alanwk
Member
I have 2 lee presses and have been using Lee dies (set of 4). I am thinking of trying another brand of dies. Any recommendations are appreciated. Do any othe brands have the equivalent of Lee's Factory Crimp die? Thanks
Die recommendations
- Thread starter alanwk
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Not really a recommendation because I think all the die brands work well. I know of no other die that emulates the factory crimp die. I personally bought a lot of Redding dies to use on my Lee press. Pricy but I am satisfied with the results. I no longer use the factory crimp dies. I do not need the sizer part and I think I get as good or even better crimps with what I am using now. I would look at M type expanders and sleeved bullet seating in whatever brand of dies you want. I gave up throwing powder through the die to get the M expander. Added a step but I am sticking with that for now. I am thinking about mostly pistol dies. I still have just a little trouble with 9mm in a revolver. They seat with light pressure but they do not always drop in freely. Maybe the factory crimp die was helping there?
ParallelCode
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I've used dies from RCBS, Lee, Hornady, and Redding. Of those, Redding is my favorite. I don't have their ultra high-end stuff, just the standard, but it's nice stuff.
Hokie_PhD
Member
I’ve used LEE, Hornaday and RCBS. I actually like the LEE does the best. That said, I haven’t noticed much difference in using them. All have excellent customer service. So I say get what you can find or what’s the least expensive unless you need match grade, then buy the best you can find.
Targa
Member
Take your pick…most of my dies are Lee with the exception of a Hornady set for .300acc and two Redding profile crimp dies…one for .475 Linebaugh, the other for .500S&W. They all do what they do well the Lee just does it at a price point that is hard to beat. The one thing I really prefer on the Hornady’s and Redding dies over the Lee dies is the lock ring…that is pretty slick.
CQB45ACP
Member
I have a Lee classic turret with Lee dies I use for 9mm. Everything works fine.
For 45ACP I have a Redding T-7 with very expensive Redding competition dies EXCEPT I use Lee FCD. I tried the Redding micro adjustable taper crimp die ($100) but didn’t like it nearly as much as the Lee FCD.
Like many of our opinions on different brands, this one is easily a religious/denominational debate.
For 45ACP I have a Redding T-7 with very expensive Redding competition dies EXCEPT I use Lee FCD. I tried the Redding micro adjustable taper crimp die ($100) but didn’t like it nearly as much as the Lee FCD.
Like many of our opinions on different brands, this one is easily a religious/denominational debate.
CoalCrackerAl
Member
Like above. I have many different brands of dies. They all work well.
MFInc
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I run RCBS only because that is what they had on the shelf. They work fine. I will probably get a Lee set for 45ACP though. It's really a matter of how much and what's available at this time for me. I dont think I have read about any being bad otherwise they woudn't last as a company imo.
edwardware
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Why? If you don't know what feature you want, then you're wasting your money. Buy a feature because you think it will help you in some way.
If the feature is the color of box, at least that's something. I have bought brands for caliber availability (Redding), sliding seating sleeves (Hornady), micrometer seating stems (Redding, Hornady), warranty (RCBS), and price (Lee).
Redding makes an approximation of Lee's Pistol FCD, but it does the same work for 5x the money.
No one I'm aware of make an approximation of Lee's Rifle FCD.
.38 Special
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I enjoy using Redding dies, as they obviously are very high quality. That doesn't, though, result in cartridges any better than those turned out by any other brand I have used, at least as far as handguns and general purpose (as opposed to precision) rifles are concerned. In addition to Redding, I regularly use dies from RCBS, Hornady, Lyman, and Lee, and am satisfied with all of them.
LiveLife
Member
Don't forget easy snap ring disassembly for cleaning without having to remove die from tool head (Dillon).
ArchAngelCD
Member.
I started out using Lee dies for handgun ammo and stuck with then even to this day. I also started with Lee rifle dies but switched over to RCBS. The Lee dies worked fine but I just liked the RCBS dies better. All my rifle dies are RCBS but for one set. I bought a set of Hornady 45-70 dies at an auction before I owned a rifle in 45-70. lol
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AJC1
Member
If your doing pistol I would just say stay with what is working. If you load for rifle in either 308 or 223 the forester national match sizing die is silly smooth when used with redding sizing wax. Feels kinda like priming premium brass like lapua. Its definitely a tactile thing and on a progressive I'm not even sure you would notice.
Highland Lofts
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I don't like Lee's customer service at all. I had an issue once and sent them a e mail.
All I got was their worthless catalog.
There are a few things lee makes that I still use, but very little.
I like the universal deprimeing die.
The old style hand priming tool.
The new bench prime tool.
Their factory crimp dies.
That's about it.
I got rid of a bunch of lee reloading stuff because of their pi$$ poor customer service.
Most of my dies are Hornady and RCBS.
All I got was their worthless catalog.
There are a few things lee makes that I still use, but very little.
I like the universal deprimeing die.
The old style hand priming tool.
The new bench prime tool.
Their factory crimp dies.
That's about it.
I got rid of a bunch of lee reloading stuff because of their pi$$ poor customer service.
Most of my dies are Hornady and RCBS.
SnowBlaZeR2
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- Jun 15, 2011
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- 643
I have dies from Lee, RCBS, Dillon, Redding, and SAC. They all work. I'll just say that you get what you pay for, in that order.
mgmorden
Member
They all work. For a while there I was mostly buying Hornday dies because they had a good rebate program, but all work just fine.
BJung
Member
I use RCBS dies. I like the way they feel and adjust. I've read that their competition rifle dies is inferior to the Redding and Forster dies but never did a runout comparison between them. I own RCBS, Lee, and Forster dies. What I like most about the RCBS competition rifle die is that you drop your bullet through a window and into a sleeve that lines the bullet up. There is a knock-off seater die like it on Amazon with interchangeable sleeves. The Forster seating die has a sleeve that comes from above and lines up the bullet inline to the case. A problem I have with RCBS dies is that I've broken a lot of decapping pins. Is this universal with the Lee, Hornady, and Lyman? Another problem I have had with the RCBS dies is the shoulder will crush if I get lube on it when resizing. Is this universal or has another die manufacturer made improvements?
I use a mix depending. The only sizing dies I have had problems with were from RCBS. A couple sized a tad crooked for match quality loads. I like Hornady full length sizers. Never had a Hornady sizer that didn't size straight. I mostly use LE Wilson bullet seaters for important stuff. I use Lee factory crimpers when I need to crimp. I do most of my expanding with a Sinclair mandrel die. I load a couple of cartridges totally with Lee dies. These include the 30-30 Winchester. No need for match precision for that.
CQB45ACP
Member
Interesting. Lee’s customer service is as good as or far better than most in my experience.
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