Now using hornady titanium nitride pistol dies

Lee dies are good, so are RCBS, and I have plenty of both, so I actually have an informed opinion. I have Pacific dies (that should date me, as Pacific was the old Hornady brand) that are fine too, but if you really want s-m-o-o-t-h and high quality, try Redding, Dillon and Forster dies! Nothing "wrong" with any of the others, but it is like driving a Rolls after a Yugo, they both get the job done, but there IS a difference in the ride!

I think that I have heard reports of the titanium nitride coating wearing off the dies. They will probably replace the dies if you have issues but thought I would chime in. Also the Lee powder through expanding dies are supposed to have a rough bump when using them this assures you that the propellant does not stick anywhere and fills the casing. I do not own any Ti-Ni dies personally so this is just from my questionable memory so take it as it is offered. Glad they are working well for you.

Also the Lee powder through expanding dies are supposed to have a rough bump when using them this assures you that the propellant does not stick anywhere and fills the casing.

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I've wondered about that! I don't use them as powder-through dies, and have considered polishing the expander to make it smoother.

I have lots of LEE, RCBS and Lyman dies with zero problems. Actually 3 to 1 mostly Lee dies over RCBS but they all work as advertised so I am happy with all of them.
Yes you can polish the die insert to make it smoother but I have never bothered as it will knock off any inside burrs on my pistol brass when I bother to trim it. YMMV

While I have not had any problems with Hornady's Ti Nitride coating, I remember a few comments from folks that have had problems.

I have had some other issues with their dies to the point I will not buy any more in the near term.

I have a sizer die that would not size the case enough to hold the bullet. The expander plug in the mouth expander die is installed such a way that I have not discovered how it can be removed. Therefore it cannot be polished or easily cleaned. I have had some issues with the expander plug on one or two dies.

Not hand gun, but they have three or so bullet seater die bodies that they adjust the internals for different length cases. I have a seater for a short rifle case that only engages about three or four threads in the press. The other length die bodies will not work. While probably strong enough, it just does not sit well with me. i do like the sliding sleeve seater and adding a micrometer adjuster is inexpensive hen compared to the others competition dies.

I do like the lock rings though.

The Hornady dies that do not have issues work great. Out of five or six Hornady die sets, I think I have shelved only two complete sets.

tungsten carbide vs. titanium nitride coatings

tungsten carbide vs. titanium nitride coatings , big difference.

Over the years I have used RCBS, Lyhman, Lee and Dillon dies. I prefer the Dillon dies for seating lead bullets as one can readilly remove the seating plug for cleaning without disturbing the die alignment. Currently virtually all my pistol calibers loaded on the Dillon 550 use either Dillon or Lee dies. I use Lee dies for calibers which I shoot less frequently.

I use RCBS, Lee, and Hornady handgun dies, and I'm finding that the Lee dies are less smooth, especially the powder-through expanding dies. And the boxes are a PITA as well.

I'll be buying RCBS and Hornady going forward. I don't load thousands of rounds a year of anything, so even if there is a mild issue with the Hornady coating, It'll still outlive me.

As far as I'm concerned, the Redding carbide sizing die, with their other two dies in the set are the finest dies on the market for their smoothness, quality, and manufacturing standards. I 've been reloading for other 45 years and have tried them all. Now having said all that, I use all Dillon dies in ny 550 and 650 presses. They just seem to function better in dillon progressive presses.

the count said:

I have a ton of Lee dies and have been basically very happy with them. I decided to give the new Hornady titanium nitride dies a try since they have the free bullet offer. The set I got was for 9 mm with the combination seater / crimp die. The sizer die is definitely smoother than the Lee. The seater/crimp die if adjusted properly is almost as good as the Lee seater plus factory crimp die. So I relegated the Lee dies to my old Lee turret press and put the Hornady in my LnL setup. Happy camper.

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There is nothing that prevents you from using the Lee seating die to seat the bullet and the Hornady seat/crimp die to crimp only. (also, nothing preventing you from using the Hornacy seat/crimp die to seat only and the Lee die to crimp).

Separating the operations does make die adjustment easier and on a progressive takes no more operation time. On a turret, a little more. On a single stage, probably not worth the extra time it takes.

Just a random thought.

Lost Sheep

Lost Sheep

The Lee powder through expanders are intentionally rough. While I don't necessarily buy Mr. Lee's logic behind it. It's actually part of the design. I have an assortment of die brands and they all serve their purpose well with non being superior to another.


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Yup, the Hornady titanium nitride cobalt diamond tungsten with the carbide insert are the Bomb.
These are my "go to" dies.

The redding dies are a bit addictive - Nothing but nice, as we say. Most handguns and shooters will not be able to tell if their ammo was made by redding or lee, so all that extra $$ and fit/finish may not matter. I've got dies from rcbs, horn, lee, but he reddings are slowly taking over.

I have handgun sets from Hornady, Dillon, RCBS, and Redding. Can't find a problem with any of them.

Just a couple of observations :

Titanium Nitride coatings are now applied to some lines of drill bits. As a building contractor of 3 and a half decades, I haven't noticed any difference at all. They get dull and wear out just as fast as tool steel. The coating goes away quickly on a drill bit...then it gets dull. I felt like in that application, it was a gimmick.

Not saying that experience represents T.N. coated dies....don't have any idea about how long the coating will stick. But solid carbide rings are stronger and should last longer, IMO........if they don't fall out.

One of our own, Peter Eick, has actually had a carbide ring fall out of a carbide sizer! The most interesting thing about that, is that it was with the least likely brand of dies......Redding. They replaced the die and it happened again with the replacement!

loadedround said:

As far as I'm concerned, the Redding carbide sizing die, with their other two dies in the set are the finest dies on the market for their smoothness, quality, and manufacturing standards. I 've been reloading for other 45 years and have tried them all. Now having said all that, I use all Dillon dies in ny 550 and 650 presses. They just seem to function better in dillon progressive presses.

Click to expand...

Redding dies are the best around in my book. All of my neck-sizing dies are Redding.

floydster said:

Yup, the Hornady titanium nitride cobalt diamond tungsten with the carbide insert are the Bomb.
These are my "go to" dies.

Click to expand...

Is there supposed to be a smiley icon attached to that statement or does Hornady acutally make such a thing.

Lost Sheep

Taroman, what step is being eliminated? Both sets would need sized, then expanded, then seated/crimped.

The only set of Hornady dies I own are a set of 45-70 dies I bought used before I even had anything that shot the 45-70. I got them very cheap at an auction because I don't think anyone knew they were the had the newer titanium nitride sizing die. All I can tell you is they ARE smoother than the Lee and RCBS dies I have and I do like them...