Which 9mm dies

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Prolly around $300.
Hard to justify $135 on a 9mm sizing die/decapper unless it's a commercial job.
If you switched #1 to any regular brand of sizer/decapper and #4 to a conventional taper crimp die you would have a great set for a much better price.
 
PO2Hammer said:
Prolly around $300.
Hard to justify $135 on a 9mm sizing die/decapper unless it's a commercial job.
If you switched #1 to any regular brand of sizer/decapper and #4 to a conventional taper crimp die you would have a great set for a much better price.
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$300. that’s very expensive
 
Get whatever you want, handgun dies are virtually identical. That said if you can wait for a rebate offer from RCBS or Hornady do so.

I like Lee dies, but I hate their mouth flaring die, the only reason I use it is it comes with the set and has powder thru capability. Lyman's M die is a superior flaring die.

Beyond that all sizing dies work the same, the Hornady has a funky seating die, and Lee's Factory Crimp Die is the best in the business and on a progressive there's no reason not to crimp in a separate operation.
 
I started out with Lee equipment. Had no problems.
I recently bought Lee Dies for 223 just for the factory crimp die and like it well. I had Hornady American and didn’t have much luck with the seat and crimp in one stage.
I’m in no hurry on these dies. I can’t get she’ll plates and I have no 9mm components. I do have a lot of brass all of the same brand.
I’m making a list so when I make my rounds to the stores I know what I’m looking for. I truly appreciate the replies and this Forum. This place is a wealth of experience and respect. So glad to be here.
 
I like the LEE Factory Crimp Die included in the 4-die set. I know some poo-poo it and others don't see the need for it. I think it makes setting up the dies really easy. Yes, the bullet seater die can crimp and seat in one operation, but I back it out a few turns to disable the crimping in it. I can easily adjust seating depth by turning the knob on top. This is especially helpful when I switch bullets and need to adjust seating depth due to a different bullet profile. A few pulls of the ram and a few adjustments is all it takes. Then, the round goes to the factory crimp die to remove the flare. In all reality, the factory crimp die is not anything magic, it just helps to make setup a lot easier.
 
Mark_Mark said:
Lee 4 the Win!

Good Stuff Good Price

anybody else a cheap SOB like me?!?!?
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A friend of mine's been reloading mostly 9mm for many years on a Lee Classic Turret Press/Lee carbide dies and recommended it when I was getting set up for reloading a couple months ago. I figured it was a good set up to "get my feet wet" without spending a fortune on it. I've been using it reloading .357 magnum and 38spl so far and been happy with it after about 1000 reloads. I got the 38/357 4 carbide die set from Powder valley for $43 and the 9mm set through Midway using the "notify me" function for $63. The first two times, by the time I saw the notification they were OOS already but on the third time I snagged it. They get a few every couple weeks and give you an idea when they expect them. Don't get suckered into paying ridiculous prices as I've seen them on ebay for $200!
 
stonebuster said:
A friend of mine's been reloading mostly 9mm for many years on a Lee Classic Turret Press/Lee carbide dies and recommended it when I was getting set up for reloading a couple months ago. I figured it was a good set up to "get my feet wet" without spending a fortune on it. I've been using it reloading .357 magnum and 38spl so far and been happy with it after about 1000 reloads. I got the 38/357 4 carbide die set from Powder valley for $43 and the 9mm set through Midway using the "notify me" function for $63. The first two times, by the time I saw the notification they were OOS already but on the third time I snagged it. They get a few every couple weeks and give you an idea when they expect them. Don't get suckered into paying ridiculous prices as I've seen them on ebay for $200!
Click to expand...
did you know that 4-die sets were right around $35 last year. and that was retail price!
 
reloaded_in_pa said:
You crimp enough just to remove the flare
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I have never heard anything different than this directive from the guys that know what they are talking about. Just remove the flare.

At the outset of learning to reload when I could not get a round to seat so I wound up crimping the crap out of them to try to get them to seat. Every turn down on the crimp dye made it seat higher and higher in the barrel test. I spent hours on the problem and threw out a lot of cases and bullets. So I was just bulging the case and I was denting and deforming the bullet to the point that I could not reuse it. If I knew about them at the time I would have bought one of those Lee Factory crimp dies. I guess that it would have corrected my mistakes. Instant gratification. The marketing name "Factory Crimp" is brilliant. But every monkey to his own swing............or whatever floats your boat.....
 
NMexJim said:
Carbide dies make life a bit easier, but back when Adam was a lad, there was no carbide and we survived quite nicely, thank you.
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Yes, and when Adam was a lad, we had paper maps adorning the front seat, glovebox and windshield. I’m a fan of Certain technologies, when employed correctly, make life easier. For pistol calibers, carbide sizer dies are well worth the investment. You don’t need to lube but many of use use a bit of one shot just to smooth things out on a progressive. If you’re going single stage, I’d skip the lube entirely. IMHO. Good luck.
 
Mark_Mark said:
did you know that 4-die sets were right around $35 last year. and that was retail price!
Click to expand...
Yes, but it's a whole new ball game now. Everything's up and going higher. Still happy I started reloading and have found enough components to keep me busy until supplies are more available/affordable. I got started reloading at a bad time but I did stock up on 10k rounds of Wal-Mart ammo when they were practically giving it away. Now I see 250 round mega packs going for $200+ that I was getting for $13 during the closeout.
 
lordpaxman said:
Yes, and when Adam was a lad, we had paper maps adorning the front seat, glovebox and windshield. I’m a fan of Certain technologies, when employed correctly, make life easier. For pistol calibers, carbide sizer dies are well worth the investment. You don’t need to lube but many of use use a bit of one shot just to smooth things out on a progressive. If you’re going single stage, I’d skip the lube entirely. IMHO. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Oh, I'm insulted now. I still have maps all over my front seat and in my door box, and that's because GPS left me at a dead-end in the middle of LA!! Better have a backup plan or your gonna have to ASK DIRECTIONS. That's against the male code.

Now, Lord Paxman makes a good point about pistol calibers, but. carbide definitely works smoother, but you know what makes carbide even better? Just a little shot of Hornady One Shot case lube. Then, life really is sweet. Like my buddy says "there's no such thing as overkill".

:rofl::neener::what:
 
PO2Hammer said:
Prolly around $300.
Hard to justify $135 on a 9mm sizing die/decapper unless it's a commercial job.
If you switched #1 to any regular brand of sizer/decapper and #4 to a conventional taper crimp die you would have a great set for a much better price.
Click to expand...
We were using a Lee Undersized sizing die before my buddy added the Mighty Armory (MA) die. What we liked about the the MA more than the Lee was the spring loaded decapping pin. The biggest issue for him was that using the MA resizing die, he no longer had wasp-waisted/coke bottle cases.

We originally were using a Lee FCD, but it is a bit redundant if you set up your other dies correctly. The irritating issue with the FCD is that during long runs the crimp adjustment shifts. He was so taken with the micrometer adjustment of the Competition Seating die that he just had to have the micrometer Crimp die...for my 9mm set, I'm using a Redding Crimp die.
 
I was just on The Lee site. I watched a video on the 4 dies pistol set.
It says that the factory crimp die resizes the loaded round?
Does this setup just like my Lee factory crimp die for rifle cases?
Just trying to get an understanding of how it works.
 
The FCD for rifles is a different set up than the standard FCD for pistols, although Lee does make an FCD that collet crimps like the rifle FCD in a couple of pistol calibers intended for revolvers.

The standard FCD for pistols has a carbide ring in the bottom like a sizer would, but it is bigger in diameter and "post sizes" the loaded round to be sure it will fit. It can cover up errors in the process, so I always recommend learning to reload/set up dies without it first. It crimps like other pistol crimpers, butthe crimp ledge is not built into the body of the die, but in a threaded piece at the top that is easy to adjust.
 
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