DIES, Lee vs. RCBS vs ?

[mjbskwim]

At my age "yelling" os just about normal speech. It's nature's way of helping us cope with grandkids

telling....telling

 

[deadshot2]

telling....telling

I actually was referring to the need to yell so I can hear.

 

[mjbskwim]

I actually was referring to the need to yell so I can hear.

HUH?

 

[deadshot2]

HUH?

That's more like it

 

[Spitpatch]

Thirteen dollars out of pocket today seems like a lot of money. It might buy a half-rack of decent beer. Thirteen dollars over 44 years of handloading becomes somewhat less significant. I have Lee, Hornady, Lyman, RCBS and Redding dies on my bench. RCBS is the stalwart reliable, and therefore are the preponderance of my die collection of 45 different cartridges I currently load. The Reddings floated in here for some custom chamberings, and they are of impeccable quality. I do like Hornady's sliding bullet holder for the seating die, and I would not be without my Lee Factory Crimp die for my blackpowder cartridge guns.

Don't trip over dollars to save dimes. Buy the best you can afford, keeping in mind that you may well be in this for the long haul.

 

[mjbskwim]

As a cheap bastard I can attest to buying better stuff in the first place.

 

[Nwcid]

I see you already got dies. For pistol I am sticking (well not sticking) with the Hornady TiN dies. They are so silky smooth and I have actually replaced all the carbide dies I had. The price difference is not that much and I feel the performance is.

I have Redding, RCBS, Lee, Hornady dies or die parts on my bench. Some brands have some things they do better then others. Like anything else not one company makes the best of everything or the best tool for each job.

 

[Greenbug]

I bought a set of the Lee carbide 9mm dies yesterday. After sizing 20-30 cases I noticed that the sizing die was getting tighter and more force was required to run the case through it. I had thouroughly cleaned the die before I started using it, and made sure it was still clean when I started experiencing the problem. The die appeared to still be clean, but it was continually getting harder to size the cases (the cases were clean & dust free BTW). I took the Lee dies back and bought a set of Hornady dies instead (about $15 bucks more than the Lee, but I get a free box of bullets with the promo). The Hornady dies are "silky smooth" like Nwcid says, I sized another 600 9mm cases without any further problems. I'll probably avoid Lee dies in the future based on this experience. All my other carbide pistol dies are RCBS (very satisfied with them), all my rifle dies are Redding (the best quality dies I've ever used). I've used Dillon dies before and find them to be about the quality of a good set of Lee dies for almost 3 times the cost, I wont waste money on the blue box!

 

[taylor]

Anybody like Lyman? I saw a set of their 45lc and it came with 4 seating stems. How do you guys clean your dies? what do you use?

 

[oldbrass]

I really like my lee Factory crimp die..that said I think paying attention and doing things properly far outways differences in brand name.

 

[Spitpatch]

For the occasional "ream and steam" of dies, I use brake cleaner. The little disposable swabs (poofy head about 5/8" diameter, and a wire handle) fit perfectly in a '06 diameter sizing die. Make sure the next run of brass is properly lubed, cuz the brake cleaner gets everything out. Brake cleaner (CRC or equivalent) is ever-present in my gun room for gun projects where I want ALL solvents/oils/greases removed. Due care to avoid it contacting anything plastic, painted or wood. The red plastic straw serves to flush any specific point. Flushing is usually done outdoors. Another application is when I want ALL oil and solvents out of a barrel just before shooting. Still another is to degrease scope mounting threaded holes (strip most of the cotton off a Q-tip, and it fits perfectly in these tiny threaded holes).

 

[deadshot2]

I bought a set of the Lee carbide 9mm dies yesterday. After sizing 20-30 cases I noticed that the sizing die was getting tighter and more force was required to run the case through it. I had thouroughly cleaned the die before I started using it, and made sure it was still clean when I started experiencing the problem. The die appeared to still be clean, but it was continually getting harder to size the cases (the cases were clean & dust free BTW).

I know this sounds crazy but sometimes cases can be "too clean" when using a carbide die. A little fouling often provides a dry film lube in a carbide die when sizing your cases dry. A lot of the old "carbide vets" will use some spray lube. I'll fill a gallon sized zip-lock bag about 1/3rd full and spray about two squirts of Dillon Case lube in. Close the bag and tumble back and forth for a few minutes. Believe it or not, for carbide dies, one can also use Pledge or any other Furniture Dust N Wax product. Only takes a quick squirt for a couple hundred cases. My Dillon 9mm carbide dies don't need any lube at all.

 

[Mikej]

This has been a great experience! At this point I have 400 9mm, 200 .38 and 150 .45 sitting on the shelf with two different powders. I've shot about 200 of them so far and had only one .38 be a dud, couldn't figure why?

Had 1000 Montana Gold 124gr 9mm JHP come in the mail yesterday, and have 1000 Rainier .45 200gr JHP comming today. I'll be a loading fool!

I'm using a used RCBS .45, used hornady .38 and a new Lee 9mm. As far as I'm concerned they all do the job. The hardest part is getting them set up just perfect. I've wrinkled a couple or three .38s, and crushed a couple of .45s, then read the directions. LOL A 1/4 turn or less takes care of such things. I havn't been seperating head stamps except on .45, as most of what I have is Blazer (small primer) but not all of it.

As Greenburg mentioned above....The new Lee 9mm sizing/deprime die was really hard to work, so the first couple hundred shells I did I touched the slightest with some lube and it helped, but then I've got the little bit of goo on them and I'm NOT going to wipe every one! I decided it must be the way it's supposed to work and done the rest without the goo. There's no apparent damage to the shell.

I'd like to thank you all that have taken the time to throw your 2-3-4 cent in on these threads. The first hand FTF experience gathered from Skydiver and misterarman have helped me greatly.....Good people here on NWFA.

Mike

 

[skydiver]

The first hand FTF experience gathered from Skydiver have helped me greatly...

How can you trust the wisdom of anyone who jumps out of a perfectly good airplane?

 

[mjbskwim]

How can you trust the wisdom of anyone who jumps out of a perfectly good airplane?

Hmmm
*make self a note to take skydiver's post with grain of salt*

 

[deadshot2]

Had 1000 Montana Gold 124gr 9mm JHP come in the mail yesterday,

You were kind to your mail person. I wasn't. My last shipment was two cases, one of 9mm and one of .223. She backed her mail van into my driveway and pleaded with me to help her unload them. The boxes aren't big but over 7,000 little pieces of lead add up quick.

Those flat rate boxes are sure nice for shipping bullets. Just think of how bad UPS/Fedex would be screwing us on the weight.

 

[deadshot2]

How can you trust the wisdom of anyone who jumps out of a perfectly good airplane?

Had my Grandson home on leave from the Army this week. He says some people can be called "dumb" or "stupid", the Army just calls them "Airborne".

When I was on active duty the saying was that in Airborne school the first week separated the men from the boys. The second week separated the men from the idiots. On the third week they let the idiots jump out of planes.

What is it about those guys who can't wait for the plane to land??????

 

[Mikej]

Good stuff guys....

Mike

 

[skydiver]

Had my Grandson home on leave from the Army this week.

A BIG thank you to you and your Grandson for serving our country!

 

[SPU]

I have a question I feel I should probably know the answer to, but I don't. A cursory look in the internet didn't yield my answer, so at the real risk of sounding dumb:

In carbide die sets, is it the sizer die only that has the carbide "ring" or sleeve? Are the seater and expander dies steel or carbide also?