Hey folks,
You can add me to those who would bash Lyman for its terrible product warranty and customer service policy. Lyman simply makes no attempt to compete with other brands such as RCBS, Hornady, and Dillon - at least not in my experience.
That does not mean I think their products are junk; Lyman makes very good products, and I have been using them for over 60 years. This inculdes die sets, powder measures, lubrisizers, bullet molds, electric furnace, presses, gunsights, and many other products. Their stuff is well made, but they sure do not warrant them for life like their competitors.
I have also been using many pieces of RCBS, Pacific, Hornady, and MEC equipment in all those years. Actually, almost all of my reloading equipment has been pretty much bullet proof in all those years since most of it is built to last for multiple lifetimes.
Of all the brands and items I mentioned using in 60 years, I have only had four items break, and three of them were Lyman products. The first item was my Lyman 450 Lubrisizer which had the pressure screw bearing break sometime in the 1970s and again in the 1990s. Both times I had to pay for replacement screws and shipping of same. In all fairness, the pressure screw bearing does wear out, but if I had purchased an RCBS machine, it would be covered by warranty today. Of course, RCBS did not make this machine when I bought my Lyman.
I have also had a bottom pour Luman furnace since the early 1980s, and the thermostat went bad a few years ago. This time they would not simply sell me the part, I had to send the whole furnace back for them to repair, and that added even more to the cost. I would not expect them to warrant an electric product like a mechanical product, but I think they should have sold me the replacement part instead of insisting on my sending the whole unit back for factory repairs. I could have signed a release if it would have made them feel better, but that was not an option.
The third Lyman item that broke for me happened last year. The neck expander button on a .223 sizer die broke while in use. I was told by their customer service folks that I would have to have a sales receipt to show when I bought the die set to have it replaced under warranty. Who has a receipt for their die sets? They would not simply sell the expander button, and I had to order the whole unit consisting of the button, shaft, and top screw - plus shipping and handling of course. This would not have happened if it was an RCBS die set.
I also had two Hornady inertia bullet pullers break over 25 years, and they were both replaced under warranty without any proof of purchace as required by Lyman. I do not like inertia bullet pullers and will always use a collet puller when able to do so.
Sometime in the 1980s I also had the thumb lever on a Lee Auto-Prime tool break, but I just chalked it up to Lee products not being up to the same quality level of other brands. While I am not a Lee product fan, and I also had an RCBS hand prime tool at the time, I really did like the convenience of using the Lee Auto-Prime hand tool, and I simply bought another Lee tool.
Do I think RCBS makes a better die set or bullet mold than Lyman? No, I do not. I still think both companies make good products. The simple matter is that RCBS offers a much more customer friendly warranty than Lyman. Accordingly, when someone asks me today about buying Lyman products, I tell them to choose RCBS instead. Both are the same quality wise, and they both cost about the same, but RCBS is much better when it comes to warranting their products than Lyman. It is as simple as that to me.
I still use my Lyman #55 powder measure, many die sets, vibratory case cleaner, balance beam scale, many bullet moulds, lubrisizer, and bottom pour furnace. I still use them because I bought them many years ago. If I were to buy them today, however, I would choose RCBS instead. I have heard a few folks say they made out well with Lyman's customer service, but far more folks have had the poor Lyman customer service experience as I have had.
Best wishes,
Dave Wile