.45-70 & .450 Marlin Die Sets

[Lerk]

So I'm looking to get into reloading for my big bores. Have two 1895 Marlins in .450 Marlin and also in .45-70. By the looks of it, the expanding and seating dies are the same for both cartridges, but of course the sizing die will be different. Just kind of curious as to which brands dies you like best for them and why. I had read somewhere that someone had issues loading lead bullets with his die set, but can't find that link anymore for it. I plan to load both lead and plated bullets, and also use both smokeless and black powder (.45-70 only) for my rounds, if that makes any difference.

And any other recommendations for things I might need to load these bad boys.

And I have no problem mixing and matching brands to piece together a die set if some brands are better than others for specific dies.

 

[rcmodel]

I would buy:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/713164/rcbs-3-die-set-450-marlin

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/178912/rcbs-cowboy-3-die-set-45-70-government

rc

 

[ReloaderFred]

I like either RCBS or Redding dies, but for my .45-70 and .45-120 I use RCBS dies, and load both cast and jacketed in the .45-70 for my Marlins.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Coltdriver]

I like and nearly exclusively use Redding dies.

They have a knurled knob to adjust the decapping pin or the bullet seater. So making adjustments is very easy.

RCBS is top quality too but I hate their adjustment mechanism.

 

[jack44]

RCBS dies are alot better IMO then the others.

 

[grubbylabs]

I have used Hornady dies for both 444 and 45-70 lead bullets with no issues. If you go over to the Marlin owners forum you may find some more info on the subject. I think it is RCBS that makes a die just for loading lead bullets but I am not sure.

 

[rcmodel]

That is the "Cowboy" 45-70 dies I linked in post #2.

rc

 

[beatledog7]

My 45-70 dies are RCBS. No complaints, but Have other dies made by Lee, Hornady, and Redding. All work fine.

 

[grubbylabs]

rc, you are correct. I would still go over to the Marlin owners forum and poke around there a bit and ask a few questions. If you are going to cast or use lead bullets to some extent then you might even head over to castboolits.com and poke around a little as well since loading cast boolits is what they do over there.

 

[David Wile]

Hey Grubby,

Quite a bunch of us right here also load cast bullets. I cast and load bullets in 6mm, .25, .30, 8mm, .35, 9mm, .45 calibers, and I also buy and load cast bullets in a few more calibers.

I have been using the same RCBS two-die set in 45-70 since the 1950s for both cast and jacketed bullets. When I bought a Hornady L&L progressive press in 1997 and began loading the 45-70 progressively, I purchased a Hornady three-die set for use on the progressive press. To this date, if I load 45-70 single stage, I still use the old RCBS dies, but if I am loading them on the progressive, I use the Hornady die set.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile