:

Originally posted by mad_jack02:
I think Alberta Canuck is on the right track. What kind of rifle are we talking about here that your trying to build the utmost accurate ammo for?

at present a rem. plastic stocked (my only one) in 7mm mag. the others are a win mod 70 made in 1972 in 30-06, a rem. bdl in 30-06, a rem 721 in 300 H&H. except for the 7 mag. the others i have glass bedded and free floated, trigger jobs, etc etc and can get sub moa from. whether spending 15 minutes or so to build a loaded round really works or just makes me feel better i really don't know, but like I said, its fun and keeps me relatively sane, contrary to what i have demonstrated in earlier posts.

First off, John, I was not trying to suggest you shouldn't spend the money, just that it doesn't always, automatically every time, help as much as some folks think. So don't feel FORCED to spend that money for building hunting ammo if you don't really want to.

I'd like to add to that if it makes you feel better, it WILL improve your shooting. No one can shoot their best with ammo they are not comfortable with confidence-wise.

Good luck, guy.

AC

John C, you might try a set of lee collet dies along with their factory crimp die. I tried a set for my 7-08 Ackley and am very impressed with the results, just make sure to change out the lock rings.

damn. you guys are forcing me to rethink some of the things i "KNEW" before i started all this mess. but thats a good thing because i enjoy doing it so much. so THANKS! they say you are what you think about, so i guess i'm a bullet. and yea, i know, i opened myself wide open w/that one for the "incoming" barrage. and once again, to everyone i pissed off, it wasn't intentional, just my winning personality. at work we are ready to kill each other like a pack of snarling wolves, then we get over it and move on, and i tend to think everyone is like that. but i really do appreciate all the positive suggestions etc. and i already do use lee FCDs and like em. however i have heard opinions expressed that if the bullet sits squarely in the case w/the PROPER amount of neck tension that crimping isn't necessary. when i have time i'm gonna test that out and see how much set back i get. thanks again, i'm beat, hitting the sack.

There is good info here on the thread about the loading.

One thing on the dies is just to use the best one for the job. Like the Dillon dies for loading lead 38's. They are good, and better to me for loading the 38 wadcutters than the Reddings because you can pop the die and clean it without loosing the settings. I do use the Redding crimps though with the Dillons. It just works better, at least for me , but I had to try both to know.

I too use mostly Redding dies, although I do believe that the Foresters are excellent too. And Forester will set up or hone your die custom for you, or at least they would before. And Redding may as well.

I do have a few of the Lee Factory Crimps and Lee Colletts because of the great reports here on AR about them. Sometimes I use the Lee's but it has not been a great difference generally , but they are here if I need them.

There are some guys here that can make great ammo with Lees rifle and handgun dies. I am not one of them though, as it seems that the adjustments are always a little off, or loose, or tight or wahtever. I think the threads may be a little corse.


But back to the Original post, I can say I own and use the Reddings for a couple of reasons. The first is just familarity. I am used to the adjustments, and to the Competition seating dies etc. So I stay with it.

Just a couple of days ago I ordered a 45-70 neck die. The guys who have used the Lyman think it is the one. And it may be. Lyman had the best Midway reviews too. But I got the Redding because I am used to its stem . Not that I cant use a screwdriver to set the die on the Lyman, but more because I just like the knurled stem. The Redding was $20 more. Over a lifetime that is small.

But lingering here in my mind is the thought that the Lyman MAY be better. Because when the Redding arrived tonight on UPS, I see that the either the pin is a little off, which I was going to remove it anyway as I decap, or the stem concentricity is a little off. So it is entirely possible that the Lyman will end up here one day to check and see if it does a "better" job.

One other thing is that all my Redding dies have a great surface finsih on them. They stay good and no rusting. I have seen other dies that guys have that get some rust on them, or loose some finish. I cant say about how they cared for the dies, but it looked normal.

Handloading and reloading is a process, and also some of a "feel" thing. So I just stay with the one I know better and started with.