Vote and tell me why.

Question:
What are the best factory die sets available now??
Why??

Choices:
RCBS
Redding
Hornady
Forestor
Lee

 

Redding. Quality, usability, and customer support.

The only thing I don't like about them is their lock rings, but, it is a personal choice.

Made in USA if that matters to you.

I like Redding & RCBS equally. Main reason is cust serv but I have to say RCBS has the price down & I like their opening (window) in their dies. I think Redding is also quality and very accurate, well built. I use dies made by both RCBS & Redding.

I have used them all and they all are the best. Some calibers are only made by certain makers so can't compare. I even have some Herters Model Perfect Dies. Work fine.
Now I buy mostly Hornady and Lee.

RCBS by far.

Redding was rude and uninformed on a call I made to them!

I am a purchasing agent who buys goods, materials and services every day. Redding was non professional and wrong!

Also Redding's FL dies do not have an air bleed hole like RCBS's do.

RCBS

I have mostly RCBS dies, they are excellent quality for the money. I would rank my dies in order of my preferenc:

RCBS
Lyman
Hornady
Lee

I do not own a Redding die, so will not comment on them.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
I have used them all and they all are the best. Some calibers are only made by certain makers so can't compare. I even have some Herters Model Perfect Dies. Work fine.
Now I buy mostly Hornady and Lee.

Well, I haven't used them all, but the Hornady, Redding and Lee dies I have seem equally good, where "good" means ammo that is as accurate or more accurate than I think I can shoot.

RCBS's customer service has been consistently great to me, so I voted for them.

My vote goes to Forester but for customer support, it would be RCBS. I have competition seater dies from both Forester & RCBS. For me, the witness marks on the Foresters are easier to read than on the RCBS ones. It would be nice if the witness marks were in a contrasting color (such as white?) instead of in the same dark color as the die body. Otherwise, I think the RCBS is good too.
Bear in FAirbanks

I use Hornady for my normal stuff and Redding for the neck and special dies. Hornady has been very good to me in the past.

Redding for precision
Rcbs for good overall value and customer service.
Hornady????????/
Lee......not even good for paper weights...

I have at least 10 sets of lee dies; as good as any of the others and better than some older RCBS. Which lee dies did you have problems with?

I use RCBS, Hornady, and Lyman, all good. I use Lee only for crimp dies.

I sense a reluctance to use Lee dies; have you had bad results with them?

I agree that RCBS customer service is great. Over the past twenty plus years I have returned a bunch of RCBS equipment, from warped dies to a bent press. I received replacements right away, no questions asked. That's the good news.

The bad news is the number of items I purchased which were defective from the factory. I stopped buying RCBS and buy Redding or Hornady.



.

I have 30 to 40 die sets and a lot of different makers some not even in business any more.

When looking at the boxes I say I have more lee dies then any other brand.

They all produce good reloads.

Never used Forester. The rest have all worked fine for me. Mostly RCBS on the bench right now. Good CS. Have no experience with the other companies service.

CH4D for most stuff.

Neil Jones at CPS for real BR precision things.

I have some of all of those dies and about that many other brands too.

Forster's with the BR seater are my preferred dies when I can find them used.

Otherwise I pick RCBS. RCBS has better prices, better availability used, better design, better materials and workmanship than most, and better customer service by miles and miles.

Another brand that I like is Eagle but they are not very easy to find in any caliber.

Redding are not really that great of a die though some folks confuse price with quality.
Still they are about a 3rd place qualitywise but over priced.

Lee's are just cheap.

I like the Wilson,Neil Jones,Redding bushing dies.

I prefer my Lee Dies, as they are inexpensive, and they work.

I never HAD to use Lee's customer service. The ONLY time I used Lee customer service was when I wanted to order a separate collet die, instead of buying it in a set. They were satisfactory.

My RCBS and Hornady dies are ok, but why pay more for them?

Mainly Lee. Been using them since the mid 80's when I bought a set of TC .45 ACP dies really cheap, expecting them to be crap. I used them competitively for nearly 20 years.

I also have a set of Redding for my 260 Rem and a set of RCBS for my 9.3x62 - but that's just because I couldn't get Lees at that time in those calibres.

I like the Lee adjustment and locking. Never have to look for an Allen key.

I like forester, especially the BR Seater Die.

I think RCBS is the best product but I have been buying Lee lately as they are 'good enough' for cowboy action shooting distances and they are very cost effective with a shell holder included in the set.

What Idaho Sharpshooter said, CH-4D. I have and use all the others and really can't see any difference among them except for Lee. Cheap and they work....they work especially good if you need to grind out then hone or otherwise modify a die and don't want to do that to a more expensive die. That's my biggest use for them.

I'll refrain from suggesting one brand over another, but I will go on record saying that Hornady makes the best designed lock rings IMHO.

You can buy them separately from the dies too for other dies you may have.

One thing for sure...for crimping...you can't beat the Lee Factory Crimp Die and they include one in many sets now.

I can't tell much difference in any of the above brands when it gets right down to what they produce.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
I sense a reluctance to use Lee dies; have you had bad results with them?

I am with you. What specifically do Lee dies NOT do satisfactorily?

I prefer Forster dies. I'm loading on an old Bonanza Co-Ax press. I will be reloading for 45 ACP shortly and will be going with Redding dies as I can't get any in Forster.

Redding and Forester are super nice dies, but I'm an old guy and been using RCBS exclusively for damn near a century and never had a problem,not one...the price is right and the folks there care!

I have a bit of most brands, but on any new sets I am partial to Lyman offerings. Still, the only reason not to use Lee is if loading lead bullets, and then it only means using something other than the Lee crimp die. There I buy Redding crimp dies.

The only RCBS die I have is the lockout powder check die.

I couldn't vote without a Lyman choice.

The only problem I've ever had with any dies is the unthreaded hornady decaping rods being pulled out of the die. Otherwise I've tried just about all of them (except ch4d)

I have dies from practically all makers, and I have never found one that did not function right.

I have also got custom dies made by several manufacturers, and they all work great.

I voted Lee

I have no reason to complain......except their damn lock ring

I mainly have R.C.B.S. but i have used Redding and Lyman. I have no complaints on none of em.

I happen to like the Lee lock ring; so much so I bought extras to use on all of my dies. Life is too short to fiddle around with an allen head set screw, IMHO. I also like the Lyman 'M' die for loading lead bullets in my revolver reloads. The Lee factory crimp die is a must IMHO when reloading semi-auto pistol rounds. I have had good luck with RCBS dies but admit to being nervous in purchasing their products lately as they 'fell of the wagon' and now have products made in China.

quote:

Originally posted by JBoutfishn:
I use RCBS, Hornady, and Lyman, all good. I use Lee only for crimp dies.

Having posted this earlier, today I sent my 9mm sizer back to Hornady because the cases were "almost" sticking, I had to lube the cases to resize without effort. I cleaned the die, polished the brass, made no difference. Will report on customer service in a week or two.

I have never owned Foster dies. But I do have at least one of the rest. I also have a Lyman and a CH4D die set.

I like all of them. One Redding is a bushing die & has its advantages for the 280 Ack Imp.

I like the Lee die set for crimping with the seating die for the 358 Win! I am able to do that also with the Lyman dies for the 416 Rigby but only with canelured bullets. No collapsed shoulders yet!

quote:

Originally posted by richj:
The only problem I've ever had with any dies is the unthreaded hornady decaping rods being pulled out of the die. Otherwise I've tried just about all of them (except ch4d)

Hornady is quite good about sending out no charge replacements to upgrade top the newer style.

"I have used them all and they all are the best. Some calibers are only made by certain makers so can't compare. I even have some Herters Model Perfect Dies. Work fine."

Ditto. I've been reloading some 49 years, I've used and measured the output of a lot of dies, there's as much variation between individual dies of the same brand as there is between brands. Trashing any die brand is an indication of someone too inexperienced to make such judgments.

I grew out of emotional attachmenst to inanimate objects long ago and buy new dies by the specific features I want, not the color of the box. .

I have loaded thousands of round on Lee and RCBS dies.
Either will do. I have had no issues with Lee or RCBS. For the money, I'd go with LEE.