Anyone use Hornady titanium nitride coated dies? Do you still have to lube cases or can they be used like carbide dies and does the coating wear off with use?
Thanks.
C.G.B.

I would not use anything else and have used them for years. The dimensions are correct for the most accurate loads. No lube is needed but it doesn't hurt to lube a case now and then. The coating doesn't seem to be wearing at all.
I now use the Hornady's for rifles too and the only other dies I would spend money on would be Redding.

Whoa! For a minute there I thought Steve Hornady was dead. Whew!

In answer to your question, use them just like carbide dies. In many thousands of rounds, I have never seen them to wear out.

Thanks for the input. I need a set of dies for the .357 Sig and no one has them out of carbide but Hornady does make them with the TiN coating. I will have to try them.
C.G.B.

I am not impressed. I have them in 40S&W and 38/357. I replaced them with RCBS carbide.

The coating will wear off eventually. I got probably 2000 rounds through them before seeing noticable gaps in the coating. I'll try and take some pictures tonight.

To be fair I never sent them back to Hornady...and my only experience with Hornady customer service was great...they replaced an incorrect die that was sent to me by a distributer. Correcting a distributors mistake!!! Nice...anyway one day I'll return them, but I really don't want another anyway.

You won't find carbide at realistic prices for any bottlenecked case, like your 357Sig. It's too hard to machine.

and BTW, a bit of lube smooths up any sizing, carbire, nitride, or whatever. I rub a it between the fingers I use to feed the press every 50 rounds or so. That tiny bit of lube reduces press effort at least 50% and should not require cleaning off the cases. YMMV!

I have a set of Hornady TiN dies in .357 SIG and more than a few others, too. I like them. They are some of the most servicable of the lower priced dies you will find anywhere. By all means, buy the Lee Factory Crimp Die for this caliber and use it--it'll save you a lot of grief. Use only the .357SIG versions of bullets for this caliber and set your dies by the shoulder, not by the case mouth.

Go to www.realguns.com and read his series of articles on loading the .357SIG. He really gets it right.

Reading Hornadie's fine print looks like they don't list .357 Sig dies with TiN coating. Geo. you say you have a set? Maybe I will ahve to call them and find out.
C.G.B.

While I don't have titanium nitride Hornady dies, I do have several sets of their rifle dies. I also got a set of the 357 sig dies, but not in T. nitride. They work well. Even IF you got carbide or T. nitride, you would still have to lube them. The bottle neck design demands lube be used. I use the excellent RCBS spray lube,(case slick), then toss them in the tumbler for ten-twenty minutes to de-lube. This, after going through my dillon 650.

Geo, excellent link, I bookmarked it, will return there when I have more time to study his wisdom.

Looks like a lot of others have been down this road. Use .40 S&W carbide to size case (it isn't tapered) then neck size with whatever. Since I already have the tc .40 die the rest looked pretty straight foreword. Also looks like Lee factory crimp die is a must.
Thanks for all the info.