Who makes the best dies?

[Horty]

I have tried Lee dies and Hornady dies so far and like them well enought but I am wanting to know who you all think makes the best dies? are some better for pistol/rifle rounds? Are some more expensive but worth it? Are some better for bulk production but not quite as precise as others? Let me know what you all prefer.

 

[Wall]

I use Lee Carbide Dies for both rifle & pistol

 

[Matt1911]

Lee carbide is all I've ever used. I don't see any reason to change what works.

 

[nikatkimber]

I have Lee carbide and standard pistol dies, Lee rifle dies, RCBS rifle dies, Hornady and Lyman pistol dies, Dillon rifle and pistol dies.

I personally don't like the RCBS dies. The Hornady dies are OLD .30-30 dies, and I've only loaded like 100rds with them, same with the Lyman, I have an old .44 mag set that I've only loaded ~50 rounds with. So not much experience. But from the design, I personally don't see what makes them worth more than the Lee dies.

The Dillon dies are nice, and if I'm going to be loading on a Dillon press, I'll buy the Dillon dies in the future.

I do like the Lee Collet type factory crimp die, and have heard good things about hte collet neck sizer dies of theirs. As far as pistol dies, short of the dillon carbides, I have no reason to buy anything other than Lee deluxe carbide sets.

I do want to get a redding or Forster micrometer seater die for my rifles. Some people swear by the bushing neck sizer dies (redding and forster make them, think RCBS does too), other say they are more likely to form donuts in the neck. I can't say one way or the other.

 

[brandt9913]

I do want to get a redding or Forster micrometer seater die for my rifles. Some people swear by the bushing neck sizer dies (redding and forster make them, think RCBS does too), other say they are more likely to form donuts in the neck. I can't say one way or the other.

For precision rifle dies, look at the LE Wilson hand dies. They have a much better micrometer than the forester and redding. I use an arbor press with mine, but a small mallet will work just as well for neck sized cases.

When it is time to resize the entire case, I use a redding body sizing die and stick with the neck sizer so I can seat the bullets with the hand dies.

 

[dennishoddy]

I own RCBS dies for everything except. .40 S&W.
Bought the Lee dies on a close out sale.
I don't have problems with either of them.

 

[Dustin Cantrell]

I've used Lee dies for 9mm Luger, .38 special/.357 magnum and .45 ACP. No problems there. I have a whole gob of .40 S&W and need to get started on loading for it. I was thinking about buying Lee dies but also a Redding G-RX to remove any bulge before the normal loading process. Also need to get setup for .223 for my AR but don't even know where to start there. Have brass and bullets but don't know much about rifle dies or the reloading process for rifle cartridges. Neck sizing, full-length sizing, bumping shoulders... Information overload.

 

[brandt9913]

I also own Lee dies for 9mm and have had no problems. I have Dillon 40 dies, but haven't used them much yet. I also run all my 40 brass through a redding gr-x sizing dies. I have loaded a couple thousand rounds on friends presses using the gr-x and have had no problems. I went with the dillon 40 dies for my own 650 because I like being able to to drop them out with only a pin instead of having to unthread the internal die.

As far as rifle. If you are loading for an AR or any other semi-auto rifle, you will need to use full length sizing dies. Semi-auto rifles do not like neck sized brass. If you are using a bolt gun, you can feel when the case body is starting to get too large and full length size the brass the next time you size it. Trying to use forward assist every time with an AR will not be pleasant.

 

[Horty]

If I buy the Dillon Reloading 3 die set for 9mm Luger should I still get a separate crimping die like the Lee Factory Crimp die? How important is it to have a separate crimp die as opposed to having seating and crimping occur at the same time? Does 9mm use a taper crimp?

 

[Joel Clouse]

A wise old man once told me - Redding Dies over everything else. The end.

I've never used any other die and I'm sure my great grand kids someday will still be using them. I use an RCBS press, a Redding BR50 powder measure and trickler, along with their dies. Redding is top notch.

 

[martinga111]

If I buy the Dillon Reloading 3 die set for 9mm Luger should I still get a separate crimping die like the Lee Factory Crimp die? How important is it to have a separate crimp die as opposed to having seating and crimping occur at the same time? Does 9mm use a taper crimp?

If you are using lead bullets or jacketed bullets with a crimp groove (cannelure), then you can use the crimping feature on the seating die. If not using those bullets, then you need a separate crimping die and I strongly recommend the Lee factory crimp dies.

 

[hunter_dmw12]

hornady makes some great dies. i use them lee and rcbs all seem to work just fine

 

[Matt1911]

Since this post, I've loaded about 7-8k .40 rounds with Hornady dies and really like them. I use a Lee/EGW undersized die for sizing/depriming, but Hornady for the rest of it.

 

[Fyrtwuck]

I use a variety of dies. Dillon, Lee, and RCBS. It just depends on what I'm loading at the time.

 

[mikey80]

I have Redding Dies for everything. Redding makes the best dies in the market. If I don't use Redding, I use Lee. Lee makes an excellent product. I use their Deluxe .40 Dies in .40 for my Dillon. However, I subbed out the first stage and use a Redding resize and recapping die. I never, ever have issues. Check out Redding, if they don't have what you want, look to Lee.

 

[Scott Hearn]

I love me some Redding too but Hornady is just a cheaper version of them. Forster BR dies are pretty sweet for rifles too but Redding are my 1st choice.


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[mikey80]

The Hornady dies I have bought always rust unusually quickly and the zip spindle system has always broken on me. Not a first choice in my book. The Redding dies just work. Lee is bad ass, too.

 

[planecrazypilot]

Redding/LE Wilson if you are going for the precision. Dillion and Hornady are our preferred, but The Lee's are good too... I think each have a place in reloading depending on your setup..

 

[mikey80]

This has happened twice. .22 case sneaks into a .40 case and makes into station 1 of my 650. The Redding decapping pin was unbroken, pulled out of the .22 case and reinstalled. I continued making another 500 of 1k rounds. Mine, and other Lee decapping pins will not survive this disaster. The pins will break. This will break them or attempting to punch out a WCC NATO primer will break them. The Redding not only made it through the .22 case, but it punched out the spent primer. Redding is a great product, so is Lee, but Redding is the winner in my experience.

 

[Scott Hearn]

Damn Micah! Let me just hammer this thing on down. It'll go, I may have to jump up and down on it, but it'll go! lol

PS. Dillion's pins are pretty tough too. Don't know if they'll do that though.