I’m making a concerted effort to learn match ammo reloading.  It was suggested that the Matchmaster series does are great for learning how.  I’m learning on the .308 platform before I move into 6.5 cm, .338, and .300wm.  

My question is are Forster, Whidden, and Redding better for doing more loads or will the RCBS dies work fine for them?

I have lots of Hornady, Redding, RCBS & Forster dies. They all basically do the same thing. If you don't abuse them, they will last a lifetime.

Last year the only dies I could find for a 6Dasher was an RCBS Matchmaster set. They work fine. The bullet port on the side is a little hokey.  That being said, I think a full length die with the neck honed out to fit your brass is better than the bushing dies. Forester does a nice job and you can order them directly from them with the neck dimension you want.

99% of my loading is for rifle matches from 200-1K yards.

Entry level you would want to look strongly Forster stuff for the 6.5MM Creedmoor especially if you are not going to delve too deep.
They pair up their FL Sizer Die with their Ultra Micrometer Seater Die.  


The RCBS Matchmaster seater is sort of an upgrade of the old Vickerman Bullet Seater.  Which BR shooters used.  

Now if you are going whole hog...The just look at the Redding Type S Match FL Set.  #36446.  You get the Competition seater with the standard seater stem.  You will need to get the VLD stem
if are going to use VLD type bullets.  The Type FL bushing die then needs the appropriate bushing size, which is based upon your brass that are reloading.

Why’s the side loading port hokey?

I’ve found after years and years of doing it, using the Competition and Match Master dies and dropping the bullet in the port then letting the die do the rest is far easier versus doing a balancing act with the bullet on the case mouth with a standard die

I prefer the Competition seater die to the Match Master; I don’t like the floating seat plug in the MM,  but they both share the loading port and large micrometer for adjustment

I’ve heard this a few times.

I load everything on a single stage for the most part. It just seems like an extra step to drop it into the loading port, and you can certainly use it the same way a regular die works though.

I get what you mean about fiddling with bullets on top of cases. .223 is much more annoying that somthing larger like .308.

I have a couple of sets I only use them for setting flat based bullets now.  It makes it soooooo much easier.