Anyone else hate RCBS DIES

I think they're just about the best dies I can buy. I still have a couple sets of Lee dies but tight funds keeps me from replacing them with RCBS.

Tony
 
Hate? Nope, all but one of my die sets are RCBS and I've been using RCBS for 35 years. It's probably not the tool but the technique that's at fault.
 
Since you only mentioned loading rifle cartridges, it would be helpful to confine comments to that context. RCBS is certainly my favorite for handgun, but my couple rifle sets are not RCBS. I have no complaints except some with Hornady Cowboy among experiences with Hornady, Redding, Lee, Lyman, and RCBS. And Hornady Cowboy was only issues with size and their concept of what was needed for lead loading rather than quality of the dies or the results.
 
I have a set of RCBS 45-70 cowboy dies (three die set) to reload 45-70 lead loads and it seems to be a dandy set of dies. Have reloaded north of 300 rounds with them. Easy to use, repeatable settings and quality reloads. I also have Forster dies for my .223 precision loads and proprietary Dillon handgun dies for my SDB. Like them all. Any issues I've had in the past have been "operator" related!
 
I think that for what they ask for them, the box they come in should have a hinge that doesn't break the 23rd time you open it.
 
My original set of dies... 45ACP... were RCBS, and they are still in use today. Die body stamped '86', so they are 30 years old. They don't adjust as easy as, say, my Hornady dies, but I don't adjust my dies all that much, anyway. I'll agree with the OP, not real wild about the roll crimp on their dies, but I use a separate taper crimp on rounds that don't require a roll crimp, or I don't crimp at all (which took me a long time to get used to.)

I prefer Hornady dies, but they have their own set of problems in some respects.

I have a set of Redding dies, for the .348, they remind me a lot of my RCBS dies.

I bought my first set of Lee dies to load .44, I think they are crap and I won't buy another set again.
 
I use nothing but RCBS dies. After 27 years of reloading, I've amassed quite the collection of dies for many, many calibers. I fail to see any issue with their dies.
 
I bought my first set of Lee dies to load .44, I think they are crap and I won't buy another set again.
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Sorry you didn't like them. I have loaded a lot of very nice quality ammo with Lee dies, usually on Lee presses. Lee's die set is one of the few that is expressly for a turret or progressive, a 4 station sequence. There is no dedicated expander, and seating and crimping are separate dies. Many other common brands fail to address powder through dies and make you go out and buy a separate crimp. A Lee set is a very efficient choice, especially when running on Lee equipment.

I don't use Lee dies on lead bullets that I recall, but any plated or jacketed bullets work better in dies sized for them. Lee works great for that.
 
To be honest I prefer my lee dies over rcbs. They seem more durable and cost me less money. I certainly have no beef with rcbs except that they seem much more prone to breaking decapping pins
 
Cavitation said:
Does anyone despise RCBS dies as much as I do?

I hate there roll crimp
I hate there adjustments
I have them in 308,30/30,444M,35Rem, and they all suck.

How do you feel about them:D
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If you truly hate them that much I'd be more than happy to take those 308 and 30~30 dies off your hands.All my other dies are RCBS..........just haven't gotten round to purchasing dies for the new editions in the family.
 
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If you hate RCBS, who do you like? Grade for grade, RCBS, Redding, Forster, Hornaday, and Lyman all seem about the same to me. Lee is in my opinion sub-standard, but we all know what opinions are like.
 
Hate is a pretty tough way to address RCBS. I've been using their dies for probably 50 years, along with a few other brands along the way. Anytime I had a minor problem, they were very receptive and did their best to keep me going.
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I use Hornady, Lee, Lyman, Redding, and RCBS. I had a problem with the expansion plug/decapper piece on a 30-06 set. RCBS sent me a new piece and 6 decapping pins and paid the shipping.
 
The problem with crimping is that the die is trying to seat a bullet and produce a crimp at the same time. It's very fussy about adjustment because of the fact that it is trying to do 2 things at once.

I purchased Lee FCD dies for anything that I need to crimp. They produce a crimp that looks just like factory ammo and works great.
 
The problem with crimping is that the die is trying to seat a bullet and produce a crimp at the same time.
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I keep hearing/reading that but I haven't found it to be a problem with 9mm and .45ACP. By the time the die actually starts crimping, the bullet is almost fully seated. But, I don't actually crimp those loads, just remove the case mouth flare. I can see roll crimping might be a problem, but not light taper crimping.
 
I'll never buy another set of Hornady dies. On most calibers they leave out the neck vent hole. I got rid of my .22 K-Hornet and .300 Blackout dies. I now load the K-Hornet with RCBS dies and Lee for the blackout. I find Lee dies to be acceptable for reloading but a little more work to adjust and clean.

I'm stuck with Hornady dies for the .17 Hornady Hornet but at least they drilled the vent hole on these...

I would have gone with RCBS for 7.5mm Swiss but RCBS thinks dies less common rounds should cost like they're made of gold...

Tony
 
Hate RCBS dies? Not in the least. If I were to pick a brand I like least, it would be LEE!

The problem with crimping is that the die is trying to seat a bullet and produce a crimp at the same time.
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If you know what you're doing, and adjust your dies correctly, its not a problem. I've been doing it for close to 50 years, and its been done since the beginning of metallic cartridge reloading.

A separate crimp die may make it easier for you, but I think its a tool that simply isn't needed.
 
A separate crimp die may make it easier for you, but I think its a tool that simply isn't needed.
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Before the Internet: Lyman claimed crimping while seating bullets was a bad habit. They claimed crimping while seating can reduce bullet hold ( that was before reloaders invented tension). Later Dillon said the same thing; crimping while the bullet is moving upsets the case body/shoulder juncture. When the reloaders does not master crimping while seating can cause the case to bulge and the reloader to require theory because the bolt will not close.

F. Guffey
 
..crimping while the bullet is moving..
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What press & dies do that?? I don't know of any!
Every seating die I know works the same way. It STOPS the bullet from moving (using the seating stem) and the case is pushed up over the bullet base.

The bullet doesn't move during seating (or crimping) the CASE does.

I can see where someone who makes/sell dies would say seating and crimping in the same step is a bad idea. They want to sell crimp dies.

I don't remember ever seeing LYMAN say it was a bad idea, but then, I know I haven't seen everything LYMAN ever said. It does, however seem odd, if they said it, seeing as they make dies that do it, and (back in the 70s at least) their instructions told you how to do it.

I'm amazed at the number of people, today, who can operate a computer, get on the Internet and post in a forum, but can't seem to manage adjusting a seating die correctly. It is a ridiculously simple process, compared to many other things we do daily.
 
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