Best dies for standard use?

Status
Not open for further replies.
azar

azar

Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2006
Messages
364
Location
Utah
I have primarily an RCBS setup which I have only loaded for 1 caliber (6.5x55 SE). I have been mostly happy with it but I wonder if my brand loyalty, mainly for the sake of sticking with the same brand, is warranted. I'm planning on purchasing a 7mm Remington Magnum and would like to acquire the dies, powders, and primers ahead of time to be ready for when I purchase the gun. This has me thinking about if I should just grab the RCBS green box dies or if some other die would be better.

I don't have any gripes with RCBS, and in fact their customer service has been awesome. I'm just wondering if for "standard uses" (Hunting & Target practice) if people are partial to a particular brand of die?

For non-competition, hunting and range use what are the best "standard grade" dies?

RCBS green box? Lee Collet or Normal? Redding? Hornady? Forester? Lyman?

Is there an appreciable difference or is it just user preference?
 
I have RCBS and Hornady. I love to reload with my Hornady dies. The moving sleeve on the seating die makes life easy and they are very accurate the sleeve holds runout to a very small degree. It is also helpful in not crushing your fingers like I tend to do with my RCBS dies.

All dies are good. They all have good points and bad points. The one thing I don't like about my Hornady is they have rusted where as my RCBS dies have not. This is nothing serious just some surfas rust.
 
I have RCBS, LEE, Dillon and Redding dies. I have recently upgraded most of my dies with Redding. I have them in all my rifle calibers and have Competition sets in quite a few of them. Am I a Redding snob? probably, but I have had good success with them. I am sure that there are people out there that could probably load just as good or better with other equipment as tools are just that, TOOLS. If you have good experiences with RCBS, stick with em. If you want to try something new, buy another set in Lee or Hornady or any other company that you may fancy.

Cheers...
 
For everyday dies it is hard to beat RCBS and their cusomer service is 2nd to none. Redding or Forster make very good dies too, and I prefer them if possible. They don`t however make any difference in ammo for a factory hunting rifle IMO.
 
Redding or Forster make very good dies too, and I prefer them if possible. They don`t however make any difference in ammo for a factory hunting rifle IMO.
Click to expand...
Big ditto. Redding and Forster are great, but all the standard sets will load very good ammo. When you start getting into match barrels etc, the better dies can help.
 
I've had better results with Lee than any other brand I've tried. Not to knock the others but as good or better results at half the price is always a good deal. I also had RCBS stuff first and have since switched to Lee.
 
I second the opinions above, RCBS, Hornady, Dillon, Lee, Redding...I have all of them and all are excellent. Dillon will replace a faulty die with no questions asked...don't know about the others as I have never had to replace one.
 
I have Hornady and RCBS dies and while both work great I prefer the Hornady more.
The sleve on the seater dies is an excellent feature.
 
I have had good results with most brands, and because of this website I have recently tried several other brands I had not previously used.

I have not yet found a bad brand. I do like Redding competition bushing dies for gilt-edged accurate rifles but aside from that, everything works.
 
"Is there an appreciable difference or is it just user preference?"

Preference. Usually based on good experience with a specific brand, with little or no experience with others. I have them all, like them all. It comes down to how much someone is willing to pay for the color of a box.

Redding and Foster dies are exceptions but, as mentioned above, few are likely to notice any differences at the target.
 
I have Lee, Redding and RCBS. I don't see a material difference between them. For me, its the type of die I get, for example: a regular seating die vs a competition seater.

I know your not talking about presses, but I've seen material differences there not so much with the maker, but the design.
 
I use Lee because they are cheap and they work. so far I have only used Lee and RCBS. I woul probably get a set of reddings if I got a nice bolt gun but I use Lee for all my handgun and my semi-rifles.
 
Don't forget Dillion Dies. I have one complete rifle set. Very well built, good features. Outstanding warranty. I bent a Dillion 45 ACP decapper on my Dillion progressive. There was a rock in the case, so it was my fault. They sent me a new decapping assembly free!. No BS warranty!!

I purchased two sets of Forster/Bonanza "Bench Rest" Dies. I love the bullet seating die, but I busted bunches of decapping spindles. Bonanza decapping spindles bust easy if the flash hole is a little off center.

s7_210544_imageset_01?$main-Large$.jpg

I like RCBS dies, use my Lyman small base dies all the time, and for the goofy antique military calibers, I use Lee dies. Cheap and they work.

One Palma shooter friend, he loves his Redding dies.

Hard to say anyone makes a "bad" die, they just have different features.
 
I have not had good luck with Lee seating dies, the seating plug is not caliber specific, and lets the bullet wobble around too much, giving me some pretty grossly crooked ammo. And I detest their lock rings.

On a budget, the Hornady seating die is hard to beat, and their sizing die with the newish zip spindle is nice. Best lock rings on the planet too.

For a little more money, I like Forster dies (the ones without the micrometer). Very good lock rings.

Andy
 
Okay, I think that helps. I've been curious about the Lee Deluxe Rifle set with the Collet dies. I'll probably grab that or an RCBS.

Thanks for the input everyone.
 
Don't forget Lyman. I've used Lyman dies for my 30/06 for many years, never a problem.
 
And I detest their (Lee) lock rings
Click to expand...

I almost mentioned that. But I don't like the lock rings on any Lee, Rcbs or Redding. I automatically replace them with lock rings that tighten with an allen screw and not into the threads of the die. Figure the extra 4 bucks is worth it. And they work very well.

I guess the standard lock rings are okay if you're putting the dies on a removable toolhead and not fussing with them much. But yea, Lees are the worse of the three.
 
I have the Lee and RCBS dies. Like em both.

When I started doing this last year, I was researching dies and found Lee had separated the bullet seating from the crimp. So I bought and used the Deluxe rifle set with no crimp. But after using the RCBS 2die set, it was easy to add the crimp when I wanted it.

RCBS and Redding standard dies are not too much when you catch them on sale. It's their competition dies that are through the roof.
 
+1 on Lee pistol dies with seperate crimp die.

+1 on competition die sets being overpriced, but what can you do? For my 223, I just got an Redding seater basically cause I'm lazy and could have done it with Lee's regular seater. If I did it again I'd get the RCBS seater cause they have a 'window' to put the bullet in after the case enters the die which makes it a bit easier and safer.
 
I have the Lee dies, and installed them on a toolhead. Once locked down, the rings are no longer an issue. If you are going to be constantly changing out dies the I can understand having some frustration with them. What is it that makes a competition die so much more expensive? Is it really that much better and what is in the construction that makes it that way?
 
Redding Competition seating dies have a micrometer adjustment and a sliding alignment sleeve that aligns the bullet with the case before seating. Redding standard seating dies have neither of these features.

Forster Bench Rest seating dies (their standard dies) have the same type of sliding alignment sleeve, but no micrometer. Their Ultra series dies add the micrometer.

RCBS Competition and Gold Medal seating dies have a micrometer and a sliding alignment sleeve, plus they are windowed, allowing you to slip the bullet into the side of the die. Their standard dies have none of these features.

Hornady's standard dies also have the sliding alignment sleeve, but it is shorter and does not engage the case body past the shoulder. They are much cheaper, and they also sell an optional micrometer replacement adjuster screw.

Andy
 
Would I have any issues using non-RCBS dies in my RockChucker? Will the RCBS shell holder work with the other dies as well or will other brand shell holders work in the RockChucker?

Thanks.
 
I like RCBS because the finish looks nice and stays nice. Also they have a quality feel to them that my other dies don't have, even though they all work just fine. Not really significant reasons, I guess.

Sometimes different brands have subtle differences in what crimp comes standard or some minor gadget. If you like the RCBS you have, you should probably stick with them.

Another thing I like are the boxes. For my non-RCBS dies, I got some RCBS boxes so they all stack on the shelf together and take up less space.

-J.
 
I have RCBS, Redding and Hornady. Cant complain about any of them.
I might get a forrestor comp die in the future though.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

T
  • Locked
Dies For A Precision .308
Replies
11
Views
2K
MCMXI
MCMXI
B
  • Locked
Using an RCBS 7.62x54r neck sizing die on a 7.7 Arisaka
Replies
14
Views
366
BJung
B
B
  • Locked
RCBS X-Die Mandrel Question
Replies
2
Views
503
Steve in PA
Steve in PA
P
  • Locked
Reloading dies in different manufacturer equipment
Replies
6
Views
782
BAT1
B
9
  • Locked
Which dies for Savage Model 99 in .300 Savage?
Replies
5
Views
2K
[email protected]
J
Back
Top