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I have alway used RCBS dies for my reloading. When i have neck sized, i have just backed the die off some to size just the neck, and had good success. I have noticed these L.E. Wilson dies that are supposedly for benchrest shooters. Has anyone used them before, and are they that much better. I realize you need a different style press, and it looks slower, but is it that much better for accuracy? I'm getting ready to play with a 220 swift, and was looking for some input from someone who may have used both. Thanks from the new guy on the block.
 
If you aren't a BR shooter they're a lot of work for little gain over a good RCBS, Forster, Redding, Die Set.

If ALL you are doing is neck sizing look carefully at the Lee Collet Die for your caliber. Uses regular press and the results don't get any straighter by using other dies.

If I were to use Wilson dies for anything it would be their seater dies with a soft faced mallet.
 
The thing that makes the Lee Die so nice is that rather than squeezing down the neck and then pushing it back to a proper ID, it forms the neck around a mandrel. While the depriming pin isn't exactly the size of the flash hole, it does help keep the mandrel centered in the case. The neck is then formed concentric to this axis. You don't have to turn necks so that they are a consistent thickness which then would allow you to use a bushing die of the correct size to gain the neck tension you want.

Nice Straight Cases, even neck tension with no bushing selection needed, no more expander ball, and last but not least NO LUBE. That's right, no lube at all required so no cleanup after sizing required. Price of the die is very reasonable.
 
I've had fantastic RCBS dies that produce very little runout and sized the brass perfectly. I've also had some RCBS turds that produced excessive runout. I have Redding dies including competition dies and they have all been good to excellent. Never had a bad Redding die but have had some that were better than others. All of my Wilson dies have been close to perfect regarding the ammo they produce. I think with Wilson dies you have a greater assurance the die will be excellent.

Most the benchrest guys use Wilson dies for seating bullets but not for sizing. Serious benchrest shooters full length resize their brass each time with a custom or semi-custom die and seat with a Wilson die.

To me a Wilson die is not more work but they are a little slower. You will want an arbor press and most of them designed for reloading will cost about $100. You can get a cheap arbor press from Harbor Freight that will work just as good.
 
Most the benchrest guys use Wilson dies for seating bullets but not for sizing. Serious benchrest shooters full length resize their brass each time with a custom or semi-custom die and seat with a Wilson die.

An important item to note, for Bench Rest "guys", full length sizing is entirely different than for someone who just hunts or target shoots with a factory chambered rifle.

The chambers on their rifles are usually much smaller. While us ordinary folks might size our cases down to SAAMI dimensions, which makes for a nice easy chambering round, there's a lot of room for the case to expand when fired. Their chambers may only be .002" or so larger. This close tolerance not only minimizes the amount the brass expands, it also limits the amount of work hardening.

Some, if not most, custom rifle makers will chamber the rifle to a case you supply with any clearance you specify. Size a case in your die, send it to the builder. For all practical purposes it's just like neck sizing/shoulder bumping, where a minimal amount of metal is moved, only now all the way to the case web.
 

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