9mmSkeeter
New member
The first die set I bought a few years ago was a Lyman Carbide 9mm Luger set. It performed flawlessly but I knew there were cheaper options out there and more elegant ones to boot. My next die set was a Lee red box set, with powder dipper, shell holder, and all. Excellent value at $30, or so I Thought. I can't remember the exact problem with t, it was 40 s&w, but something to do with the bullet seating and expanding dies. I had so much trouble with it, I often put it down, reread the instructions, came back to it again, and had the same results. I did this off and on for the next month. I finally sold it and got...a Lyman Carbide 40 S&W set. Has worked flawlessly for thousands of rounds.
So, being the stubborn mule I am, my next die set was NOT a Lyman, it was an RCBS. I was loading 38 and the decapping pin snapped right off. It was definitely NOT BERDAN primed...but before I could even try the other dies in the set out, I was stonewalled by this catastrophe. I could have sent them in, but I bought them used, and just gave the other dies away. ( I later bought a used Lyman AA series set for 38 and the dies work like a dream.)
Still wanting to give the other brands a chance, I ordered a Hornady red box kit. This was for 380. Excited to get my 380 going, I began depriming my USA Federal brand cases. Whoops. What was that? The pin went up into the body. I read the instructions and it was a safety measure to prevent a pin from breaking. Reset the zip spindle, tried it again on another case, this time Blazer. Zippppp! Up into the die body. I read the instructions again, rinse and repeat, probably 10 times over the course of my ownership, I got frustrated and started oversizing cases for lead with my Lyman 9mm Luger decapper just to get some rounds made. Frustrated that I once again had to use my faithful lyman dies to do a job another brand was designed to do, but also frustrated that i had to stick to lead projectiles that made my little bodyguard dirtier than a neglected exhaust system.
So, I bought a single 380 depriming resizing die from RCBS. Lo and behold, excited to start, the tiny brass casings had to be loaded JUST PERFECTLY or else they would be annhiliated by crushing. 380 casings aren't cheap compared to other relative handgun calibers. I must have crushed 40 or 50 casings. It got the job done 70% of the time though - until it didn't. Last week the decapping pin bent sideways and rendered the die (except the die body) inoperable. On top ofh that, it crushed my case. Nice.
Fed up, I chucked the die at the wall, jumped on eBay and Optics Planet, and did this s**t right. I ordered complete sets of 45 acp, 38 special, and 380 (brand new carbide version, the other two were the old steel AA's).
I got them all in record time and cleaned up the used ones with lubricant and Q-Tips, got them shining nice, and they are churning out rounds flawlessly.
I know if all the makers dies were as bad as the ones I experienced, they'd all be out of business. i own some rifle dies from Lee (the green box value packs) and they are fantastic. I know many of you have had no problems with other brands and that's fantastic. I believe I gave the other brands a fair shake, even more so than most folks would. With all that said, Lyman may not be flashy, or cheap, but they are overbuilt and the pins are ruggedized to withstand even BERDAN primers without breaking. In my unfortunate experience, the Lyman dies are worth the extra $20 or so you pay over the other "budget brands" (I'm not including big brands like Dillion or redding!) From NOW ON, Lyman or death for handgun dies. Just had to share.
So, being the stubborn mule I am, my next die set was NOT a Lyman, it was an RCBS. I was loading 38 and the decapping pin snapped right off. It was definitely NOT BERDAN primed...but before I could even try the other dies in the set out, I was stonewalled by this catastrophe. I could have sent them in, but I bought them used, and just gave the other dies away. ( I later bought a used Lyman AA series set for 38 and the dies work like a dream.)
Still wanting to give the other brands a chance, I ordered a Hornady red box kit. This was for 380. Excited to get my 380 going, I began depriming my USA Federal brand cases. Whoops. What was that? The pin went up into the body. I read the instructions and it was a safety measure to prevent a pin from breaking. Reset the zip spindle, tried it again on another case, this time Blazer. Zippppp! Up into the die body. I read the instructions again, rinse and repeat, probably 10 times over the course of my ownership, I got frustrated and started oversizing cases for lead with my Lyman 9mm Luger decapper just to get some rounds made. Frustrated that I once again had to use my faithful lyman dies to do a job another brand was designed to do, but also frustrated that i had to stick to lead projectiles that made my little bodyguard dirtier than a neglected exhaust system.
So, I bought a single 380 depriming resizing die from RCBS. Lo and behold, excited to start, the tiny brass casings had to be loaded JUST PERFECTLY or else they would be annhiliated by crushing. 380 casings aren't cheap compared to other relative handgun calibers. I must have crushed 40 or 50 casings. It got the job done 70% of the time though - until it didn't. Last week the decapping pin bent sideways and rendered the die (except the die body) inoperable. On top ofh that, it crushed my case. Nice.
Fed up, I chucked the die at the wall, jumped on eBay and Optics Planet, and did this s**t right. I ordered complete sets of 45 acp, 38 special, and 380 (brand new carbide version, the other two were the old steel AA's).
I got them all in record time and cleaned up the used ones with lubricant and Q-Tips, got them shining nice, and they are churning out rounds flawlessly.
I know if all the makers dies were as bad as the ones I experienced, they'd all be out of business. i own some rifle dies from Lee (the green box value packs) and they are fantastic. I know many of you have had no problems with other brands and that's fantastic. I believe I gave the other brands a fair shake, even more so than most folks would. With all that said, Lyman may not be flashy, or cheap, but they are overbuilt and the pins are ruggedized to withstand even BERDAN primers without breaking. In my unfortunate experience, the Lyman dies are worth the extra $20 or so you pay over the other "budget brands" (I'm not including big brands like Dillion or redding!) From NOW ON, Lyman or death for handgun dies. Just had to share.