Who makes the best reloading dies?

[GBExpat]

Who makes the best reloading dies?

I have experience with only 2 brands of die sets: RCBS and Lee.

I started with the former about 40 years ago and, with time, added more of those and also Lee (initially on a cost-based Trial).

Currently, of the 18-20 different sets on my bench, most are Lee. My specialty dies are also all Lee or RCBS, quantities about evenly split.

These have always done a very good job for me & I am very familiar with the products & CS, so I have had no reason to look elsewhere.

FWIW.

 

[Mauser69]

I personally own Lee, Lyman and RCBS dies. For pistol, I started out buying Lyman dies and think they are great - but now I only buy Lee because I think they are even better with some unique design features you do not get with others. In particular, I love the unbreakable decapper, powder through expander dies and o-ring fiction adjustments that do not need tools.

All of my rifle dies are RCBS, and although they work great, their lock rings are just crap (weak set screw instead of split-ring). I will probably buy a different brand for rifle in the future if I buy new dies instead of used.

 

[HOWARD J]

I usually have 2 sometimes 3 sets off dies for each cartridge.
I pick the one that does the best work for each station
Sometimes I have 3 different dies for one cartridge & use a CH taper die also.
whatever floats your boat----------------------------------
H

 

[DocUSMCRetired]

Whidden, Forster, Redding, and Wilson all make great products. Whidden Pointing Die Set is a must in any collection. I can easily get 0.003" repeatability out of these guys. I particularly like having a Redding turret setup with their comparator dies, so I don't need to hand caliper everything. But for loading a Forster Co-Ax with any of the above named can get you awesome repeatability in seating. Forster makes a set of replacement springs that fit other dies, like the Redding, but not the Whidden. These help provide a more consistent tension, for more consistent reloading.

 

[Mel1776]

I have 8 sets of RCBS because they work well,
5 sets of Dillon because the wider case opening makes my Dillon presses run smoother,
2 Lee (1 cuz I wanted to try a FCD, the other Universal Decapper),
1 set Redding that was available on short notice,
1 set Pacific Durachrome,
and 1 Bair that I bought used and finally retired last season when I broke the decapping pin and bent the decapper rod.
All have served their purposes very well.

 

[bobinoregon]

My first choice is Dillon, if they don't have it I go to RCBS. I like the way Dillon dies are constructed.

 

[Average Joe]

Lee Carbide dies

 

[jeeptim]

RCBS is the industry leader in quality reloading tools and customer service satisfaction stellar.
Yeah I have acquired other dies work just fine but one goes south and I would wish it were RCBS.
RCBS gets my support as I can count on theirs.

 

[MikeInOr]

I have toolheads for 9 different calibers for my Dillon 650 with a mix of dies from many different manufactures.

For 9mm and .45, which I load the most of, I use RCBS large and small case lube dies in the first station. I don't really need to lube pistol cases but my press definitely runs smoother when the cases are lubed. The #1 best feature of the RCBS lube dies is that they use RCBS decapper pins which can be purchased at many local stores and don't have to be ordered like practically every other die manufacture. I use the Dillon carbide sizing and seating dies for both 9mm and .45.

My only other die preference is I really like the Lee collet crimp dies. Every riffle toolhead I have has a Lee collet crimp die in the last stage. I might have just bought into Lees marketing hype on their collet crimp dies but the mechanics makes sense to me and I like how they work especially with long seated bullets where the crimp doesn't land in the canalure.

I bought the RCBS lube dies to lube riffle cartridges for which they are absoltuely useless... because they have no provistion to lube the necks! Since I already paid for them I repurposed the lube dies for 9mm and .45 and like them for this use.