Which dies to buy?

I've got dies from Lyman, Lee and RCBS.

The Lee and Lyman dies are for .480 Ruger and .44 Mag, all my rifle dies are RCBS. I also have the Lee crimping die, which I use on my .45-70.

I've had people tell me RCBS dies are not as accurate as others like the Lee, but for what I do they are great and RCBS customer service is fantastic.
 
My sentiments coincide with X-man and bigbull.

DAN THE MAN, over 100 calibers :wink: ........now that takes storage space, AND logistcs control,....... shant fret over my dozen no moe.
 
I own lee and rcbs. As far which are better i cannot tell. Personly i like the lee seater die better than rcbs.
 
reloading dies

i have several different brands including the dreaded lee. I have no complaints about any of then,and havent had to try for warranty. I manage to get one inch or under at 100 yards on my three hunting rifles from the bench, and im not a benchrest shooter. Some time ago i read test results on the various brands which concluded that with CNC machining there was not much difference, and if any, may be due to the first or last of a production run.
 
Realistically all we're doing is make a little piece of brass grip a bullet so it doesn't fall out before we stuff it in the chamber, ooo rah! No magic or mystery here. Boobies and feet are far more interesting.
 
All my stuff is exclusive Lee, especially the dies. To date I've loaded almost 11,000 rounds on a single stage press. I did pick up a used RCBS press at a gunshow on a deal recently as I thought it might be nice to have a beefier press than the aluminum Lee "O" press for the full length resizing of some of the large rifle cases. That little Lee "O" press has served me well, though. ;)
 
I would buy a Lee "deluxe" set for the 6.5 it has a full length resizer & a Collet die (neck resizer--NO LUBE REQUIRED). I just started using a Lee collet die on my 7MM Rem Mag. It is really nice to use (no lube mess) & easy on the brass. Ive been using an RCBS die set on my 30-06 since 1981 and after a few thousand rounds, still haven't worn them out. My pistol dies 9MM &.38spl & .357 &.32acp are all Lee carbide. After 23 years & 100,000 or so rounds show no sign of wear. Most important for dies is clean brass. It doesn't take much dirt to screw up a set of dies no matter how expensive they are.
 
IMHO, any set of dies will do, as for being the best, I guess this depends on how much time you will spend fine tuning your loads.

For me the fun starts when I start to refine my loads, the tweaking process. It takes time and patience, and yet what ever die set I am using at that moment they do the job.

Start with a predefined method in loading and score keeping, adjust , shoot and record. Applying this process repetatively will give you greater results with any die set then just a good die set and no process.

The die set is a very small variable in the overall equation.
 
I have about 14 sets of RCBS, 3 sets of the new Hornady's and two sets of Lee. Sizing dies with a collet style holding system for the deprimer/sizer ball suck, but if you miss lubing that one case neck, the rod slides out with the case instead of a case getting stuck or ripping off the thread that holds the sizing ball on. Just sprinkle some of that white powdered silica in there and you are back in action.
The RC's are alright but seem to be getting too costly.
The new style Hornady's are my current favorite, especially the seater. It has a little sleeve that slides down internally so your bullet stays lined up as soon as you set it on top of the case neck.
I bought the Lee sets for the catridges I don't load for very much but have never had any grief with them. Find them as good as the RCBS.

Get a good press though, I have used a Rock Chucker and it has never let me down. There was one on the EE board last week, old stock but new in the box. THey can be found at the gunshows too.

Enjoy the hobby!

Noel
 
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