Favorite Die Manufacturer?

I use Redding dies and I love them, very high quality.

But when it comes to the bullet seating dies I prefer RCBS because they give you two different seating stems. One for round nose bullets and one for flat point bullets.
Redding deforms anything with a round nose because they give you a single shaped seating stem for both shapes. My only complaint.
 
A word of advice:

Use the same brand of shell holder as your priming device and other equipment. The deck heights and bases for shell holders from different brands can vary a little.

I have a RCBS hand priming tool (and a bench mounted one). But the Lee shell holder set results in high primers. However if I use RCBS shell holders it seats them 0.006-0.0085" below flush... . Perfect
 
My random little blurb on standard shell holders (not applicable to shell plates):

RCBS are pretty decent and consistent.
Redding are also good.
Hornady shell holders are the most consistent that I have measured (other than Redding's competition shell holders).
Lyman, Forster, etc. are usually pretty decent, but I don't own and haven't measured very many.

Lee shell holders are inconsistent and sloppy. I avoid them like the plague, unless I have a specific purpose in mind. (Something where I'm 'drawing outside the lines'.)

And, as Mississippi mentioned, it's best to match shell holders to the brand of priming tool being used.
Though deck height isn't a huge deal in most cases, the design of the underside of the shell holder often is.
 
My favorites are old Pacific Durachrome/Bair, Redding, Forster, or CH4D dies. I also like Lee dies. My least favorite are RCBS and Hornady.
 
RCBS has never disappointed me!!

My first die purchase was RCBS, if a problem occurs their customer service is first class!! I've never considered any other brand name in the the 40+ years I've loaded my own ammunition.. William
 
William T. Watts My first die purchase was RCBS, if a problem occurs their customer service is first class!! I've never considered any other brand name in the the 40+ years I've loaded my own ammunition..
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I think RCBs has about the best customer service I have ever seen, in any industry. I don't own any Dillon equipment, I've heard they are good too. I don't own a lot of Redding equipment, just some dies and tools so I can't comment on theirs.

I own no Hornady, and just a few Lee dies, plus a Lyman tumbler and scale.

But I do own about $8,000 worth of RCBS equipment and if anything happens, I make a phone call, tell them the issue, and parts are in the mail for free. And while I haven't had to yet, if I can't repair it, I send it in and it will be repaired or replaced with just the shipping being at my expense.

I hope Vista outdoors keeps the company running like this.
 
Everyone has their own personal favorites. The fact that particular die manufacturers are still here means they sell quality products. Most of my dies are from Hornady and Dillon, but I also have some Redding and RCBS, and maybe even a Lyman or two. Oh, and even some specialized Lee dies are on the shelf. Don't overlook CH/4D dies either. They are great value for the money; just not easy to obtain.
 
I have a variety of dies. Dillon dies for use with the 550s. RCBS dies are most common in my collection, and all of them have been good to go.

I have a couple of sets by Redding, and those are very good. I have at least one Hornady die set, for .300 Blackout.

The only Lee dies I have are a couple of factory crimp dies I don't use anymore. I do have those Lee shell holder sets, one for presses and one for the old style Lee Auto Prime.

To pick a favorite, I'd stick with Dillon dies for the Dillon press, and Redding dies for everything else.

All of these companies have excellent customer service as well.
 
I am mostly a Lee user. I have a few "others" but haven't noticed any real differences. I load mostly pistol rounds. HOWEVER: I have found real utility with a Hornady Bullet Seater in .380 acp. I was having a dickens-of-a-time not crushing the cases using a Dillon 550b press. Was using a Lee seater die. I just could not get my fat fingers to manipulate the bullet into the case without extreme difficulty. The Hornady has a "drop down and surround" gizmo that solved my troubles. Have loaded over 400 95grn LRN's without a single issue. Horray Hornady. I'm going to expand my Hornady products.
 
I've been reloading for 30+ years with the single stage RCBS Rockchucker , the press is very solid , will last forever. RCBS dies , for bench rest I use the Redding competition seating die. Otherwise RCBS all the way.
 
Reloadron said:
RCBS, Lyman, Redding, Hornady and or Lee as to basic dies they will get the job done. Then we can get into the "custom" or specialty "match" type dies with each manufacturer tryig to up one on the next manufacturer. As to basic dies? Each manufacturer has their good and bad points or features. One common feature of frequent discussion is the lock nut or lock ring. People may like a die but not like the lock ring. The solution here is since all new dies for common calibers are a 7/8-14 thread just about anyone's lock ring system will work with the next guys dies. A good number of people like the Lyman designed lock ring or the Hornady design, both are steel rather than aluminum like Lee. So you can buy lock rings in six packs reasonable enough on Amazon which are to your liking and will work with any other die.

Basic loading dies are relatively inexpensive, for example a RCBS Two Die Set for loading .308 Winchester runs about $35 RCBS 2-Die Set 307, 308 Winchester. However, if we want to get fancy we can get RCBS Competition 2-Die Set 308 Winchester which now has us up to $105.00. As I mentioned, just about every manufacturer makes a die and then they make a super duper magnificent die for more money, When starting out the average hand loader really only needs the basic rifle or handgun dies. Ask questions if the large numbers of loading dies gets confusing, like what are small base dies and why do I need them?

Me? I like RCBS but have many different brands and I confess I buy Hornady Lock Rings because I like them and buying six at a time they are not very expensive.
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I think this sums it up.

I like Lee dies, they preform well. I don't like the lock ring, it doesn't feel like it really locks solid so the die won't back out under force. If you check your results like you should be doing, you can work with it.

But, in the ideal world, you shouldn't have to settle for less.

I like Lee dies for handgun cartridges. I'm not looking for sub moa from handguns, so why overpay?

For rifle... yeah, I can see why people would want a higher quality die. If you're not shooting in match competitions tho, why would you pay hundreds of dollars more for dies for target ammo?
 
Redding if your desire is >discovey and correcting those tiny technical aspects of cartridge reloading.
RCBS Lyman Hornady Lee if your a believer in KISS. All of which are quality built & reasonably priced.

As far as my preference. A long discontinued brand.> Pacific Durachrome. When ever I run across a new set of Durachrome dies at a Gun Show I snap em up irregardless of the price wanted.

Bonanza_Hollywood_Herters_Blair all long ago discontinued are a few of the older well respected die maker names.
 
Most of my dies are Lee. The rest are a little of everything - Hornady, RCBS, Redding, Dillon. A die is a die, as far as I'm concerned.

I finally sucked it up and ordered a bunch of empty die boxes so they'd all stack neatly, though. Not because I'm a neatnik, but because I was running out of space for all the different-sized boxes, round cylinders, etc.
 
For those of you who want a zero failure De-priming or Swaging Die Look for Mighty Armory's new Die's or Die set. 4140 Hardened Steel Rod/Pin. Will be online for purchase next week. We didn't take any shortcuts. It's All Quality.
No tools required. No Nuts, No Allen Screws, No adjustments, 9mm-308.
Long rifle will follow in a week. 30-06 and up.
It's not anything like the 40 year old cosmetically changed dies you are use to seeing and using. The design is very innovative and it all American.
More Dies to follow... This is just the beginning.
 
Suggestion-

Go cheap and them change up after you are thoroughly familiar with what you actually want. Unless you have someone to hold your hand every step of the way, it is a bit like walking around in a strange, dark room. You MUST buy a reloading manual (I suggest Lyman 49th or 50th). You can get load data on line from both bullet and powder manufacturers. Get to know the non-folksie parts of the front of the manual inside and out. As to the guy to hold your hand? You really don't know if he is a guru or not, but it will help and then you correct on your own.

All of the above being said, I found the cheap Lee neck sizing die to be better than the Reddings or Rcbs models. It is a lot cheaper, too. If Made in USA is important to you (as it is to me) you will be limited, for the major suppliers to Redding which is in Bumdunk, New York. You will absolutely need a few tools; a set of calipers and a micrometer. For starters, you need not spend a whole lot, for a beginner, the $20-$30 items are just fine. As to a press- I think my Rockchucker Supreme is great. The only drawback is the spent primer collection tray system. You may need to use duct tape against the frame to get the proper tilt to funnel the primer shells into the trays. Not a big deal. Or you may use a pie tin on the floor when you figure out where the spent primers are going.

With the dies, there are also several US independent die makers, like Whidden and others.

After you get the feel of things and realize almost everything in the starter kit (except maybe the press) is the be upgraded and that you really want to continue handloading, you can upgrade here and there until you and your wallet remain reasonably happy.

Careful of advice, especially on local boards and others. There are segments of our population that, leave out information or lie, exaggerate, or just want to have company in owning products they own, whether or not they are very happy with it and know what and why they are recommending it.

One short example- When I first started, someone who had been reloading for decades recommended a Wilson trimmer with the micrometer setting. I bought it. Used it (it did the job accurately). I asked him a question about something or other that was a bit particular to that piece of equipment. He said he didn't know since he had only read a few reviews on the trimmer and didn't actually own one. With the base, it cost me about $170. I now know, other major retailers have trimmers that will cost $90-110 that work just as well. And so it goes. Learn from your mistakes and then move on.

One last suggestion- Check prices from retailer to retailer. You then have a choice of going to Brownell's, signing up for its EDGE program and for $50/year, slow free shipping as well as lifetime return with free shipping on anything you return.

Have fun and I wish you luck and success in your endeavors.
 
I enjoy using my rcbs dies over my lee dies. IMO the lee dies feel cheap with the seaters and what not. RCBS has more of a rugged feel but all make ammo just the same.
 
Picked up a new set of Lyman rifle dies this week. WOW! These thing's are finished as well as my Redding's. I've got a few set's of older Lyman's and they have always worked well, these new one's blew my mind!
 
I have Hornady, Lyman, Lee and Redding. I mostly only load pistol and use a variety of them for each caliber. Hornady seat die is used for every caliber as I found no matter how the bullet is sitting on the case the sleeve straightens it out everytime.
They are all good some are finished better and I would like to think the higher dollar ones like the Redding that I paid so much more for :eek: have much higher tolerance standards but really don't see it with the shooting I do.
Now my brother in law who shoots and reloads nothing but long range rifle has nothing but RCBS and Redding. He's been reloading for over 50 years and all his dies are pre china made.
To him the thought of using any of the other low brow ones that I use is right there with blasphemy.
 
Here's a pics of a few of the Die Body's in colors.

ibap75.jpg



Wayne
Mighty Armory
 
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