Are these good dies? Need to get a set of dies for my .45 colt, and was considering these.
Are these good dies? Need to get a set of dies for my .45 colt, and was considering these.
I have a set of those .45 Colt dies and have been very satisfied with them. GF
I've had a variety of calibers for at least 25 years; seem to work OK for me so far.
Mustang
"In the beginning... the patriot is a scarce man, and brave and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." - Mark Twain.
my Lyman 45 colt dies are my favorite, came with m die one of the best expanders for cast bullet loading, two seating stems for semi wad cutter and round nose
what's there not to like, ive got a Hornady set too bought long ago but never even set them up. I do like the Hornady style seating die with the internal sliding sleeves that can aid in bullet alignment.
Big fan of Hornady dies. All I have bought lately except for one error. Going to sell those, Hornady dies are ordered
I think he was asking about the Titanium Nitride Coating? (gold lookin' coating)
They will outlast you, but then again just about any currently made dies will outlast all of us.
CNC lathes have made great advances in the manufacturing of these tools and everybody is using them. The internal finishing is light years beyond anything that was produced even 20 years ago.
The idea of purchasing a big name brand die set made 20+ years ago over a new set of Lee dies is foolish. The new Lee Dies will be better, simply because of the machinery used to make them. And cost 1/4 as much too boot!!!
Randy
"It's not how well you do what you know how to do,,,It's how well you do what you DON'T know how to do!"
www.buchananprecisionmachine.com
I sure like mine in .38/357, .45ACP, and 9mm.
They do a good job, and I'd recommend them.
The only thing I don't like is all the 'O' rings Hornady puts on everything now.
I'm sure its fine, and I'm just old fashioned.
But I prefer an old school solid lock down on my die & powder measure, settings, and take them off.
Same thing for those LNL bushings. There're great & all, but a solution for a problem I don't have.
I've removed those 'O' rings too, and JB welded the bushing into the frame.
One thing that's a rip though:
All other replacement de-cap pins are 3-4 bucks for several of them.
Hornady's are 3-4 bucks EACH.
Last edited by Winger Ed.; 09-18-2020 at 02:06 PM.
In school: We learn lessons, and are given tests.
In life: We are given tests, and learn lessons.
OK People. Enough of this idle chit-chat.
This ain't your Grandma's sewing circle.
EVERYONE!
Back to your oars. The Captain wants to waterski.
Not a big fan of Hornady dies and that stupid "zip" spindle! You can't go wrong with any of the other die manufacturers dies!
Hornady dies are ok I always buy Redding when I can
but Hornady is ok
Hit em'hard
hit em'often
Titanium nitride is a coating on the surface of the inside of the die was always concerned the coating may "flake" off,I'll stick to tungsten or titanium carbide rings in RCBS,Dillon or Redding dies.
I use Hornady, Lyman and Dillon, they are all good and I don't have a favorite. I live in Nebraska so I slip into their bullet making plant in Grand Island and they give me a tour now and then. It's really interesting and they are nice people.
I sold off all of my Dillon dies and replaced them with Hornady Titanium Nitride for 9 mm, .40 S&W, .44 mag, .45 ACP & .223 rem.
They work great with my Dillon 550 when loading Hi-Tek coated cast bullets. For .308 win I stay with Redding & still use RCBS for .30-06 & .444 Marlin.
I like the Hornady zip spindles. they are kind of like a cross between the lee and completely threaded spindle.
Properly applied TiN is used on milling cutters and drillbits,so no way it will flake off a sizing die.....I suspect it would be considerably cheaper than using a carbide ring inserted into the steel,as the coating is just "deposited" onto the steel surface.
Most of my dies are Hornady, a few RCBS, and one Lyman set. All seem to work equally well. Years ago picked up a set in 243 and the splindle was chewed up and called Hoenady for a replacement, sent it free with extra decapping pins. The sliding seater design is interesting, back in the late 60's early 70's Lyman made a similar rifle die, IIRC called a Precision Alingmnet (P-A) die. Have these for loading cast in 30/06, 30/40 and 243, work like a charm to keep the bullet aligned with the case neck and not shave lead.
From what I've read about the titanium coating, under enough magnification the titanium is composed of what look like smooth pebbles, where regular carbide is more like crushed stone.
The regular carbide polishes off a bit of the case every time it is sized. The smooth rounded titanium doesn't. Will this wear out brass quicker? Probably not but the smoother titanium will require less effort on the handle.
I haven't used dies with titanium in them, the cost a bit much for an old fart on a limited income.
Leo
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |