Best dies for cast

[H110]

Question, Is there a certain brand of dies you guys prefer when reloading cast over jacketed?

[462]

Well, for what it's worth, I prefer Lyman.

Their seating dies are very boolit friendly, in that they do not swage down boolits, as did my Lee and RCBS seaters, even those that are fat-for-caliber. (I do have to say that Lyman Precision Alignment dies do require some honing to accept a fat boolit.)

Die sets come with inter-changable seating stems to match flat, SWC and RN nose profiles.

The M-die expands, not flares, the case mouth, thus assuring proper boolit to case alignment.

Two specialty dies I use are Lee's rifle crimp die -- for use with a Winchester Model 94 only -- and their neck sizing dies.

[noylj]

All I shoot are lead bullets.
Best pistol sizing die is the hornady New Dimension TiN die.
Best expander die is the Lyman M-die. Next would be the RCBS or the Hornady expander dies. The PTE depends on if you use a Lee, Dillon, Hornady, or RCBS powder measure. I actually like the Lee about the best. Powder check die is RCBS Lock-Out. Seating die can be Dillon or Hornady (both can be disassembled with the die body staying on the press/toolhead), though I use Lee Seat and Feed dies a lot (I am getting old and my hand trembles doing fine motor activities like placing a bullet on a case, so manually cycling the Lee Bullet Feed is at least as fast and I don't have to play with the bullet to get it to stand up straight). I have not found a taper crimp die I didn't like, but only use Redding Profile Crimp dies for roll crimps.
Now, if someone could supply those dies in a single set, I would be very happy.

[Von Gruff]

I load my 7x57 with Wilson dies for both cast and jacketed with different cap and stems for each, but have the Lyman dies I started with and they are good but the Wislon is better. Have CH4D for 404 Jeffery and have had the neck honed out on the sizing die to suit cast.
Have used RCBS for 44 mag and they were fine.

Von Gruff.

[H110]

Thank you all for the help.

[Doc Highwall]

H110, both Lyman and RCBS make Cowboy dies for cast bullets but only in some calibers.

[MGySgt]

Not to distant in the past I would have said Lyman hands down. But I have been buying the Hornady new deminson dies latley and I beleive they are better than Lyman - At least their customer support is.

5.56 - I need so extra seater plugs - Called Hornady and asked if I could buy some - they said no but would send me some - sent a pack of 5 at no cost to me.

Customer Service has always been great, at least since i have been dealing with them.

[MtGun44]

Hornady dies now have a floating sleeve which aligns the boolit/bullet with the
case as it is being seated, plus has a double ended flippable seater plug so it will work
with RN or SWC in pistol calibers. Also the titanium nitride sizer dies are so smooth
that they literally POLISH the brass as it is resized in pistol calibers - very much
more polished than when it goes in.

I am very pleased with the Hornady dies and have been buying more and more Hornady
and used to be RCBS and Lee on dies.

Bill

[462]

Hornady's New Dimension seating dies are like Lyman's Precision Alignment dies, in that the sliding sleeve needs to be honed to accommodate boolits. That has been my experience, anyway. However, I do prefer them to RCBS and Lee.

[utk]

Hornady dies now have a floating sleeve which aligns the boolit/bullet with the
case as it is being seated, plus has a double ended flippable seater plug so it will work
with RN or SWC in pistol calibers. Also the titanium nitride sizer dies are so smooth
that they literally POLISH the brass as it is resized in pistol calibers - very much
more polished than when it goes in.

I am very pleased with the Hornady dies and have been buying more and more Hornady
and used to be RCBS and Lee on dies.

Bill

I've done the same process but backwards. I sold my Hornady handgun dies after some cast boolit seating experiments and went back to RCBS.

I tested the alignment ability of the Hornady die by intentionally putting the boolit somewhat tilted in the case mouth. Lead or lube was scraped off from one side of the boolit, the alignment sleeve didn't work.

The problem could lie in the floating sleeve being made for jacketed bullets and thus having a small inside diameter. Or the crimping shoulder where the boolit could hang up and pushed slightly tilted into the case shaving lead off one side.

Then I did the same test with both RCBS and Lee seating dies. Both performed flawlessly and aligned the boolits perfectly.

Think about it - their bores are just a little wider than the boolit. This long "channel" will automatically align the boolit with the case long before the boolit nose hits the seating stem

[selmerfan]

The sliding sleeve system is great for jacketed boolits, not so great with cast boolits without modification. Here's why. If you take the sleeve out of the die and place the bottom of it tightly against your palm, and then take a jacketed bullet of that caliber and try to place it in the other end, it literally floats the bullet on the column of air, the tolerances are too close to allow air to pass by. Say that you did this with a .308 Winchester die. Then a .308" jacketed bullet is floating on air. There is no room for a .309" or .310" or .311" boolit in that sleeve. I'm currently using an RCBS seater in .308 Win. for my cast boolits. Jacketed are seated with a Forster BR Micrometer die, but I'm considering ordering a custom sleeve for that die that is honed out to .311"

[Cowboy T]

I reload exclusively with cast boolits at this point. I use Lee dies for all my cartridges without any problems. Not saying the other brands aren't any good, nor will I, since I haven't personally tried 'em. But I do know from experience that Lee's dies do a good job for me.

[adrians]

Well, for what it's worth, I prefer Lyman.(462)

i too like lyman for my cast trapdoor cartridges.:twisted::coffee::evil:

[1hole]

Just a point of clarification of Lyman's most excellant "M" expander; it will also do a mouth flare if it's adjusted down far enough, about 1/16".

Since cast bullets are often sized a thou over bore diameter, a die that is too sloppy for best accuracy with jacketed stuff tends to work better. The Hornady, RCBS Comp. and the older Lyman PA sleeves tend to be a bit large so they work pretty well but, as with anything else, they do have tolerances. Some will be loose and others will be too tight for best results with cast.