Worst Reloading die brand?

Status
Not open for further replies.
I have several different brands and no real issues. Some have quirky stuff I might dislike or have to work around. Like sometimes a Lee die is a little short in the 650 tool head so I have to put the lock ring on underside - works but awkward. I have Hornady dies that the individual dies don't say on them anywhere what they are. Once that sharpie wears off will be a mystery. Only for 6.5CM and I have no other Hornady dies right now, but if all mine were Hornady and all were unmarked like that, could lead to great confusion. I tend to get lube dents easier/more frequently with RCBS FL .223 sizing die vs Lee or Dillon. Just some examples - you'll find your own "this die, in this caliber, on this press, with this component doesn't do something the way I'd like it to", so you work around it or replace with something that will do what you want better. Doesn't mean that whole brand is junk, just some combo isn't ideal.

I can say from experience that Lee, Dillon, and RCBS are pretty good about working with you even when what's wrong was 100% your fault. Their customer service has been great whenever I had issues. I haven't managed to break anything Hornady or Lyman yet to say how they are :)
 
Have seen mention of C-H dies a couple times? Going through my Dad's old stuff, I found a C-H reloading catalog, and seem to recall the C press he had was a C-H. Some of their stuff looked really good.

Have wondered about their dies. Did a search for them and found a reference or two to C-H dies and chrome plating. Something about that falling off? Anybody have thoughts on C-H dies? Their old H press looks like a real beast. Sold for $36 back when. Have found a few on ebay for $300+.
 
Worst I've owned were Lee. The decapping pin "collet" design is poor and the thread strips easily.

Interesting. I kind of like that vs breaking pins. But I never stripped one & went through the aggravation so maybe that's why I prefer the collet.
 
I like the Lee decap pin design.
I suppose you could strip the collet, you can strip anything if you try hard enough.
I will say when dealing with some problem 5.56/.223 brass I had to really lean on it to keep the pin from moving. (not a die issue a brass issue, and I was sort of in the I will make this bleep brass work mode that day)
Used a couple big wrenches and tightened it way more than it ever should need to be (again brass issue)and it didn't strip.....
(should have put a torque wrench on it to see how tight but I had it pretty :cuss:tight:))
 
Last edited:
Used a couple big wrenches and tightened it way more than it ever should need to be (again brass issue)and it didn't strip.....
(should have put a torque wrench on it to see how tight but I had it pretty :cuss:tight:))

Some folks just don't know their strength when tightening threaded fasteners (Dudedog, don't take offense, please).

I knew a pipe fitter that would routinely crack small threaded pipe fittings. He took to using 4" pipe wrenches to limit the torque he could put on the fittings. But, he still break a few fittings here and there.

The mechanic that works on my race car routinely tightens bolts tighter than I can easily remove. I usually have to use a cheater bar to get the fasteners loose. I know he does not want the fasteners to come loose, but he goes a bit over board.

A little too tight is better than just not tight enough, but one has to know the limitations of the fasteners.

Finally, I strip out my share of fasteners once in a while and it's a pain to correct sometimes.

The Lee collet decapping pin arrangement is one of the better features on Lee dies in my opinion..
 
Just buy them all and compare.

I’m going to buy Redding and Lyman because I’ve never tried it.
 
I have several different brands and no real issues. Some have quirky stuff I might dislike or have to work around. Like sometimes a Lee die is a little short in the 650 tool head so I have to put the lock ring on underside - works but awkward. I have Hornady dies that the individual dies don't say on them anywhere what they are. Once that sharpie wears off will be a mystery. Only for 6.5CM and I have no other Hornady dies right now, but if all mine were Hornady and all were unmarked like that, could lead to great confusion. I tend to get lube dents easier/more frequently with RCBS FL .223 sizing die vs Lee or Dillon. Just some examples - you'll find your own "this die, in this caliber, on this press, with this component doesn't do something the way I'd like it to", so you work around it or replace with something that will do what you want better. Doesn't mean that whole brand is junk, just some combo isn't ideal.

I can say from experience that Lee, Dillon, and RCBS are pretty good about working with you even when what's wrong was 100% your fault. Their customer service has been great whenever I had issues. I haven't managed to break anything Hornady or Lyman yet to say how they are :)

I had a die that was doing it all the time, too. Took the die out and started looking for the vent hole. I found out that the lead shot under the locking ring screw just happened to be where the vent hole was. So once I found that out it was a matter of just flipping the locking ring over and it did not end up in the same place. What are the odds in that happening? I don't know but it drove me nuts trying to find the root of the cause.
 
I change out the lock rings on all of my dies to use Dillon lock rings. Can't stand all those other kinds of rings, some of which can't be wrench-tightened, some of which have little allen locking screws +/- pieces of lead shot, etc. Some people say the locking ring is supposed to make sure that the die does not unthread in the press during use (that's why I use the Dillon lock rings). Others say that the ring is supposed to be a marker for how far to screw the die into the toolhead when putting it back in after having taken it out to change to some other die. I keep my progressive tool heads set up completely for the various calibers I reload and just switch out the whole toolhead when needing to change calibers, so again, I strongly prefer the Dillon lock rings.

For use on my Dillon progressive presses, I have Dillon dies for most of my reloading, but also use Redding, RCBS, Lyman, and I have custom made Whidden dies for 7.7 Japanese and 270 Winchester. The Whidden dies are the only ones that also come with shoulder bump gauges so that the size dies can be set up to only resize the case just enough to permit chambering the reloaded ammo. I like my Dillon and Whidden dies the best, but the Redding and RCBS ones certainly do work fine. I do use a Lee universal decapping die with the collet stem thingie that can keep the pin from breaking and I have it set up on an RCBS single-stage press. I just use that for the rare cases where the decapping was unsuccessful on stage 1 of the progressive press, so it is not often that it gets used, but I keep it set up with the correct shell holder for whatever caliber I am loading at that moment on the progressive.
 
When I bought dies for 6 Dasher and 6 Creed for PRS I bought Wilson, hand die seaters and threaded sizers.

There are other good choices, but that’s what I went with.
 
Yes I have. I do use their factory crimp dies though.

M
 
Well, I was being a bit sarcastic. The only one I currently have is a 30 Carbine die. I don't care for the bullet seater die because it doesn't tighten down and I don't like the resizing die with a non-threaded decapper that won't stay tight. I went all-in with RCBS back in the '70s when that was about all you could find in stores.

YMMV

M
 
I use Lee dies for all 9mm loading functions (decap through FCD) and Redding for 45ACP loading functions except I use a Lee FCD.

Tried an expensive Redding micro adjustable taper crimp but it did not perform as well as the Lee FCD.
 
Well, I was being a bit sarcastic. The only one I currently have is a 30 Carbine die. I don't care for the bullet seater die because it doesn't tighten down and I don't like the resizing die with a non-threaded decapper that won't stay tight. I went all-in with RCBS back in the '70s when that was about all you could find in stores.

YMMV

M
Are you decapping military brass ? I have never had a decapping/expander come loose on a lee die when properly torqued . How does the seating die not tighten down, are you using the lee lock ring with o-ring ? I have never found a Lee seater that would not hold .
 
Are you decapping military brass ? I have never had a decapping/expander come loose on a lee die when properly torqued . How does the seating die not tighten down, are you using the lee lock ring with o-ring ? I have never found a Lee seater that would not hold .
You’re correct—Lee dies don’t come loose anymore than any other brand. If one doesn’t like the Lee o-ring system simply use a hornady or rcbs or anything else. They’ll all come loose if not used properly.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top