I recently had to send my 20+ yr old hornady 25-06 dies back for some repairs. Well, they had gotten wet and rusty, and the insides were beyond repair, and they offered to sell me new ones for $29 + shipping. But no free bullets. Natchez has both rcbs, and hornady for $33. Which dies are better? I do NOT want Lee, nor want to spend more money than that. What does everyone think?
-
Forum Update: We've upgraded the software to improve security, performance, and the overall experience.
👉 Read why we made the change | Support the Forum
Which dies, RCBS or Hornady?
- Thread starter 1064rg
- Start date
Register to hide this ad
RCBS
Not taking anything from Hornady, but RCBS for several reasons.
Not taking anything from Hornady, but RCBS for several reasons.
Have many RCBS dies.
The thing that gets me is paying $5 for a shell holder!
The thing that gets me is paying $5 for a shell holder!
noylj
Member
I prefer Hornady New Dimension dies over RCBS, or any others I have worked with.
Can't go too wrong with either.
Can't go too wrong with either.
BruceM
Member
+1
Be sure you use the same brand shellholder as the dies you obtain.
Bruce
R. G. Amos
Member
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2009
- Messages
- 731
- Reaction score
- 260
Redding first and RCBS second. I use mostly Wilson hand dies.
ArchAngelCD
Moderator, SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
For rifle dies I like RCBS best for the price.
Cdog
Member
I use a lot of Lee dies. I have Lyman, Redding, RCBS, Hornady, etc.
Quality is a toss up with most. Of the two you're considering feature wise I'd pick the Hornady over RCBS bottleneck dies.
One caveat, I didn't see which press, but note that the bullet guide on some Hornady seating dies while quite useful may not clear the frame on some like the RCBS turret press.
Quality is a toss up with most. Of the two you're considering feature wise I'd pick the Hornady over RCBS bottleneck dies.
One caveat, I didn't see which press, but note that the bullet guide on some Hornady seating dies while quite useful may not clear the frame on some like the RCBS turret press.
AveragEd
Member
I have four sets of Hornady "New Dimension" dies and don't care for them as much as RCBS or Redding. I bought the Hornady dies because the other two brands weren't available at the time I wanted them. By comparison to any of those three brands, Lee dies make good paperweights.
When buying dies, I compare the price of RCBS and Redding for a three-die set or a two-die set plus a neck die. Sometimes one is cheaper, sometimes the other is. Just last weekend, I shopped the two for the 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge at MidwayUSA and Brownell's with a Redding Deluxe three-die set at Brownell's coming out on top at $99 over the same thing from RCBS for $129.
They arrived yesterday but also yesterday I learned the rifle I bought them for that was supposed to arrive this week won't be here until "mid-summer." I'm having one of the new version of the Ruger Precision Rifle sent to me for review and they are trying to fill their distributor pipeline with the updated model before supplying any to the media.
Die sets that include a shell holder don't have any appeal for me as many years ago, I bought a complete shell holder set with storage case from RCBS so I don't need those "free" shell holders. I load for well over 20 rifle cartridges and haven't had to purchase a shell holder since buying that set. For instance, the Creedmoor has the same case head as the .243 WIN - .30-06 SPRG so the RCBS #3 or Redding #1 shell holder is recommended for it.
Spending a few extra bucks for better tools almost always pays off in the long run.
Ed
When buying dies, I compare the price of RCBS and Redding for a three-die set or a two-die set plus a neck die. Sometimes one is cheaper, sometimes the other is. Just last weekend, I shopped the two for the 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge at MidwayUSA and Brownell's with a Redding Deluxe three-die set at Brownell's coming out on top at $99 over the same thing from RCBS for $129.
They arrived yesterday but also yesterday I learned the rifle I bought them for that was supposed to arrive this week won't be here until "mid-summer." I'm having one of the new version of the Ruger Precision Rifle sent to me for review and they are trying to fill their distributor pipeline with the updated model before supplying any to the media.
Die sets that include a shell holder don't have any appeal for me as many years ago, I bought a complete shell holder set with storage case from RCBS so I don't need those "free" shell holders. I load for well over 20 rifle cartridges and haven't had to purchase a shell holder since buying that set. For instance, the Creedmoor has the same case head as the .243 WIN - .30-06 SPRG so the RCBS #3 or Redding #1 shell holder is recommended for it.
Spending a few extra bucks for better tools almost always pays off in the long run.
Ed
firearmsunlimited
Member
Ed, where are your reviews published?
DWalt
Member
So what's wrong with Lee dies? I find them highly satisfactory. I had one new set (in .303 Savage) with an interior scratch on the FL die, but Lee replaced it immediately, no questions asked. I often buy used die sets cheap from eBay, never had any problems with any of them.
"Be sure you use the same brand shellholder as the dies you obtain."
Can you provide some reasoning for your statement? I have never had any problems whatsoever using Lee (mostly) and RCBS shell holders with any maker's dies, and I use Lee, Redding, C-H, Herters, Hornady, RCBS, and Lyman dies. I think I am up to about 40 calibers at present.
"Be sure you use the same brand shellholder as the dies you obtain."
Can you provide some reasoning for your statement? I have never had any problems whatsoever using Lee (mostly) and RCBS shell holders with any maker's dies, and I use Lee, Redding, C-H, Herters, Hornady, RCBS, and Lyman dies. I think I am up to about 40 calibers at present.
Last edited:
Jboutfishn
Member
I use mostly RCBS, but I tried using a Hornady 9mm set and found the sizer very rough. I replaced it with a Lee sizer, problem solved. The Hornady seater/crimp die works very well.
When loading .223 I use the Lee Factory Crimp die with excellent results.
When loading .223 I use the Lee Factory Crimp die with excellent results.
Ivan the Butcher
Member
I have 117 different cartridges' dies. They are from every company that has made reloading dies for the last 50 years (except Hollywood and Texan). I have found that they all work, some a little better than others! If you only have dies from one company stick with that brand and you will have a interchangeable parts source. With the exception of Lyman, all the companies have very good customer service, (but they can't/won't sell you dies cheaper than their distributors). I seem to enjoy using Redding the best and for unusual cartridges RCBS, seems to be the most available. Used 25-06 dies are pretty common and should run $5-$10 just look around at some real gun stores instead of the big box stores, or check out a gun show or two.
Ivan
Ivan
I have Lee, Pacific, Lyman and RCBS dies and use different manufacture shell holders interchangeably. Haven't had an issue so I am wondering whats up with this:
The Pacific dies are ancient, having been bought new by my father back in the early 1960s. most of my hand gun caliber are Lee carbide dies and they serve my purposes well. All my hand loading is done on either dads old Pacific C press or a used RCBS Rockchucker Jr press I bought off of E bay a few years back. I do prefer the RCBS dies for my rifle cartridges, all of them were bought used for about 50% of new die costs.
John
The Pacific dies are ancient, having been bought new by my father back in the early 1960s. most of my hand gun caliber are Lee carbide dies and they serve my purposes well. All my hand loading is done on either dads old Pacific C press or a used RCBS Rockchucker Jr press I bought off of E bay a few years back. I do prefer the RCBS dies for my rifle cartridges, all of them were bought used for about 50% of new die costs.
John
AveragEd
Member
I am a contributing editor for Shotgun Sports Magazine but am permitted to stray off the reservation to review some single-projectile firearms on occasion. My most recent ones were on obtaining one-hole groups from a production rifle and the Remington Model 700 Ultimate Muzzleloader. The Ruger Precision Rifle will be my next one.
To answer the question about what's wrong with Lee dies, I bought one set maybe seven years ago only because none of the "better" brands could be found in .38 Super anywhere at that time and a call to my media relations guy at RCBS resulted in learning that dies in .38 Super were not on the production schedule for at least the next three months. Beyond that, he could not guess so I bought that set of Lee dies.
I loaded exactly 50 shells with them and decided that since I have arthritis and was considering a progressive loader for my handgun rounds anyway, I bought a Dillon 650 with five complete tool heads and attempted to sell the Lee dies. It took four auctions on GunBroker with a Buy Now price of $24.00 plus $6.00 shipping to move them and then, the eventual buyer called me and I agreed to twenty bucks shipped just to be rid of them. No one would even pay $30.00 for the things! That tells you something.
I lied. Someone did buy them early on but returned them so when I relisted them, it was without a return option.
It's obviously been a while but as I recall today, I struggled to keep the sizing die adjusted and just wasn't thrilled with the finish on and in them. Please understand, at $37.95 for carbide dies, they were attractive from a price standpoint. Functionality however was in keeping with their cost which was about half what the other brands would have cost.
Ed
Last edited:
I have bought 7 sets of Lee dies. Every one of them scratch the cases everywhere. Sold all of them at a gun show for $10.00 each and was happy. I only buy Redding now.
