I have all the major brands, RCBS,Redding,Hornady, Forster,and old Lyman and Pacific dies......along with some Lees....the Lee is close to the bottom of quality and required a little more tweaking and polishing on the collet fingers and cone than other dies.....I prefer to full length resize my hunting loadings esp in a mag and would get another brand of dies and then just try the Lee collet neck die if you want to try them for a bolt gun.....imo...good luck and good shooting-loading!!

The cost of Lee dies is a direct reflection of the quality (or lack there of). My only set of Lee dies have ended up costing me more in nickle dime replacement parts that failed than if I just bought the appropriate Redding or RCBS dies to begin with. To date the decapper rod was bent right out of the box...I paid shipping for the new one.......the nut that holds the rod left all its threads in the die body...I paid shipping on the replacement. The die body threads were never cut deep enough to hold anything so I sent the die body back to them......by now this set of dies has far exceeded the cost of my Redding and RCBS dies that I have never had any issue with.

I have 23 sets of lee dies along with some rcbs, lyman, and redding. Maybe I've been lucky, but, I've never had any problems with any of my lee dies. Collet or full length. Roger

I havent had any problem with Lee dies either. I prefer the RCBS X-dies, and the Lee facory crimp die.

yankee1,

I have Forster, RCBS, and Lee. All do the job. Just ordered a set of Lee's for my next project: .416Taylor. With all of my non-Forster dies, I order Forster lock rings. I really like the Forster lock rings.

Joe

I've had no problems with the 300WinMag Lee dies. I don't know what the other guys are doing to bust their Lee stuff but I'm exactly treating them like they're made of sugar.

I recommend Lee dies, only thing that bugs me so far is that round container. It's a pain in the ass to store, flat boxes just make more sense.

I have several set's of Lee dies, never had any problems with them. I do like Redding better, but they are much more expensive, Lyman is plain junk!

I have dies from all the players too. Guess I must be another lucky one as I have never had a problem with Lee dies either. I once bent a decapping pin, but it was my fault when a berdan primed case some how got in with my 9mm cases. I've used them to form new cases from other brass, so I've not been easy on them. Their collet dies load some of the most accurate ammo I have put together. Gonzo, I agree, those round die cases are a big P.I.A. Perhaps I am lucky but I like them.

I have several regular Lee die sets and two or more of the collet neck sizing dies.

I have found that their regular dies are about the most trouble free dies I've ever owned. You can't break them.

The neck sizing dies are a great when the work and a pain when the don't. Getting them adjusted and working has been difficult for me, but when you do, they are incredible. No lubing, no clean up, just insert and size, prime and load! They are recommended only for bolt guns and you must keep ammo sorted by gun unless you have good custom guns from the same maker who cut all the chambers the same way. Ku-dude

The Lee dies are OK but I find it difficult to adjust the neck expander and the primer knock out pin. Do you think we'll ever see the old Lachmiller, Modern Gun Smith or even the Black and White dies again? roger

I have Lee, RCBS, Lyman, Forster, Redding, Wilson, and other old brands no longer made.



Lee pistol dies are plenty good enough for me.

I like Forster for rifle dies, when I am going to work on accuracy.



Of the 36 calibers I do, I have a few calibers with 3 brands of the dies, but I have never done a good controlled experiment. I just get more concentric or more accurate loads one day [or imagine I am ] and move my habits in that direction.

I have the Lee collet die in 7mm mag. I get 1/2" to 3/4" groups in two different guns with it. A Sendero that belongs to a friend and my M70. I also use the factory crimp die on my rifle because I can't get even close to the lands. Ditto on their crappy tube for storage though. I can't imagine that a box would cost more.

Shawn

I only have one set of dies that aren't Lee and I got them in a trade and they're in a caliber I don't load. For my uses Lee is definately the way to go. If you are measuring groups with micrometers, you might benefit from more expensive dies, but for hunting accuracy and plinking you can't beat them.

Ian

I've reloaded for over 25 years, and I've used every imaginable die manufactured, the makes me "almost" a novice at it. You learn more every day, as I sure don't claim to be an expert.
I use the collet dies from Lee for almost all my rifle cartridges. I've heard the complaints about their quality and frankly don't know what to make of them. The last several I bought were as good as any die I've ever seen. I wonder is some people try to put too much pressure on the dies and break them. The one thing I will say is that the mandrel that the case neck is squeezed against is sometimes too big and needs to be chucked in a drill and sanded down .001" or two, but that's it. When you size with these collet dies, you don't need a lot of pressure, just a firm amount and if you need more for solid bullet hold, then the mandrel needs worked down. Also, the die should be lightly lubed with some grease in the top, where the collet is squeezed.
With all that said, for a hunting rifle, with a factory chamber, I'm not sure you'd notice a big difference if you used a Lee collet die or an RCBS neck die or a Lyman ...etc.
But, I like the concept of the collet die and you need no messy lubrication, and they are cheap, and they shoot and what more do you want?

I've got the Lee Collet Dies for 7mm Rem Mag, .300 Weatherby Mag, .30-06, .223 and .22-250. I've quit using Lyman and RCBS dies in some of those calibers, because the Lees work better and are easier to use. First thing I'll do when I get a new caliber is go get a Lee Deluxe Die Set and a Factory Crimp Die to go with it.

I've used RCBS, Lee, and Lyman dies. I did not like the Lyman (in .338) because the seating stem was mangling the tips of the bullets I was using. I cannot tell any difference in quality, either in the dies or in the results, from RCBS to Lee, but I do like the Lee Factory Crimp dies very much. As several other people have written here, the round boxes for the Lees are a nusiance.

DIES DIES DIES, you get what you pay for. If you have no limits on expence buy the most costly you can find. If how ever you are budgeted like most the Lee Dies are the best bargin for your money that I have found. I now have mostly Dillion Dies but i used Rcbs and Lyman with great results. Lee Dies were my first staple and lasted and worked many years and many rounds both rifle and pistol.

I first bought RCBS dies, then I used a Lee and bought a bunch of them.

Ended up with a Redding die in 6mm Remington, and I liked them also.

Have tried Forrester and Hornady, and did not like them at all.

Thru places like Midway, Reloading dies are such a cheap purchase, that I find having several in each caliber I shoot is a cheap investment. If one screws up, I have a back up.
Since the cost is about the price of a box of Ballistic tips or two, which don't last me long, I think they are a great investment.

RCBS has a great warranty. Lee's have a few features I like and price. Reddings seem to be built like a Mercedes out of the batch, but I can't see being without what I got.

so many guys on here, spend so much on scopes, and premium bullets and then don't seem to spend that much on dies, or reload manuals etc. Actually those are some of the cheapest parts of our hobby.

Gonzo,
i have a cabinet that I store my reload dies in and the lee's are not as space efficient, but I still love the dies. As for the round containers, I normally store them upside down. Before I did so, I might pick them up not thinking and the bottom feel right out and straight down on the floor.

Besides that, I love mine. Mainly have the collet ones.

Their Really Great Buys Dies for $10.00 can't be beat for the price. Those come in a plastic box. I own several in calibers like 30/30, 260Rem and 223. For a back up, you can't beat them.

I develope my own system, based on all the screw ups that I have done and having to repair them. I use all of my Lee dies with out the decapping pin in. I resize them, and then put them in the tumbler. The next day I will decap them, with the neck sizer die. This eliminates the nightmares of dealing with a stuck case, with the decapping rod in there, which I could never get out without destroying something.

Lee dies in the Orange/Yellow plastic cases that come with the neck sizing die for $30.00 or less are great for that.

I only use the Lee "factory crimp" dies, and then only for heavier calibers. They are the best crimping method out there, since they are relatively insensitive to case length.

And they only cost $8.

For all sizing operations I like Redding or RCBS in that order.

I use the Lee collet neck die for 7mm mag and .300 Weatherby. I love them. I do a little tweaking and polishing to make them work better. For the 7mm mag I use the collet die followed by a Redding Competition micrometer seater and runout is virtually nonexistent. The same goes for the .300 Wby although I use a Forster Ultra seater since the handle on my Co-Ax won't clear the Redding.

In reference to the inconvenient round container that Lee uses: my .416Taylor dies arrived yesterday and they were in a "RECTANGULAR" flat red plastic box. Maybe there's a change in the air................

Joe

FWIW, I use LEE, RCBS and CH-4. Perhaps I am naive but I can't really tell the difference as far as end product. I probably prefer CH-4 or RCBS, but sometines they have the die I need or it was priced much better. I currently use LEE dies for my 358 Win and 17 Rem. RCBS wanted about $54 for 358 dies and the LEEs were $19. As long as they work great, I will continue to use them. Lou

I have a variety of dies and prefer Lee dies when available. Lee has made several custom factory crimp dies for me. I love them.$25.00 a die. Seat a bullet in any case without powder and primer, ship to Lee. 2 weeks later you have a custom factory style crimp die.

They are awesome dies. Do not listen to anyone telling you otherwisw. Every single caliber I own has a FLR set (redding, RCBS, Hornady etc.) and a set of Lee collet dies. They work great!

I have about a dozen different sets of lee dies, some are from back in the eighties, never had a bit of trouble out of them. Maybe I have just been lucky, but if so, I hope it stays that way.
Semper Fi! MARCORVET