Lee Dies

[dbshelton]

Are Lee carbide dies a good choice for general reloading 45ACP and 9mm? Do the included shell holders fit in a RCBS single stage press?

 

[sniper5]

I think so. Not sure, but shell holders are cheap.

 

[wankerjake]

Yeah they are good dies, I use both. I believe the shell holders fit the RCBS press as well.

 

[ranger335v]

The dies are good. The shell holders interchange.

 

[evan price]

Yes, yes, yes.

When you factor in cost and ease of use, Lee dies are hands down the best value out there. They are the only reason why RCBS or other dies aren't $100 a set.

Most modern shell holders are the same (more or less) but the numbers will often vary from maker to maker- for example:

.45 acp/.30-06/.308 etc takes a #3 RCBS or a #2 Lee.

.30-30, 6.5x55 Swede, etc take a #2 RCBS or a #3 Lee.

Others are also more confusing. There's interchange charts floating around Teh Intarweb for you to comparison shop.

 

[armoredman]

I use an RCBS RS single stage with Lee dies, and I love the FCD with the Lee dies. Good stuff.

 

[Walkalong]

Best bang for the buck out there. Not the best dies from a machining standpoint, but they load good ammo. I have a couple of sets, as well as dies from various other makers.

 

[dbshelton]

Thanks for the replies. I felt like they were OK, but as in a lot of things, the cheapest nor the highest price is not always best choice. All the other dies I have are Lyman, RCBS, and Hornady.

 

[MMCSRET]

And I did just the opposite: I replaced RCBS lock rings with Lee. I keep the RCBS/Lyman lock rings in a drawer out of sight, if I sell a set of dies, I'll put them back on.

 

[shaggy430]

I have several sets of different brands and I think for ease of use the Lee Dies are my favorite. One thing you might want to keep in mind when using their pistol dies are the bullet seating die and the crimp die look very similar. Be sure you use the right one.

 

[NoAlibi]

Love - Hate relationship

Love the dies - don't love the locking rings.

The rings work okay, but if you use a single stage press it requires adjusting the dies every time you change them out. Locking rings solve the problem.

 

[MMCSRET]

Thats why I like the Lee lock rings, I verify my adjustments every time I set up a caliber, I also use several presses, RCBS, Herters, Pacific, Lee. The Lee Locks are fast and easy. I have an open end wrench specially modified for easy access and rapid use on the hex nuts.

 

[Ateam-3]

+1 with MMCSRET

 

[SASS#23149]

I also like their rings.Not the best for super accurate loads,but fine for what most folks load for......plinking ammo.As long as you only remove the die by grasping the lock ring..per Lee's instructions....the settings vary just a smidge here and there,and I"ve always been a smidge kinda guy.

 

[mgkdrgn]

Are Lee carbide dies a good choice for general reloading 45ACP and 9mm? Do the included shell holders fit in a RCBS single stage press?

I'm getting very good results with Lee dies on 45 Colt and 9mm Luger.

 

[stoveboltgunnut]

One more giant YES for lee carbide. I love 'em.

 

[offthepaper]

I own several Lee die sets and have no complaints. on 1 set I didn't like the metal finish on one of the dies (scuffed). I contacted Lee and in 3 days I had a new die deliverd to my door at no charge. They stand behind their product.

 

[Walkalong]

The Lee lock rings are good for locking them down on a turret and leaving them, but for dies that are taken in and out of the press all the time, I go with Hornady rings.

 

[My(2)Cents]

"Do the included shell holders fit in a RCBS single stage press?" Yes they will fit i use both rcbs and lee shell holders in my rcbs press.

 

[FROGO207]

Lee dies are fine and always get carbide when avail. The factory crimp dies will resize the finished rounds so that they will all chamber and work properly. Just make sure that they are set as the instructions state or the rounds will be too small around and slide too far in the chamber and cause problems. This applies to all straight wall cases.

 

[hokeyplyr48]

Do rifle dies come in carbide? Also you don't have to lube carbide dies correct?

 

[Walkalong]

Dillon makes a couple of rifle dies in Carbide. Very expensive, and you still have to lube lightly.

Carbide pistol dies do not need lube. It doesn't hurt, and makes em smooth as silk, but not needed.

 

[hokeyplyr48]

Oh ok. You don't need to lube the inside of the case do you?

 

[Walkalong]

Not pistol. The inside of rifle necks could use a little lube or a carbide expander ball.

 

[BigJakeJ1s]

The Lee carbide sizing dies are probably as good as anyone's. I've not had good results with Lee seaters, expanders or carbide factory crimp dies (for straight wall pistol cartridges).

The Lee collet neck sizers (rifle cartridges) and collet type factory crimp dies for rifle and bottleneck pistol cartridges are great.

Lee lock-less rings stink. Replaced mine with Hornady, Forster, or the original RCBS lock rings (all cross-bolt locking instead of set screws). Also, Lyman makes after-market cross-bolt lock rings that are very good. Shame they use set screw lock rings on their dies.

Most of my dies now are Hornady (pistol) or Forster (rifle). I like the Lyman M-type expander dies too (Redding now uses the same profile on their pistol expanders). Redding profile crimp dies work well if I want to crimp separately from seating.

Andy