Hi,
What dies would you buy for an English double rifle in .450/.400 N.E 3 1/4", CH4D or RCBS?

Cheers

I've never had a problem with RCBS in any caliber.

I've got CH4D dies in .470 N.E., .450/.400 3 1/4" and the 3", some obsolete ones like 9.3x72 and 9.3x56, etc. They work well with one caveat:
I've had to polish tooling marks, burrs, etc. on CH4D dies about every time I've bought them. That's just to get virgin brass to fit in the sizing die. It's not difficult, but a pain. Ten minutes with the right tools and you're done.

Price and availability is what sells CH4D dies. QA could be better, but if you're handy with this kind of stuff, with a little effort on your part, you can usually save significant bucks and delivery is almost immediate.

The wisdom, "You get what you pay for", fits here.

No question, RCBS. I have owned and used several sets of CH4D dies and, in my opinion, they are terribly inferior to the RCBS dies.

I use CH4D in 470 NE without any problems. Other calibers in RCBS with same results.

I would suggest you check out Lee Dies.
I have RCBS, great dies, Big Price. CH4D, cheap dies and sometimes they get it right the first go around.

Hornady Custom dies. The ones my friends have are very good.

I have just ordered dies from Lee Precision

I have always been treated well by the folks at LEE, and Hornady.
Just my opine!

Rusty,

I did not realize that Lee made dies for the big cartridges, like the nitros, etc. I did not see them listed on their website.

RCBS first rate, expensive, you get what you pay for. Their customer service gets an A+ also.

Gentlemen,
Thank you for input!

Always dedicated friends that express their honest opinion!

I will check with Lee and see what they can do.
However i use to use RCBS or German Triebel dies and have never had any complaints about them.

Thanks!

CH4D dies IMO are basically junk, I have had two sets of them that were just wrong and getting something done to correct them was more crap than I needed....

RCBS have never failed me, they are excellent but in big bores they are out of sight price wise...

Hornady makes good dies and they now have a custom shop that will make dies of any caliber...

Redding seems interested in adding NE size dies to there regular priced line up. They have added .470 NE that can be bought for about $60.00 or so from Midway. Perhaps if we show there is a demand for 450/400 or 450 they might make them part of the regular line like the 470 dies.
Bill

I have had 100% success with CH4D dies. I have or had them in 500 NE 3",50-110, 505 Gibbs, 458 Lott, 416 Rigby, 38-90WCF, and 9,3x62; and all were well finished and suitable for the task.
That's all I can go on.

Rich
DRSS
Knowledge not shared is knowledge lost...

When I picked up some 450NE3.25" dies I got the RCBS. Excellent.

The .395 Family is working on custom dies from Hornady, Redding, and CH4D. We'll see how CH4D does in the comparison.

Hornady is fastest of all, delivered in about 2-1/2 months and worked great.
Redding is over 5 months now on the wait.
CH4D is the same, over 5 months now.

Mike,

Lee makes the dies for "Big Bores" on a custom basis. I sent them bullets and dummy rounds for my 450/400 3 inch and the 404 Jeffery.

I spoke with a representative yesterday 3/19. She said about 3 months (12 weeks) for delivery. The price quoted to me with collet neck sizer included was 150 a set. We'll see.

I've bought dies in 470 capstick, 475 NE 3 1/4 and 470 NE and all work well, were in stock, and I use the CH 444 press, and except it being
a little short for the 475, I'm very pleased
with the service and quality...

I have used RCBS dies for many years and have always believed them to be the best. However I have one complaint about them now, the useless BRASS, Allen socket set screw that they now use for locking the lock-ring in position. Even steel set screws are notorious for stripping the socket under pressure and having the Allen wrench spin uselessly in the socket. The brass screws that RCBS now supplies are hopeless. I guess they don't believe in the old adage: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

Redding still uses steel set set screws on their steel lock rings.

It would be hard to improve on custom dies from Redding.

One Custom Die Deluxe Set (395 TATANKA*)...$255
Partial Tooling**..........................$150
Engineering & Machine Setup**...............$50
Shipping.....................................$6
Total......................................$461

*Please indicate what name you would like stamped on the die.(Fourteen characters and spaces maximum.)
**One time charge that only applies to first run die work.

My next set of .395 Tatanka dies will cost only $255 + $6 shipping.

Might take only 16 weeks (or less) since they have the tooling now. Getting the .395 tooling apparently prolonged my wait to 5 months and 5 days for delivery of the first set of .395 Tatanka dies.

Thank you Patrick T. Ryan, Staff Engineer.

These dies work great, and were made from a chamber reamer drawing from Dave Manson.

Redding can make your custom dies from a chamber reamer print, or three to five fireformed cases from your rifle, using a photocomparator or some such technology. Patrick T. Ryan will gitterengineered.

I ordered a set from Hornady yesterday. With a shellholder and shipping it came to $101 and they will be shipped today. Have never seen a hornady die set but since I'm using Hornady brass why not Hornady dies.

I ordered the Hornady 450/400NE3" dies too, and the brass and bullets directly from Hornady: 800-338-3220

The "zip-spindle" in the Hornady dies is funky, as is the sliding bullet seater, and rubber O-rings, but has worked O.K. with all I have tried.
At about $83, I will not complain.
Just not as confidence inspiring as Redding.