New,,, Used Dies ?

[W.R.Buchanan]

It blows me away the number of used sets if Reloading dies there are for sale on Ebay.

I have bought several sets on RCBS dies recently for .303 Brit and most recently last week a set of .358 Winchester dies to load my up coming .35-303 project.

Both of these sets cost me $20. one was free shipping the other cost me $10 to ship.

Both of these sets were in "as new" condition, which is by far the norm as most sets of dies spend virtually their entire lives in the box they came in. Oh I had to clean both the outsides of the green boxes to get them to look new. But otherwise they were effectively new in box.

I ran across quite a few oddball calibers that you don't see everyday however the vast majority are the more common calibers, which is to be expected.

My point here is before you go out and spend big $ for a set of Redding or RCBS or whatever brand, you might go look and se if you can't find some "Used ones for a fraction of the price.

I will caution that intermixed with these dies you will find bazillions of Lee dies that range in price form real cheap to not so cheap, and I have not found any significant savings over buying new ones from Dennis at Titan Reloading who is a sponsor of this site.

There is also the question of what kind of shipping response you will get from any of these guys. Never pay more than $10 to ship and $6 is more like it.

Just a thought from Sunny SoCal where I am freezing my **** off this beautiful News Day with an outside temp of 60F . It got down to 28F last night and I had to put an extra blankey on my bed.

Randy

[RobS]

Might be that the manufactured rounds are now hitting the store shelves again and people are selling off the dies they thought they would use to reload with etc.

[Wayne Smith]

I have purchased the vast majority of my die sets from eBay. I have yet to find an unusable one because of what somebody did to it.

[Char-Gar]

I have bought allot of dies off Ebay and all have been in good condition. They may have needed some cleaning, but after the proper cleaning and rehab all have been in good shape.

[EDG]

When I started buying dies on ebay the total item count in handloading was about 4500.
Now the total item count in dies alone is 11,000 plus. Most of what has been added are the retail weenies that I never buy from.
There is some risk with used dies but not a lot. The most common damage is the bent decapping stem.
The worst dies I ever got were really rusty inside and clean on the outside. I polished these dies and even though pitted inside they worked great.
Just stay away from long obsolete brands unless you have a good feel for the condition.
El cheapo brands are rarely worth your time. You will find yourself in competition with many people for nice die sets by Redding, RCBS and Forster. Common calibers will be reasonable to bargains. Rare and especially useful dies, trim dies and form dies are often 75% of current retail.

[Walter Laich]

I like to save when I can so used dies are a good choice for me.

[Edster]

If you decide to buy on Ebay you can buy RCBS dies without fear. If the dies you purchase have issues contact RCBS. I did this with a set of 30-30 does. The sizing doe was scarring up the brass. THey send it and we will refinish the die. Sent it in, a week later they returned a new die to me. There is a reason all of my reloading equipment is Green

[Bayou52]

I've bought several dies off ebay. Some good, some not so good. However, I buy only RCBS dies since RCBS stands behind their products with a no BS, no questions asked policy.

One 30-06 FL SB sizer I bought from ebay was actually expanding the brass. I sent it in to RCBS, and they said there was a 32 cal neck expander button on the die. They replaced it for no charge. Several other similar examples occurred, too. RCBS makes everything right.

I buy RCBS products, both new and used, to the exclusion of other brands due to their stellar customer service.

Bayou52

[Charley]

I buy and sell reloading equipment, some of it ends up on Ebay. As a 35 year handloader, and someone who retired from the service industry, I make sure everything I sell is something I would/could use. Almost ALL dies in flat boxes can ship in a SFRB, $5.95. Lee round boxes are more expensive to ship. Watch what the shipping is, I've seen RCBS flat boxes shipped for $12.00, more than double what they should be, assuming the seller isn't trying to cheat the buyer, or is a complete moron.

Biggest problem I see on Ebay is sale by someone who has absolutely NO IDEA what they are selling. All they know I they got it cheap from a garage/estate sale, and want to turn it. You can get bargains that way, you can also loose big time.

Buy used, but know what you are buying, and look at the seller...their record, feedback, even the description of what they are selling. If a die set is described as "reloader dies loading set for guns", or similar (I've seen some like that!), you might want to think twice.

[Kevin Rohrer]

I
My point here is before you go out and spend big $ for a set of Redding or RCBS or whatever brand, you might go look and se if you can't find some "Used ones for a fraction of the price.


A set of new, quality dies is trivial. I don't like playing a guessing game with used dies.

[EDG]

Lotsa of luck claiming that for a set of dies to form .250 Savage from .30-06, a set of dies to reload the 6.5X53R Dutch Mannlicher or dozens of others. If you have a hundred dies sets even the ordinary dies get expensive. There is little guessing with quality dies.


A set of new, quality dies is trivial. I don't like playing a guessing game with used dies.

[Duckiller]

Most of the dies I have bought in the last 20 years have been used. Majority have been RCBS with a few Lyman. No problems. In all honesty I have bought most from a single vendor at the Costa Mesa gun show. Dennis has been very honest and fair with me.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I do know that Ebay can have some killer deals. I try to look at favorite categories at least once a week. Lyman and Redfield Sights. Springfield gun parts. Always looking for C&H H Frame presses and several others as well.

We all have things we like and finding them is just part of the fun.

Randy

[.30Calibre]

This is the only way to go when acquiring dies for obsolete calibres.

Scored enough different sets of the same calibre to be able to keep spare turrets handy so I can change turrets (with dies) when going from one bullet profile to another like, cast LRN to cast LSWC.

Straight out of the USPS box and into the hot ultrasonic for 10min cleans whatever decades old goop might still be on from the previous owner. Just don't leave reloading dies in a hot ultrasonic from more than 15mins, the soft die metal tends to get really hot and change color; don't ask me how i know.

[seagiant]

Hi Randy,
I guess that blanket was dusty as they say!

When I was in LA/Bellflower/Huntington Bch. back in the 70's a surfing buddy of mine,worked at Winchell's Donuts. The old timers would come in before sunrise and get donuts and coffee.

It was chilly in the mornings (unlike Fla.!) and made the coffee taste good and those glazed donuts hot off the rack was to die for! A long time ago now,I guess!...... Time flies!

[44Vaquero]

I have purchased3 die sets off of E-Bay and all 3 appeared to be in unused condition. I myself is not much of a seller, I rarely if ever sell or trade anything! It's just me, I guess?

[Bent Ramrod]

Very few of the die sets I have were purchased new. I prefer to get them at gun shows, where I can check inside them for scoring, rust or missing parts. Generally, the few that I've seen scored are the common pistol calibers that have had range pickup shells run through them without proper cleaning first. It's easy enough to pass them up and find a better set a few tables further on. Light scratching or light rust can be polished out easily with crocus cloth. In normal hobby use, a steel die set soldiers on for generations. They're a tremendous value for the money.

I've bought a few items from that Costa Mesa guy myself. He always has interesting stuff, but I generally prefer to be my own "picker."

The down side is that I often buy unusual dies just because they had a low price on them. In some cases, I have bought a rifle afterward simply in order to use the dies. Not the way to "save big bucks reloading," but I think I'm still ahead of where I'd have been if I bought everything new.

[bedbugbilly]

I have purchased a number of used die sets off of eBay and each time, I was pleased with what I got. I started out using Lee dies and they work just fine for me but I agree with the OP, it seems like Lee dies are often overpriced on eBay (I'm talking starting price). Unless the Lee dies are super reasonable, I'll order what I need from Titan - good folks and good prices.

I load a lot of 38s - 38 Short, Long, Special and 357 - both in smokeless and black powder - on a Lee 4 hole turret. I have turret plates set up for the Short/Long, a 38 Spl. plate for Smokeless, a 38 Spl plate for BP as the BP lube gets them gunned up pretty easily and a 357 plate for the Handi-Rifle cartridges. Picking up used die sets at very reasonable prices has made this possible for me to do. I recently picked up a nice 4 die Lyman set with various seating stems, etc. at about 25% of what they would be new and they are once of the nicest die sets I've ever used.

I'm not surprised thought at the quantity of die sets on eBay. Let's face it. Like any hobby, folks get in to it and then loose interest so the stuff gets sold plus you have "estates" due to deaths as well.

I have sold a lot of stuff on eBzy over the years and the one thing that gravels my butt are those sellers that try to "make up" by charging high shipping rates. And, I fully agree with the OP on the shipping for die sets. Usually a SFRB will do it - Lees in the round case is a different matter but if I'm interested, I contact the seller and ask if they'll ship in a SFRB without the plastic case to keep the cost down. If not, I move on as whatever I'm looking for will show up eventually - if not this week then maybe next!

[RogerDat]

I too have noted that Lee stuff on eBay is often overpriced used compared to purchase new from Titan. New stuff in particular seems high. Good to know that many people have had good luck with eBay and used dies.

[skeet1]

I think I'll just stick with new from Titan. I have always had good success with Lee dies and see no reason to pay more.

Ken

[dragon813gt]

I refuse to pay new prices for used dies. Oddball calibers need not apply. I was at a gun show yesterday and couldn't believe the prices they wanted for die sets. Same price as new and in some cases more. But what do expect. The "Gun Show Sale Pricing" on Anderson and Bushmaster lowers was $150. I know they came from Brownells for $50.

[zuke]

For the price of shipping to me here in Canada, I'm better off getting new dies. I'm a LEE man, so it work's out for me.

[dh2]

I have bought reloading die's from this and other forums, I have been happy with all of them , But if I can not get them cheaper than I can buy them from Midway I just buy new ones

[W.R.Buchanan]

Dragon: what I find at gun shows is seldom prices are going to be right. Most guys are trying to make money by buying and reselling. Some are just trying to screw somebody. If it is something I really need and it is only a buck or so more than local prices I might go ahead and do it just to save time and or shipping costs.

I saw a MEC Jr. Shotshell reloader at our last show in Dec and the guy wanted $300 for it, (new price $189 most everywhere!!!) and it was a used incomplete ***! He had several others that were as bad trying to sell high. I normally would have questioned a guy like this, but I just "Ufffed" him and walked on.

The main issue is,,, that You have got to know what you are looking at and what it is worth. Otherwise you will get hosed.

Same goes for Ebay. I seldom buy anything unless it is a "buy it now" type offering. I don't want to wait until an auction ends and have to use a Sniping tool and go thru all that BS for a Common Item that you can get a bunch of places.

For some things like Lyman or Redfield sights I will use a snipe tool, but I win maybe one out of 4-5 attempts simply because I have a top dollar amount I will pay, and am not willing to go higher. If I don't get it,,, well too bad, I'll live.

Randy

[Wizzap]

I have got a few items off Ebay for reloading and everything has been New Ive been looking for a used set of 45 dies for a couple weeks now. So far i think best deal is Amazon and its even better if your a prime member, I've seen them cheaper on other sites but the 10+ shipping cancels out any savings

[myg30]

I don't do eBay because of pay pal. I just try to buy n some time sell here and maybe another forum. The folks here sell at reasonable prices and we keep it in the community. If they got a deal on flee bay and resell here well that's good too. I seldom buy new unless it's a must or need now item. Amazon's ok but in Tenn we have to pay tax and it nulls out free ship costs and can be a deal breaker if your counting dimes.
Shipping from some dealers is a sale breaker fer sure ! Not going to start that up again.

It's all good, Mike