Favorite brand of budget priced dies.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Whatever brand of mixed die set I come up with that best fits my application to provide me the best cartridge for the caliber and firearm I'm shooting that cartridge in.

[Hickok]

I have taken all my Lee lock rings and removed the rubber O ring and drilled and tapped on the flat and voila- works just like the others. All I did was go to the ACE hardware and got some set screws. I think I used 8-32 because I already had the tap on hand.

Thanks for a great idea!

[daniel lawecki]

This thread could go on for years about dies. I use several brands and never had trouble with any when used and setup right and a little maintenace all of the above brands work just fine.

[Garyshome]

I've got Dillon, RCBS, & Lee dies. They are all very good, Lee's seem to be the most cost effective and/or best quality for the price.

[gloob]

I was extremely impressed. It was like Dillon level customer service, and then a bit extra.

Had similar service from Hornady. When I bent a rod I called them to buy a new one. I explained that I bought the dies, used, and maybe they hadn't been set up right. Free stem, expander, and pin and some spare bits, to boot.

When my Lyman M die didn't work with my bullets, Lyman sent me a replacement expander, in case mine was out of spec, plus an additoinal expander for a completely different caliber which they thought might work for adding a flare. It turned out to be the perfect diameter for the flare, and I turned a complete expander out of it.

All, in all, though, you can call me crazy. I prefer to go on Lee's site and see all the stuff/parts/bits that I can BUY. Down to bolts, nuts, washers. The parts always arrive quickly and shipping is dirt cheap. It's reassuring that the photo, part name, price, and stock info are laid out for me to see. And it's easier to find what I need, sometimes, than to explain it to a technician, especially if I don't know what it is. Whether it would be for a simple replacement part (which I've never broken anything Lee, yet), or for spare bits to customize (like seater plugs), or wrong bits (like a 38SW plug to put in my 9mm die), or a pusher stem for the Lee Bulge Buster kit, because I don't want the entire "kit." Lee's online store is a machinist's Lego play set.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

I've always used Lee and RCBS dies and have gotten long and good service from both. Nothing ever broke or wore out. I kept them clean and didn't do anything strange with them. I would recommend either brand. LLS

[lightman]

I've only had problems with 2 set of dies in my life. A Herters set in 45acp that would not size the brass enough to hold a bullet and a Minnesota Shooters Supply set in 22 Hornet that had issues with the decapping rod. After buying replacement sets in RCBS I never looked back.

Every brand made now will work fine. Its more of a personal preference than a matter of function.

[aap2]

I have every brand of reloading dies and like them all. Lee dies are very reasonable and the quality is above average. With the Lee dies I pitch the o-ring lock rings and install Hornady rings (I do this with all my dies) and they are good to go. Only feature that I dislike on the Lee dies is the one-piece expander/decap pin but it works and if it doesn't Lee will send you another. If you need dies in an oddball caliber (41 Swiss, 8mm Lebel, 577-450 Martini, 43 Mauser, 43 Spanish etc, etc) Lee makes these die sets available at very reasonable cost vs other "custom dies" and the Lee dies work just fine. Most of my "common" die sets are RCBS and Redding, but I also have about a dozen Lee die sets and they work just great.

[twc1964]

I have used only two brands of dies, rcbs and lee. Lee pistol dies work fine but the decapping rod just wouldnt stay put on mil primers. Ive never had a single problem with my rcbs dies. Solid and well made are why i tend to prefer this brand. Just my preferences.