How much does it cost to have a set of custom reloading dies made, and which companies are offering this service?

Just sent cases to Hornady. Their price is up to around $165 returned for a 2 die set. 45-60 days.
http://www.ch4d.com/ quoted $100 for the same 2 die set with a 4-5 month delivery.

As far as I know Hornady is the best buy in custom dies. My last ones were under $150

They are far less expensive than I imagined. Thanks for the information.

FYI dies are a standard product of any "machine shop" anywhere. You could possibly be able to beat the price locally. In US the gun laws kind of restrict to the specialists, but no reason anyone with lath, knowledge and heat treating services could not do the work. Again, you have to know exactly what you want and communicate that to the "die maker." luck

Harrell's Precision, in Salem VA., will make you a custom die, that takes a Wilson or, Redding bushing. Send them 2 cases that have been fired, in your chamber, at least 3 times, and they will make you the die.

Or pick up a set of SS die blanks from www.NewlonPrecision.com and have your gunsmith cut them with the same reamer as the chamber.

By the time you get them polished, and heat treated, the SS dies will be about .0015 smaller than a polished CM chamber. If the difference isn't enough (yet) or your working with a SS barrle, have the ID of the die hard chromed to a thickness of .001-.0015 (.002-.003 smaller than the chamber).

Last week $280.00 was quoted by RCBS for s 2 die set. In 1982 they made the same wild cat dies for a fraction of that price and they still have the necessary tooling. What is a mother to do? roger

I'm not too sure what most people think of CH/4D dies but they have a very extensive listing of calibers/ cartridges alvailable and I believe the cost is lower than what everyone else was stating, plus if you have an FFL you can get a discount.

I have a very nice home machine shop and I sure as hell wouldn't make them for what CH4 and Hornady charges. You won't find a local shop that will even talk to you.
Butch

I'm with Butch on this one! I used to make dies for people who had me chamber their rifles and found out the hard way. It takes twice the time to make a die as it does to fit, chamber and crown a barrel. By the time I made the die, heat treated it and cleaned it up, I would have to charge twice what Harrell charges.

Lee makes custom dies Its under CUSTOM SERVICES on their site http://www.leeprecision.com/cg...tml#CUSTOMSTEELRIFLE

quote:

Originally posted by Tailgunner:
Or pick up a set of SS die blanks from www.NewlonPrecision.com and have your gunsmith cut them with the same reamer as the chamber.

By the time you get them polished, and heat treated, the SS dies will be about .0015 smaller than a polished CM chamber. If the difference isn't enough (yet) or your working with a SS barrle, have the ID of the die hard chromed to a thickness of .001-.0015 (.002-.003 smaller than the chamber).

Why would you want to use a chamber reamer for a sizing die to resize a cartridge to the same size as the chamber it just came out of? Am I missing something here?

olcrip...
heat treating will shrink the id of the die by 1 to 1-1/2 thousanths. usually enough for a " dies for this gun only situation... or... you can specify a thickness of hard chroming to reduce the id. of a bore when you have an industrial chromer do it. it's one of the processes industrial chromers are used for, all the time. it can be done with electroless nickle also. i had a freind when i lived in milwaukee that owned an electroless nickle-plating co. he built up id's of over size holes in dies all the time with nickle for the area shops and for waukeshau motors.. it wears real good ,too.

quote:

Originally posted by olcrip:
Why would you want to use a chamber reamer for a sizing die to resize a cartridge to the same size as the chamber it just came out of? Am I missing something here?

Rougher chamber reamers are used for cutting dies.

Ask a question and you guys respond, I learn. That's what's so fantastic about this forum. I thank you for the learning.

quote:

Rougher chamber reamers are used for cutting dies.

That might work....finish reamers might make the seating die however.

But (folks like me) only use a finish reamer as I don't cut enough chambers to justify a rougher.....

when it's boiled down I think making one's own dies is fine if you can do your own work but having "any old machine shop" make them for you I'd suggest first getting a firm quote.....

You just might be darn surprised!

you can order a reloading die reamer, which is neither a rougher or finish, but can be used as a rougher.

CH4D is GREAT, and though times for delivery can be highly variable.. They really knocked the ball out of the park on my first set of AR reloading dies.. unhardened, but workable, as I had requested... then again, the 550 stuff took 6 months or so longer

Hornady makes GORGEOUS sets, and I currently have an order in for the 416, 458, and 470 AR, and yes, the prices have gone up some. But only within 20 bucks of ch4d

the thing about using a rougher for making dies is that, by "industry standards", a die should be 3-4 thousanths smaller than the published dimensions of the cartridge so that it will be sure to produce a formed case that will fit in anyone's chamber. the finishing reamer is also acordingly smaller than a finishing chamber reamer, so for the sake of production tollerances, the "roughed" hole of the die has to be smaller than what a finish chamber reamer will produce.
if you are producing a "one- off" chamber for a particular special cartridge, where the cases will be used in only that particular rifle, you could cut the die with a finish chamber reamer because once fire formed , the cases would most likely be only neck sized and spring back of the brass when it's fired in that particular chamber will usually allow for the fact that the die and the chamber are essentiall the same exact dimensions, being cut from the same reamer.

You need to get the dies made by someone who not only understands the materials to be used in the dies but the heat treat and how the brass reacts to sizing.
Using chambering reamers do not work. Even if heat treat will 'shrink' the die .001-.0015". Chances are, that is not enough. It may also expand. Then what do you do? There are a lot of factors to think about: body taper, brass thickness, work hardening of the brass (how many times is been fired), the amount the neck has to be sized to achieve enough tension,..... Counting on the die to 'shrink' consistently is another problem. They usually end banana shape or shrinking and/or expanding. I am a mold maker and my main is hard turning (turning product up to 64 Rc, mostly 54-60 Rc) to tolerances of .0002" (+0 -.0002" for OD and +.0002 -0 for ID). It's hard to believe how far things can 'move' in heat treat. You can not count on heat treat to bring something into dimension.
Anyways, Neil Jones produces the best dies, PERIOD. I have 5 sets and would not go to anyone else. The are not cheap @ $300 a set but you will be more than satisfied with his product. He offers threaded and hand dies (for arbor press). A threaded full length die with the hand seater used in a Hood press is the best way to go.
Hope this helps.
OutKaste

outkaste,
just a question....
if you can't rely on post heatreat shrinkage, under the very controled conditions of today's heat treating and metalurgy, how can you compensate for it before the treatment, during machining, to ensure you get the final dimension you want? once treated, there's no machining it anymore and grinding/polishing removes the material in too uncontroled amounts, what do they do? i've always understood that the reactions to heatreating of todays metals is very well known and that manufacturing tollerances are such that the end product falls into the desired dimensions after heat treating because the manufacturing process is directed towards the known re-action to the heatreating to eliminate after treatment rework.

Hornady quoted me $181 for custom bushing dies for a .222 for my "new" L-46. They wanted 3 fired cases.