Favorite Die Manufacturer?

I'm only reloading pistol calibers thus far. I have Dillon, RCBS and Lyman and of them all, prefer the Lee dies the best.
 
Strange, I love Hornady bullet's for hunting but never got into their reloading equip. Their start inn equipment was when they bought out Pacific.
 
I have a bit of everything. I find I need a mix of best-in-class for each operation except when using Lyman or RCBS. I have never had any Dillon dies. Hornady dies are all chucked in a drawer and replaced, okay for jacketed probably. Unless using lead bullets a bit over the diameters for which the dies were designed, the Hornadys, or really any of them, should be fine, including Lee, which are the best value.

The dies I use the most are RCBS Cowboy, the only sets specifically sized for lead bullets, sadly revolver cartridges only.
 
Well I have a 7.5 x 55 Swiss Barrel on a Savage Action.

I can't find a die maker who has a Micrometer Bench Rest class seating die.

Lo and behold, while it is a special order, RCBS will make one.

On order.

While I am a bit partial to the Forster due to the setup of the stuff on top with nuts, RCBS continues to be a mainstay.

Lyman has the very wonderful M die.

I just damaged my Lyman boroscope wand connection, still can jiggle it to work, so I get to see what kind of service I get there.
 
Good luck with Lyman's customer support. Here's my thread detailing my interactions with them. https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=575855

I've got some RCBS, and some old Lyman. And a Lee hand loader. The Redding stuff is nice, never used it, Hornady has nice stuff too, but never used it.

I think it all comes down to what you want to spend and how obsessive you want to get. As long as you follow directions and take safety precautions, your end result will be shootable loads.

That said, I'll probably buy RCBS and Hornady most of the time and the Redding stuff when I want to splurge.
 
I have a Hornady LNL so I like the Hornady dies. I also like the RCBS dies although they are a bit shorter (they still work in the LNL)

I have had great success with RCBS and Hornady products. And customer service is second to none.

DB
 
I got a response right back, send us the receipt and we will send you a new one.

Its been sent and will see.
 
I have a Hornady LNL so I like the Hornady dies.
Click to expand...

Had to chuckle...that is not necessarily logical but is a fine testament to your brand loyalty. The Hornady die set, like others, includes an expander die you don't need, while a best-of-breed M-die type could be a real asset, given a free station for it. There are other specialty dies that improve or indeed enable loading lead bullets satisfactorily. By the time I got 45ACP lead SWCs really working on my LnL AP there were no Hornady dies left.

As far as I know, only Redding and Lee actually make a die set for a progressive, nothing missing, nothing cast aside. Dillon probably too, but I don't know Dillon specifics very well.
 
I don't have a favorite die maker. The only dies I've had that were sub par were Lee. I have had good service from others, Dillon, RCBS, Redding, Hornady, Texan(you don't know who that is), Herters and Lyman. I don't like the design of the Dillons. The last dies for my RL550B are RCBS. I like the adjustable bullet seating stem.
 
The OP has a solid single stage withe the RockChucker setup. I still use my RC for small batch rifle, to work up a new load, and for case trimming. It complements my 550 very well.

My preference on dies are: Redding, then Lyman, Hornady, and RCBS in no particular order and last choice of Lee. Don't misunderstand, if I need a die and the only one available is Lee I will buy it with no hesitation. I do like that they include a case holder with their dies.

The only dies I have had any issues with has been Lee. Lee did replace one and called it defective; they do have good customer service. The other was a rifle die that I had to polish the inside of the bullet seater because it would leave a indentation just off of the crown of the bullet. I have cracked the carbide in one of my Lee dies but I attribute that to my negligence.
 
I use a Rockchucker as my main rifle reloading press, and almost all of my dies are either Hornady, or a few RCBS. I've picked up a lot of older Pacific reloading (precursor to Hornady) Durochrome dies.
 
Let's see. I've got Herter, RCBS, Lyman, Redding and maybe one or two more. For me trying to pick a favorite based on using it would really be splitting hairs. My favorite's are based on how they look and are finished. That has always put Redding at the top of the heap but, not willing to pay for them anymore. Recently bough a set of Lee 243 dies and they compare with Redding in finish. Really surprised me. I use a single stage press, have all my life for rifles, no regrets! Try'ed a progressive press some time back, me and it did not get along. Good press just been doing things my way to long and I don't need to turn out a couple hundred rounds in the shortest time possible. First timer at it, I'd suggest either Lee or Lyman. They do every thing the other do but they are not as expensive.

Now does he want the prettiest die's he can get or does he simply want dies that work? I'm a kind of die's that work but more important has alway's been cost and what I can get locally' ha! 70 miles one way to the closest read gun store! If I were a competition shooter as in bench rest, I might consider more expensive dies.
 
Favorite die? ....Is whichever one that I'm currently using provided it does what I need it to do without breaking and if it does break will be supported by the manufacturer.
 
I started with Lee Dies, mainly due to their cost and the good reviews I saw. Now I exclusively use Lee Dies and have loaded thousands of rounds with them in pistol and rifle with excellent results on my RCBS Rockchucker Supreme and Hornady Lock N Load AP presses. With Lee you get the shell holder and a dipper with each set. The shell holder should be included with all dies but most manufacturers charge you extra. The Lee Dipper is great for working up loads.

Overall, I'm very satisfied with Lee Dies.
 
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