Easiest dies to adjust between different loads

Bullet depth is easy on any brand. Crimp is a little worse. Lee is actually pretty good for dies. O ring locking rather than an allen head set screw or locking ring. Or use your rcbs/ hornady/redding etc set and crimp in another stage with the lee crimp die. Imo rcbs is the worst to make changes to. Great company though

I have RCBS, Hornady, Redding, C&H, Forster, and Lee dies, I can't say anyone of them is easier to change adjustments on than the other ones. My Forster seating die has a mic on the seating stem.
Like 9mmepiphany said you can record your setting and get back to really close when you return to that seating depth but that is the only advantage it has over the others.

That is pretty slick...can that die be used with a Lee 4 die set? Just replace the seating die with that Redding Competition die?

I have owned Redding and RCBS micrometer seaters, and they save lots of time during setup and COAL experimentation. I found them to be equivalent, and sold the Redding because it was worth 2x the same RCBS.

That said, I never use micrometer seaters for pistol calibers. Maybe if you're doing rifle work with a pistol, you could appreciate the advantage.

+1 from Walkalong.

I use the same arbor shims for making adjustments I just set the locking ring to the shortest COAL for example like a JHP and then from there if I go to a plated RN I just have to add so many shims. Pretty easy. And no messing with the lock ring ever again.

I have a cheat sheet of which shims I use for which bullets and OAL. Setup is literally in seconds.

bersaguy said:

That is pretty slick...can that die be used with a Lee 4 die set? Just replace the seating die with that Redding Competition die?

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If you want to yes. There is no need to use dies of the same brand.

If you don't want to spend the high cost of the competition die stick with the Lee seating die. The screw top adjustment is very easy to change on the fly.

I use spacers some too. Especially in my 10mm-40 sw sets. But as far as just making changes to crimp the lee set just requires a wrench. Most others require the wrench plus allen heads which tend to strip. Many people, including myself, put lead shot under the set screw to remedy this. I despise the decapping setup lee uses though. I'm usually loading lead or plated so I seat with my progressive presses and whichever brand dies I'm using but crimp with the lee fcd.
If I'm loading more precise ammo I use single stage but over the last 20 years I'd say ive loaded 10,000 on the progressive to every 1 single stage for handguns.
As far as mixing dies I do it all the time. Redding or Forster seating dies, rcbs carbide sizing dies, and lee crimp dies are common

I've never adjusted the crimp once set. For bullet profile changes it really depends on the cartridge and the bullet. If loading revolvers where the COAL doesn't change often then a Dillon seating die is the ticket. For auto cartridges where your COAL can change with every different bullet I find that the Hornady seating die works quite well.

$120 for a seating die? No Thanks!

Once you’re familiar with setting up the dies it should take around a minute or less to get the die setup. All the die makers today have dies that are easy to adjust. You can use a factory round to determine approximately where the crimp should be adjusted to.

I have a tray of dummy cartridges I used to use to set crimp and OAL for various bullets. Back the die off a bit, run the dummy cartridge into the die, adjust the crimp to match the dummy cartridge and then adjust the OAL stem to match the dummy round. I rarely use this method anymore because it’s just as easy to slightly tweak the OAL to match the current bullet being used and the crimp shouldn’t change much unless switching to brass that is different in length .38 Special to .357 for example.

I just never thought of using spacers. Very cool, guys.

So what I did was just buy extra die sets for each caliber. (spl vs magnum) If I'm just changing bullets within one caliber, I'll just change the seating adjustment.

I also use dummy cartridges. Great advice there

My revolver dies are old RCBS and Lyman. I leave the crimp (die body) alone and twiddle the seating plug for OAL/crimp groove.
I do have a taper crimp .38 die for the cheap ungrooved coated and plated bullets so common now.

I splurged on Hornady micrometer seaters for my Dillons. The .45 is more useful, I change bullets occasionally.
The 9mm hasn't been changed in some while, I have loaded everything on one setting and they come out ok. l

I have micrometer seating dies for several cartridges that I regularly load multiple bullets. Redding, Forster, and RCBS. Others make them too. They are definitely time savers and allow you to duplicate COL is seconds. I think that they are a great investment if you change bullets a lot.

I must say I don't have a need to adjust my crimp dies often, but if that ever changes those shims look like a good, and cheap, investment.

I leave my dies for my “pet loads” alone, and buy a new set for the next load or to “tinker with.” If I’m shooting a certain load enough to warrant development of a pet load, then the fixed cost component of the dies gets diluted to effectively nothing over the variable life cycle volume of the pet load. Most of my precision ammo is seated with LE Wilson chamber type dies on an arbor press, so I just buy extra heads instead of complete dies. For handgun ammo, a cheap set of Hornady or RCBS dies and another turret head is usually less costly than a micrometer seater, or break even - but doesn’t require ANY resetting time for the dies.

I have micrometer seaters, but I’ve found it’s just as accurate, just as fast to reset, and far less expensive to simply keep dummy rounds for each pet load - or keep a full set of dies on a turret head for each pet load.

alfsauve said:

I just never thought of using spacers. Very cool, guys.

So what I did was just buy extra die sets for each caliber. (spl vs magnum) If I'm just changing bullets within one caliber, I'll just change the seating adjustment.

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I have seperate tool heads for my 650 for .38 spl and .357 mag. If I ever start loading .44 spl I'll do the same.

If you have a dial indicator and something you can mount it to that is U shaped, they are all easy to adjust with precision.

I've been happy with my RCBS competition dies.

Make up some rounds and use Lee dies (or any die) the Lee is very easy to change just turn the knob on top. Of course it doesn't cost twice as much as other dies so it can't be any good,especially with big fat 357 and 44 mag precision" bench rest shooting bullets".
precision" bench rest shooting bullets. Gads if you use a separate crimping die then it is is even easier than seating and crimping with the same die.

The Dillon guys will be here shortly

Hi...
When I set up a seating/crimping die for a particular load, I never change it again.
I have multiple seating dies for various bullets in most of the handgun calibers that I reload for. I buy complete die sets, order separate seating dies and sometimes buy die sets at auctions and yard sales. Every seating die is kept in a seosepar die box and marked with the bullet it is used for.
I have any number of partial die sets which have come in handy lately as my son and I have been setting up various calibers on my two Hornady LnL progressives presses. I knew that all those used die sets would eventually be useful.

Rule3 said:

The Dillon guys will be here shortly

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Yup, here I am, a Dillon guy. Dillon's are nice because you can clean the dies without losing the settings. But for adjusting the seating depth, it is hard to beat the Lee dies without going to the expensive micrometers. I use Dillon, Lee, and RCBS dies mostly. The Lee's are the easiest because no tools are required. The RCBS require that you break the lock nut on the seating stem and use a screw driver (or turn by hand). On the Dillon you have to move the whole die body which involves loosening the lock ring.