[Jack]

I've used about every brand out there- started with RCBS dies in 1964, I believe.
My preferences are for Redding or RCBS dies in a press mounted die. Reddings are beautifully finished and polished, in every set I've used, and I've never had a lick of trouble with them. Their Competition dies will produce really precise ammo- probably more precise than a factory rifle can utilize.
RCBS has good quality control, and outstanding warranty service.
Forster dies, with their sliding sleeve seater, produce good ammo, too.
Hornady dies seem to be well made, but my personal preference is for a screw in decapping pin, rather than the collet type.
Lee stuff seems hit or miss- their Auto Prime is a great tool, IMO, and their Universal decapper is great, too.So is their Factory Crimp Die. I've used several sets of Lee dies, and they work, but I always seem to have to take them apart and polish them, or otherwise 'tune' them, before they work right.
As far as how I judge how good a die is- I use a run out gauge periodically on the ammo from all my dies- checking to see that run out on my handloaded ammo is not excessive. May be irrelevant for your basic deer rifle ammo, but it will tell you how precisely a die is made.
If you want ammo with zero run out, I only know of 2 brands of dies that will give you zero run out: Wilson's knock out dies (not for use in a press- hand dies) and Redding Competition dies.