A couple hundred pieces of brass just arrived, so I’m ready to start loading for the Contender.

I’m new to IHMSA and .357 Maximum, so what are the best dies to get?

You can't go wrong with RCBS. Great products and good customer service.

I have all of the major brands (RCBS, Hornady, Redding) - I have received the best service from RCBS and Hornady. Any of these brands should do you a good job.

Consider the RCBS 3 die set #18212. Carbide sizer die needs no lube. Available from Amazon/Midway for a little over $50.00, plus shipping.

Most important to remember is buy a set with a carbide sizer die.
Redding dies are good but probably the most expensive.
I have more RCBS and Lyman dies than other makes.

OK, let me rephrase

I’ve been reloading .38/.357 for decades and have an old RCBS set with carbide sizer.

I was thinking more along the lines of should I upgrade to a set of competition dies, and maybe a special crimper of some sort?

reloading the 357 Max is just like reloading for the 357 Mag. Since you are shooting them in a contender, crimp is not important. Only when shooting a revolver.

The RCBS carbide die set that works for all 3 works very well.

Just for info, use small rifle primers in the 357 Max due to the increased pressure compared to a 357 Mag. and be forewarned, loads near max with heavy bullets (200 Grain) are just downright Painful to shoot!

buying the competition die set is not really needed. the Max is not a finicky round.

Even a Carbide sizer die set from Lee will work. As mentioned, you dont need a crimp in a TC. Do you intend its use with cast bullets or jacketed ?
For the Big Bore targets, yes, a 180 or 200gr bullet is helpful. However loads do not need to punish you if you can hold velocity to around 1200fps.
Using a 200gr, you need to strike the ram at about 850fps. rp

Richard Pickering wrote:Even a Carbide sizer die set from Lee will work. As mentioned, you dont need a crimp in a TC. Do you intend its use with cast bullets or jacketed ?
For the Big Bore targets, yes, a 180 or 200gr bullet is helpful. However loads do not need to punish you if you can hold velocity to around 1200fps.
Using a 200gr, you need to strike the ram at about 850fps. rp

Since I started cleaning with stainless pins. I've found a little lube is a big plus with the MAX. I've used a carbide sizer for nearly 30 years on one. But I've found that long case has a lot of resistance and so now I use Hornady One Shot on my cases. But I clean my cases after depriming not before. I now use it on all my straight wall cases.

My RCBS 38/357 Carbide die will run Max cases. All the sizing is done on the bottom half inch of the die, the rest of the inside body is recessed and touches nothing. I also use my plain old 357 mag die for seating.