308 dies for reloading

Pmac

Pmac

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I’m waiting on a new 308 to arrive and looking at reloading my own ammo. I’ll be target shooting only, what do guys recommend as a match grade die set up?

Thanks
 
If you want truly decent dies for mega anal reloading then go for Forster bushing dies.
 
Pmac said:
How do the Redding and Hornady match dies compare to the Forster ones?
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I'm swapping my Lee neck dies for Forster as you get a set of bushings for different neck tension whereas my Lee are just standard dies.
I've only used Redding for 22 hornet so not really a match calibre, the guys I know who put a lot of effort into reloading use Forster or Redding, I don't know anyone with Hornady dies!
 
i bought some Horady dies for 223/55.6 happy with them and a RCBS SET no probs with them.
the lee set is a bit fiddley for me
 
Rich79 said:
I'm swapping my Lee neck dies for Forster as you get a set of bushings for different neck tension whereas my Lee are just standard dies.
I've only used Redding for 22 hornet so not really a match calibre, the guys I know who put a lot of effort into reloading use Forster or Redding, I don't know anyone with Hornady dies!
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A couple of the guys at my club use the hornady ones hence why I’m looking. The redding ones do seem to be popular as well.
 
Quality rifle dies can be the icing on the cake, but you don't need to spend silly money to achieve tight groups/good scores - the real results are to be gained from good brass, meticulous case preparation, and finding the right recipe of primer, powder weight, and projectile.
My first serious stalking rifle was a TIKKA 695 Continental in .30-06 SPRG. , and it would shoot sub MOA groups all day long with my handloads from a 25 quid set of Lee collet dies.

EDIT :-
I do own different dies now.
 
2506sendero said:
Quality rifle dies can be the icing on the cake, but you don't need to spend silly money to achieve tight groups/good scores - the real results are to be gained from good brass, meticulous case preparation, and finding the right recipe of primer, powder weight, and projectile.
My first serious stalking rifle was a TIKKA 695 Continental in .30-06 SPRG. , and it would shoot sub MOA groups all day long with my handloads from a 25 quid set of Lee collet dies.

EDIT :-
I do own different dies now.
Click to expand...
That’s good to know, what are you using now?
 
my dies are cheap hornedy ones they do the job but i spend a lot of time on my reloads cleaning de priming etc and now i have found a good powder it is a lot cheaper than buying fact loads.i have various size dies as well
 
DOCTRAMP said:
my dies are cheap hornedy ones they do the job but i spend a lot of time on my reloads cleaning de priming etc and now i have found a good powder it is a lot cheaper than some fact loads.i have various size dies as well
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I did the same with bog standard Lee dies, finally completed a ladder test with 6cr at 300yds and 6.5cr at 600, I'm still going to get some decent sizing and seating dies though.
20260207_112736.webp

This is the 6cr at 300yds, 42gr of staball with Lee dies.

This below is 6.5cr at 600, 43gr staball standard Lee dies.
20260207_160110.webp
 
Pmac said:
That’s good to know, what are you using now?
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Both of the ones that are are on your shopping list, but i didn't go to the expense of the all out competition die sets, because i didn't think it was necessary for my needs.
You won't go wrong with either, but the beauty of the Redding Deluxe set is that it contains 3 dies.
I've been using these for years, so am oblivious of today's prices.

20260207_194221.jpg


20260207_195110.webp
 
I have Hornady dies in .243 full length as i needed to resize some brass --to be honest the lee dies do the same job if you know what your doing --lee dies will load good ammo and cost much less than others do --and lee now do a micrometre top for dies to be more precise
 
zakdingel said:
I have Hornady dies in .243 full length as i needed to resize some brass --to be honest the lee dies do the same job if you know what your doing --lee dies will load good ammo and cost much less than others do --and lee now do a micrometre top for dies to be more precise
Click to expand...

Lee dies get undeserved bad press sometimes, they do a decent job for people who dont want to spend lottery numbers on their gear.
There is a lot to be said for neck sizing only if you can get away with it, but you will still need to FL resize after every few firings to bump the case shoulder back.
 
Another Lee die user here, I've got the lee ultimate set for my .223 and .243 and they both let me, if I do my part on the other aspects of reloading achieve 0.5moa groups, my .223 loads got me down to 0.3moa

I would like to upgrade them down the line to something like the RCBS competition dies (iirc)
 
I’m not looking to shoot competitions as I’m too busy at work during the summer but want to challenge myself at the longer distances. I guess I have a bit more research to do before settling on a Redding/Forster/RBCS/Hornady match die set. It’s encouraging that they all seem to be capable, then it’s up to me to sort the charge and bullet that my rifle likes! Oh and do my bit, especially the wind calls. 😂
 
2506sendero said:
Lee dies get undeserved bad press sometimes, they do a decent job for people who dont want to spend lottery numbers on their gear.
There is a lot to be said for neck sizing only if you can get away with it, but you will still need to FL resize after every few firings to bump the case shoulder back.
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That was exactly it i had some case's that were getting tight full length sizing sorted it --it also meant i could used once fired from others
 
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