Differences Between Die Manufacturers

[Lesliet]

@P7M13 , nice writeup! I laughed when I got to the part about Lee decappers. I got tired of having to loosen the collet, shove the pin back down, and then crank the collet insanely tight, only to repeat the process less than a hundred rounds later. I got the Mighty Armory "Shorty" decapper, which doesn't resize, it just has one job, and it does it well. Probably close to 10k with no broken pins, ( watch me jinx myself) and the design doesn't let the pin walk up. Solid cap over the pin. Still use the Lee die to resize, just with no decapping pin in it.

 

[CLT65]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't care for the way Lee does their decapping rods.

I have a set of Lee collet dies on 30-06, that I bought decades ago. I never really used them much, until one day I bought a 30-06 Ackley Improved rifle. I didn't intend to buy a wildcat rifle; I bought it because it was cheap and I figured it would be a good donor action. It turned out that the custom barrel on it is a really good one that shoots great. Not wanting to spend a bunch on custom 30-06 AI dies, I tried the collet dies. What do you know, they worked perfectly for the 30-06 AI!

I've learned a lot from this thread, and may have to try out some different dies based on some of the excellent posts here.

 

[GWS]

I only use Dillon dies on my 650 and Super 1050 and all the rest (Lee Hornady, RCBS, Forster and Lyman) on my Forster and Lee turret presses. BUT if I decide to mass produce a round, I'll buy Dillon dies.

 

[gmerkt]

I have a few sets of their dies where the die body is not stamped/engraved with the cartridge info. No idea why, so I marker'd them and keep them sorted properly in their original case.

I find no reason for this omission. Which I do not like.

The seater dies have a floating bullet guide. Not sure whether it helps, because all my dies produce excellent TIR concentric ammo.

I have liked this feature on the few Hornady sets I have.

Custom dies from these guys are cheaper than Redding, but take a long time to receive.

CH made my favorite taper crimp dies. Yes, their delivery time is way out there. They've changed ownership at least once that I know of, so this rarely helps with regard to product continuity.

 

[P7M13]

I find no reason for this omission. Which I do not like.

You've noticed it too? I had three dies sitting in a cigar box, could only tell them apart by mic'ing the mandrel.

I have liked this feature on the few Hornady sets I have.

shake it and it sounds almost like rattle-can paint.

CH made my favorite taper crimp dies. Yes, their delivery time is way out there. They've changed ownership at least once that I know of, so this rarely helps with regard to product continuity.

I ordered and received my set this spring. It was like talking to grumpy cat on the phone, and almost as strange as ordering from Sharp Shooter Supply. When the originally quoted delivery time came up, they called me on the phone, "your dies are ready" and I asked if they had neck bushing dies too. "Nope, but we have blanks that we can whip up and ship out." So added the $65 for the neck die and had them all within the week. I am very pleased with them, but next time, I will order 12 weeks in advance or more....

 

[gmerkt]

You've noticed it too? I had three dies sitting in a cigar box, could only tell them apart by mic'ing the mandrel.

These are tools, there's no reason for Hornady not putting identifying information on them.

Re. CH, now CH4D. I don't know the company history well. But my sense is that the original CH used to be more than a small outfit. They were located in Owen, Wisc. Founded in 1947. 4D was founded in 1985, the two companies were merged in 1990. I wonder if CH was a distressed asset when merged with 4D. Maybe the likes of RCBS et al ran CH into the ground. CH4D is out of Mt. Vernon, Ohio. My limited CH stuff was made by CH, pre-CH4D.

One of the interesting things about the internet is that it enables you to snoop. I just looked at the property where CH4D does business. Not huge, two nice shop buildings, each about the size of three double wide mobile homes. Easy to compare, there is a mobile home park right next door. Bunch of rusty Jaguars parked in front of CH4D; somebody has another hobby.

I just looked at the CH4D online catalog. Their presses are not for the faint of heart or thin of wallet. If their custom orders take so long, I have to wonder if they have any time to spend making things in common calibers to stock their catalog.

 

[Lesliet]

That's a good point, about dies that aren't marked. I took a quick look through mine, and among several brands, the labeling is pretty hit or miss. I think I'll make a point of using an engraver on my die sets as soon as possible after purchase, to identify what they fit.

 

[Pete F]

None of my Custom Grade Hornady dies seem to be marked, but do come with nice cases. Since I only reload one caliber at a time, it shouldn't be a problem. I replaced all of the dies and press that I needed instead of using my Dad's (RIP) dies and presses The free bullets and the sale made it a inexpensive investment. I should have grabbed one of his 650xl's and some of his die sets though.

I may etch the calibers on them just for added insurance.

My old bought used Lee .41 AE is marked as well as my 3 Redding dies. Try finding a new .41 AE die set, or used for that matter. You can use the Hornady .41 Mag set, but it doesn't have a taper crimp die. I don't remember what brand my Dad used for .41 AE, but I should have grabbed it because it took years to find a correct die set.

I just looked at my Lee factory crimp dies and they are labeled.

 

[03A3Sporter]

I am probably the guy with the most extreme use of dies on both ends of the spectrum. I either use Lee Dies which are arguably some best values out there , I love their 4 die expert sets for Rifle calibers because you get a FL sizer, neck sizer, bullet seater and factory crimp die. Or I use Redding dies which are in my estimation the best dies obtainable on the market at any price.

The dies I will buy last are RCBS and Hornady. D

illion dies are super high quality but they really do not bring much to the party if you're not running a Dillon progressive and even then you can still use quite a few dies from other brands with Dillon presses.