Who makes the best reloading dies?

JO422 · Member Joined: Sep 16, 2005 Posts: 33

I'm looking to buy a new set of dies and I'm wondering who makes the most consistant dies out there. I have used REBS for years and they are excellent, but i do like the thought of a finger adjustable seating die like Lee or Hornady offers. Any thoughts or experiences?

GroovyJack · Member Joined: May 21, 2005 Posts: 621 Location: Bama

RCBS I like , to me they are all good .. Money no object then Huntington or CH4D ..
Jack

Bushmaster

I use all Lee dies and am very satisfied with their preformance. Of course I am not shooting for extreme accuracy. Most of my firearms can out shoot me anyway. There are probably better dies out there and there probably worst dies too. But I will stick with Lee.

515034s10ring

I've never used anything else but RCBS, Lee, and Hornady.....For me to pick which ones better out of them, i really can't.

1. They all make great dies

2. They all have done a great job for me

3. They ALL have an excellent customer relations department and when ever i had a problem, they REPLACED it for free (which was completely my fault when i dropped a tray with 4 plates loaded with each companies dies).

So with those three things going for them, i think for what i do they are the best in my eyes.

I was also thinking about trying Foster dies, but never got around to it.

tbox61

Ditto what Bushmaster said! I have all Lee equipment for my metallic reloading, 8 sets of dies in all. Last problem I had was with a vent hole on my .22 Hornet die causing a burr on my once fired cases.

I mailed the die back, they took care of it, and I had the die back in about 2 weeks from the day I sent it in! I even visited with a Lee engineer about the problem, and he was more than helpful. What I liked was that they had no 'customer service' department, per se. The person that answered the phone was the troubleshooter and was more than helpful.

I am making handloads that are 3/4" MOA on my .22 Hornet, .223, and 1" MOA for my .270 and 7MM Rem. I am very happy with them as they give me minute of coyote, deer and elk with my firearms.
Tim

Boone

I like the Lee dies best, I have one set of custom Hornady dies and maybe one RCBS, they all work well but, the Lee dies are easier to adjust.
Boone

shrpshtrjoe

I have mostly used RCBS but recently got a set of LEE and so far am impressed im shooting 1/2 moa in the 223 useing Lee dies and ya can't beat there price Very Happy

Gil Martin · Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 3:12 pm Post subject: It depends

I have many sets of RCBS dies and a few from Hornady. They work well and many were bought from the used shelf at a local gun shop. All the best...
Gil

waumo · Member Joined: Oct 05, 2005 Posts: 30

The Lee dies are great for the money and I've used them in several calibers for years with no compaints. I recently bought Redding Competition Neck Sizing die set for my 308 and the micrometer adjustment on bullet seating die is a great feature for recording the setting for different bullets.

515034s10ring

Welcome to the forum Waumo! Howdy

Handloader

"Best dies?" I define best in terms of runout of the produced round, tolerances and finish of the dies. RCBS, Bonanza, Redding, Lee, and Hornady dies can be found on my bench, 38 dies set in all. They all do a good job of reloading ammo.

That said, the minimum runout is consistently with the standard RCBS dies. I find their interior surfaces smoother. Bonanza made great dies, too; they had the resizing button located further up the stem at the point of greatest leverage ratio of the press.

robfromaz1977

I use mostly RCBS but I do have a couple of Lee sets. For the price Lee are impossible to beat.

Flint54

I have dies from almost every manufacturer, I've only had a few problems with Redding Dies but that was taken care of by them very quickly. I even still have some Herters dies that I use. My personal favorites are Lyman, RCBS, Lee & Hornady. They all do the job very well. I don't think you will get a bad set from any of them. Cool

calsibley · Super Member Joined: Jan 28, 2005 Posts: 317

For my competition or target shooting rifles I prefer Wilson NS knock out dies, or Redding NS bushing dies. For everything else Redding or RCBS will do nicely, even Lyman. They're all good, just some are better than others. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

JO422 · Member Joined: Sep 16, 2005 Posts: 33

Thanks for all of the help on this one. I think I'm going to go with the RCBS.