RCBS Regular vs. Cowboy dies?

[Peter M. Eick]

I poked around and could not find a short "What is the difference and why would you pick one over the other?"

Any one have a good reason why you would buy the cowboy dies over conventional in 45 LC for a rifle with lead bullets?

 

[Ifishsum]

I understand the cowboy dies come with both .452 and .454 expanders, and different seater plugs for more compatibility with lead bullet nose shapes. And they're pretty

 

[Big Boomer]

really? That is it? I was actually just wondering the same thing. I was in Cabelas on Friday and was looking at the 45/70 kits and saw the Cowboy one, it was the only one they had actually.

45/70 is .458 though what else would it come with???

 

[RidgwayCO]

IIRC, the cowboy dies are intended for use with lead bullets. They expand the brass more than RCBS's "regular" dies do.

Supposedly, the rationale is that if the brass is sized to normal "jacketed bullet" dimensions, then seating lead bullets in the case will squeeze their diameter down a bit, affecting accuracy. By expanding the case more, the cowboy dies don't affect lead bullet diameter as much.

I got mine because I wanted to reload .44 Russian as well as .44 Special. Plus the color case hardening is cool...

Honestly, I think they were (are) mostly a marketing gimmick. They don't really do anything that simply using a larger expander button wouldn't do.

 

[ADKWOODSMAN]

The only difference I notices is that the 32 S&W/.32H&R mag Carbide RCBS dies were just over $70 from midsouth and the same in Cowboy Carbide dies were just over $40. That sold me.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

ADK hit on why I asked the question. Why was I going to pay an extra 30$ when that would buy more bullets instead.

Thanks guys.

 

[moosehunt]

Dadgum ADK! I hope those regular dies came with grease! The Cowboy price was good, but the standard should be a skosh less, not more. I thought that sounded out of line, so I checked my catalog. The standard dies (carbide) are a couple dollars less than the cowboy (carbide) dies, and $70 is waaayyy out of line!