RCBS "Cowboy dies"? & moving away

[wonderwolf]

Thoughts on these "cowboy" dies please? I might pic up a set to load my 45-70 when I move away from all my dads dies, presses and tools :( . I'm a little worried though that the brass fittings or whatever they use will not stand up to the years of reloading I plan to do with them.


I have been extremely privileged to have been able to use his stuff for the past few years and I've been trying to get my own stuff together for when I move away for school again this fall but this time I'll be able to reload in the Apt I'm gonna be in.

This is kinda sad as I've been loading match ammo for several years and handgun ammo since my freshman year in high school but have been using all my dads equipment. Although it gave me a chance to really see what kind of equip I would want when I go to do my own set up. (I learned to shun lee equip with a passion). I'm going to design a nice heavy bench for my place that will wrap around part of the room and serve as a Computer desk, a fish tank stand and a 4' section for reloading and storage underneath.....I do have a 50bmg press and die set though I don't think I'll be using that much so it might stay at home. I have used a turret press for my handgun ammo and I really like it though I think I'll just use a RCBS Rock chuckers instead to save room.

[klw]

I asked a friend who worked at RCBS once what was different about the Cowboy dies. His answer was that they were cheaper. No other difference.

Do I believe that? Yes! I bought RCBS 45-120 dies back when they were special orders. Cost a fortune. Now they are mass produced and cost almost nothing. So my uneducated guess is that these dies are being made in large numbers and that is why they cost less.

I've used them forever and loaded quite a few rounds and never had any problems.

The myth is that if is costs a lot it has to be better. But that is just a myth.

[Baron von Trollwhack]

I got a set of RCBS cowboy dies in 25-20 when they first came out. What crap! The f/l die sized case necks tighter than my ten year old RCBS die, the nose seating stem was for a spitzer. Sent them back, got a credit slip on a catalog item, took my beating and got out. Much more careful about reloading "fad" items now. BvT

[Springfield]

I found my Cowboy dies worked better in 45 Colt then the Hornady set I had already. The Hornady set would shave lead, the Cowboy dies didn't. Bought a set for my 44-40, and they work great too. Has a better roll crimp then the Dillon dies. May not be for everybody in all calibers, but what is? And they tend to be more expensive then the regular set , not cheaper. The only thing I didn't like about them is the brass lock rings don't have a set screw. Kinda a pain if you use a single stage, have to reset them all the time. Work fine in a Dillon tool head though.

[versifier]

It's easy enough to replace lock rings.

RCBS stands 100% behind what they sell. They make a mistake now and then (all of us humans do) and when informed about it they make it right. You simply can't go wrong with a RockChucker - mine is a good bit older than many members here and still works wonderfully. I have RCBS dies that have loaded over 15,000 rounds (.38/.357 carbide) no appreciable signs of wear on them inside or out.

I have to say that in thirty years of using them, I don't have much to complain about with Lee dies, either. In fact, their Collet Sizers, Factory Crimps, and Universal Case Expanding dies are far better than anything else on the market. Their regular sizers and seaters are well made and durable, too. Not up to benchrest level, but nothing in the affordable range by any other maker is, either. Lee AutoPrime units are top notch, too, and despite plastic parts have proven themselves quite durable in my shop - AP1 is almost 40yrs old, and AP2 is pushing 20, between them they have done between 30-35,000 rounds (numbers based on records of buying primers, could have missed a few buys).

I am getting pretty disgusted with Lee moulds, but that is another rant entirely. :mrgreen:

[wonderwolf]

I am getting pretty disgusted with Lee moulds, but that is another rant entirely. :mrgreen:



Good thing you said that AFTER I sent the money in for a Group buy

[klw]

Good thing you said that AFTER I sent the money in for a Group buy


It is interesting to me how people's opinions differ!

Up until recently I too would have avoided Lee moulds. BUT Greg Edington has been studying Civil War era self cleaning bullets and when he thinks that he has improved his designs he has Lee make a batch. As the only way to get these moulds is to buy a Lee mould. Works of art? NO! Great moulds? Not really. But they were much better than they use to be. So I'm not a real fan of Lee moulds but I do believe that they are significantly better than they use to be.

I've also never been clear on how to properly handle a negative. Well, actually, that is not true. If something is real crude I say so and I repeat that whenever it seems appropriate until either the product is fixed or goes out of production. But that can get you in trouble.

It seems pretty clear that the Riflesmith Sharps have problems. Always have had and probably always will. The owner explained to me years ago the fourth time mine broke that if I had wanted a reliable gun that I should have know better than to buy one of his. His were EXACT copies of the originals and the originals had problems. The logic here escapes me. Shiloh makes a gun without these problems, does at least as nice a job and costs less.

And Remington's Custom Shop has had troubles with their rolling blocks. I don't know the current status of these guns. This was just a quality control issue. Hopefully they are ok now.

And the Italian Spencers are, well...

[versifier]

I'm on four GBs currently, but they are hopefully about to start their 3rd attempt on the RD .360-180TL. [smilie=1: We'll see. No one can do everything perfectly. Collet neck sizers, FCD's, and push-through boolit sizers more than make up for the failings of their moulds, (which are inexpensive enough to allow a lot of experimenting with shapes and styles that would normally be way beyond my budget).

As this thread was supposed to be about RCBS Cowboy dies, I'll get back on topic and say that I have never known anyone who hasn't sworn by their dies, rather than sworn at them as is the case with some other manufacturers.