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I'm going to chime in here with just one thing... avoid Lee products like the plague, they constantly break, they don't work well, etc etc etc. They make some good stuff, but it's few and far between, and is usually the "extras" they do right, their dies are garbage, their presses arn't much better and tend to fracture as they are made out of cheap pot metal. I usually buy used rock chuckers whenever the opportunity presents itself, and will resell or gift them to friends and family who are thinking about getting into reloading. Despite the fact that most of these machines are older than I am, they still perform flawlessly, and if they are ever dug out of a hillside in 1000 years, with a little bit of WD40 and cleaning they can be brought back to life. For dies, I like RCBS and Redding, Hornady isn't too bad, but I don't like them (that stupid belling/seating/bullet holding thing is always in my way).
 
I'm going to chime in here with just one thing... avoid Lee products like the plague, they constantly break, they don't work well, etc etc etc. They make some good stuff, but it's few and far between, and is usually the "extras" they do right, their dies are garbage, their presses arn't much better---- For dies, I like RCBS and Redding, Hornady isn't too bad, but I don't like them (that stupid belling/seating/bullet holding thing is always in my way).

I don't know what Lee dies you are talking about, but I have several sets of carbide pistol dies from Lee and they are flawless. I've never use a Lee rifle die set, so I have no input there. As far as their presses, I tend to agree. They seem cheap to me and a friend that had one had numerous problems.
I've never had a problem with the RCBS dies and think that the Redding, while more expensive, are the top of the line.
My experience with Hornady dies is hit and miss. The little bullet thingie referred to above doesn't give me any trouble, but the set I have for the 7mm-08 would not size the case properly without having some metal removed off of the bottom of the die to allow the case to be pushed further up the die. That and the fact I couldn't just neck size with it. Anything less than a full stroke with the modified die and the bolt wouldn't close on the shell. (yes the bolt would close on the shell before it was resized.) This is definitely not an issue with an RCBS set, as I use the full length die to do neck sizing with no issues. The Ruger 375 set I have works ok. Didn't have much of a choice when I bought them, as they were the only set available at the time.
I use a lot of Hornady product, but I doubt I would ever buy another set of their dies.
 
I don't know what Lee dies you are talking about, but I have several sets of carbide pistol dies from Lee and they are flawless. I've never use a Lee rifle die set, so I have no input there. As far as their presses, I tend to agree. They seem cheap to me and a friend that had one had numerous problems.
I've never had a problem with the RCBS dies and think that the Redding, while more expensive, are the top of the line.
My experience with Hornady dies is hit and miss. The little bullet thingie referred to above doesn't give me any trouble, but the set I have for the 7mm-08 would not size the case properly without having some metal removed off of the bottom of the die to allow the case to be pushed further up the die. That and the fact I couldn't just neck size with it. Anything less than a full stroke with the modified die and the bolt wouldn't close on the shell. (yes the bolt would close on the shell before it was resized.) This is definitely not an issue with an RCBS set, as I use the full length die to do neck sizing with no issues. The Ruger 375 set I have works ok. Didn't have much of a choice when I bought them, as they were the only set available at the time.
I use a lot of Hornady product, but I doubt I would ever buy another set of their dies.

2X, I reload for over 38 different calibers and have a mix set of dies. There are some things that Lee is just hard to beat on, like their factory crip dies. As far as their sets, Never had a problem either.

BTW, I have been reloading for over 40 years. I also do black powder, metallic and combustible and paper, case forming (obsolete stuff that I shoot), casting etc.

Sometimes the matter of opinion is just personal choice/preference. Sometimes a product is accused of being the villain, when actually the user did not understand something. If you have friends who reload, see what they use, maybe try their stuff and go from there. IMHO, Lee tends to get slammed because of it's price tag. You get what you pay for, you can also over pay for somethings. Sometime Lee is the best product for the money. Also depends on how you intend to use it. Little use to heavy use.
 
I started out with lee equipment about 20 years ago when I started loading, it was the only equipment I could really afford on a high school budget.

The stuff Lee does right:

Factory Crimp Die
Case Chamfering/Deburring tool

I know there's one or two other odds and ends tools from them I like, but my experience is most of their products are slightly better than plumbers tools in terms of precision and quality of workmanship. Yes, they do make rifle die sets for obsolete calibers that no one makes, which makes them a necessary evil to a certain point.

I recommend buying used RCBS equipment before buying new, as ebay and other sources have made it much easier to find used gear, the most important thing about RCBS is that lifetime warranty. I regularly wear out SB sizing dies (they just get a little too open after about 50K rounds) and send them back to RCBS, and get me a nice new sizing die. It's kinda like buying broken craftsman tools at garage sales... even if you get something destroyed, it can be made whole by RCBS's warranty.
 

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