Gerry, Hood cores are phenomenally consistent. If you can squirt cores as good as Hood's, your doing well.
I have a set of 6mm Clarence Detsch dies made way back when. Got them a couple years ago from a retired shooter. The point die is a 6.75 ogive. I recently had George Ulrich make me a set of 30 cal dies, 7 ogive boatail's. I've been working with these for a couple months and I'm thrilled with the progress so far. After playing with different test lots, I've arrived at a spot where I think they are making a very good bullet. I'm waiting on more 30 cal jackets so I can really get going with these. George is working on a 6mm 8.5 ogive point die as well a boatail seater for me now. As far as process, I follow a process that comes from a bunch of different sources. I've talked to several bullet makers, as well as read everything I could find about the subject. In the end, its just like chambering barrels, you find a process that works for you and modify along the way until you get the results you are looking for. While no two bullet makers out there are going to do everything in the same manner, I think most would agree that consistency and cleanliness are paramount. The link that Wilbur posted is in the articles section of the website and has idea's from some of the best bullet makers out there, past and current. Hopefully this thread can bring out some more great idea's to help all of us in our bullet making.