Dies

Another vote for RCBS; always work perfectly for me (35+ years). Lifetime parts if anything breaks or gets lost.
 
And if you are talking about rifle dies, like Dillon's carbide rifle dies, those contact the case all over instead of just with a ring, so they still have enough friction to require lubrication. So their main advantage is longevity in a production situation, such as in small commercial reloading.
 
I've mostly used RCBS in the past with no regrets. Lately however, I've been paying a little extra and buying Redding, they are really nice quality dies. Loading for 7.5 Swiss made that happen. Their sizing die is more correct for K-31s only than the RCBS which I think is cut for a sort of compromise between the K-31s and the earlier rifle.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy RCBS though, their price is good and their customer service is great if you ever need any parts.
 
You really can't go wrong with any of them. I usually end up using a mix of different brands.

I buy Lee first. I load on a progressive with a Lee powder measure so I need the powder-through-expander die regardless. The Lee sizing dies are fine. I often end up dissatisfied with the seating die and replace it with a Redding or Hornady. I end up with two sets of dies, but that's a good thing since I sometimes load on a single stage and don't want to take-down my progressive to get the dies.

The Lee dies sets are different, their fourth die is a "Factory Crimp Die" that is different from anything any other manufacturer offers. Depending on who you talk to they are either the greatest thing since the invention of gunpowder, or a bandaid that covers mistakes made elsewhere in the process. They've never done anything for me. Your call on that one.

If I were to want one set just to reload on a single stage and didn't need the powder-through-expander I'd buy Hornady as I think they are the best dies for the money. Redding has really nice stuff but it can be pricey.

Plus you get 100 free bullets with a set of Hornady Custom Grade dies. If you factor in the value of those they are pretty inexpensive.
 
I use carbide dies for all my straight wall cases and I prefer carbide dies for neck sizing bottle-neck cases. Carbide dies don't need lubrication which means you don't have to remove lube from cases before priming and charging them.

I have always used RCBS dies without any problems with the exception of broken primer pins which are always replaced free with a telephone call even though it is usually my fault.

As a hunter I have no need of micrometer seating dies or collet crimp dies and sub MOA accuracy is all the accuracy that I need. I have the normal die sets for all the cartridges that I reload but I never use full length dies for bottle neck cartridges once they have been fired in my gun. That may have to change since I got my AR15 as I have always heard that cases for semi-auto guns need to be full length sized. I will do my own myth busting before I completely accept that bit of information.
 
I usually buy RCBS or Hornady, after buying my first Redding die I wanted to sell all of the others and replace them with Redding. They really make some nice dies but the others aren't bad either.

If I need a new set of dies for anything, I look for them in Redding first. If they made .50 BMG dies I would probably sell my RCBS dies and buy them.
 
I have RCBS and Lee carbide pistol sizing dies and like them both. I've never used carbide rifle dies as I don't load enough to wear out a standard die.
 
I also use the 357 carbide dies (guts removed) on .375" sized rifle cases,
when just a touch is needed to resize the outside diameter of the rifle case. :D

Tia,
Don
 
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