New Series Hornady Dies

[RGMJ]

Hey Guys,

Was surfing the Hornady website and saw a new series of reloading dies - American Series.

They look like a cross between RCBS and Lee dies. I could see they use the O-Ring type lock rings similar to Lee's. The floating sleeve of the bullet seater dies is now gone.

I understand they cost less than regular hornady dies but could not find them for sale at Midways. They are offered for popular pistol (9mm, 40 SW, etc) and rifle (243, 308 win, 270 win, 30-06 SF, etc).

Anyone use them? Are they any good? I plan to get 9mm luger dies.

Thanks for any reply!

[troyboy]

Evidently Hornady has decided to copy LEE again. The "free" shell holder,zip spindle,load data,o-ring lock rings all preceded by Lee. I am quite impressed with the custom grade dies, especially the seaters. Not interested in a copy when the original has worked well.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Buy an RCBS set and never worry about getting things repaired, if something breaks, again.Robert

[Sweetpea]

I'm a long time fan of the Custom Grade dies.

This "American Series", I think I'll pass on.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

The last set of Hornady dies I bought was back in 1999. They were good dies, for 30.06 and loaded good FMJ ammo for my Garand. In recent years, I've found I preferred a mix of other brands of dies for my progressive, but no Hornady or Lyman dies. I'm finding using used older dies where I know exactly what I'm getting in certain dies and specific applications is preferable to buying dies where the manufacturer changes the dies a lot to increase sales or profit.

[TheDoctor]

No floating bullet seater? Their seating die is the best die they make! Why change it?

[MtGun44]

+1 on the Hornady floating seater being a GREAT deal, I buy all Hornady dies these
days for standard cartridges.
Not too interested in dumbed down die set.

Bill

[DR Owl Creek]

+1 on the Hornady floating seater being a GREAT deal, I buy all Hornady dies these
days for standard cartridges.
Not too interested in dumbed down die set.

Bill


Bill,

I couldn't have said it better myself!

Dave

[freebullet]

I'd go for it with pistol dies, if similarly priced to lee and the free bullet offer applied. Hornady has great cs. They have always taken care of me. They sent me new zip spindles, xpander balls, decapping pins, powder hopper tube, and other parts and wouldn't let me pay for them.

[MarkP]

They do not have the wrench flats and knurling. It does sound a lot like a Lee set; includes shell holder, data.

The floating alignment stem on the New Dimension die was a cost down as compared to the Pacific Dura Chrome dies. There are only a few die bodies to make and inventory with the New Dimension die series to cover most all cartridges in existence.

The older dies required two reamers per cartridge, one for the sizer and another for the seater. They do not show a cross section of the seater die. Looks like these are only available in top selling cartridges.

[Valley-Shooter]

I saw these at my local gun-shop.
They look like RCBS dies with o-rings on the adjustments. I don't like RCBS dies.
Also no box.

Looks like Hornady has brought out an economy die set. The are just filling a spot in their product line up.

[engineer401]

The American Series pistol dies at Cabelas are going for $40. The Custom Grade dies are for $48. You save $8 and the cost of a shell holder. The floating seater on the Custom Grade dies doesn't do much for me. If I needed a die set, I might give them a try. I don't like die lock rings that use O rings. I have plenty spare lock rings I could use.

[bhn22]

I was all set to purchase a new set of 357 mag dies when I made myself stop and think for a moment. There's nothing wrong with my Durachrome sizing die. I load on a Dillon 550, so I use the Dillon expanding die for the powder measure. My seating die is the one I object to, its also Durachrome, and seems to have alignment issues. I crimp with a Redding Profile Crimp die. What's there to buy? A Hornady seating die is only about $18.00. Not $40.00! They do have a neat sounding "Cowboy" die set though. Maybe I can over spend on those!

[r1kk1]

The only dies I have from Hornady are for wildcats. I see different things over the years in their die sets and they work well. I did not have a good experience on their shotshell side. Metallic side has been great. I wish I could get data from Hornady with the die sets I have. For my latest custom pistol only three companies make dies:

Hornady
CH4D
RCBS (theirs is a 1" die and carbide)

I went with a custom smith and he uses Hornady dies for his cartridges and the cheapest of the three choices.

I have mixed feelings on dies that come with shellholders. I hate duplicating or worse. I can see it for cartridges with a limited shellholder range. Lyman has been enclosing shellholders with their die sets for a few years now. I have two presses that don't need shellholders.

take care

r1kk1

[Sweetpea]

I came across some of these at the local Sportsman's Warehouse today.

They look pretty cheap, the O-ring design isn't nearly as good as the Lee.

The price difference was only $3 less than the Custom Grade dies, of course you do get a shell holder, but you don't get "free" bullets.

I stand unimpressed.

[dudel]

The New Dimension dies are my go to dies. Close in price to the Lee's; but the free bullets promotion, makes them a better deal. I like the sliding sleeve seater; wouldn't by a Hornady without that feature. I like their zip spindle; better grip than the Lee idea without having to crank the collet down so hard that will never move. I've used Hornady dies for over 30 years, and the TiN coating has held up very well. Hornady's customer service is next to none, and they've shipped out extra clips for the seater without having to send them a picture (like Lee. How do you send a picture of a missing part?). Free shellholder? Meh, a free 550b shellplate, and NOW we're talkin! Free load data? Eh, I got books of loads. I'm underwhelmed.


I see what Hornady is trying to do. Go after the dollar driven reloader. Those that don't have the shell holders or the load manuals. It's been Lee's model for a long time; and it's worked very well for them.

[FLHTC]

The Custom Grade rifle dies aren't worth a Shiite when it comes to cast bullets. The inside diameter of the 30 caliber sleeve is .314 and will push the bullets below the preferred seating depth every time, regardless of where you set the seating stem.

[MtGun44]

Misspelled swear words are still swear words.

Please cut it out.

[FLHTC]

Misspelled swear words are still swear words.

Please cut it out.

The word is not misspelled! Please look it up before accusing.

[Ickisrulz]

The Custom Grade rifle dies aren't worth a Shiite when it comes to cast bullets. The inside diameter of the 30 caliber sleeve is .314 and will push the bullets below the preferred seating depth every time, regardless of where you set the seating stem.

My 338 win mag seater works great with cast bullets.

[FLHTC]

I have a set of Custom dies in 300AAC and the sleeve has an inside diameter that is only .003 bigger than my cast bullet. The short neck of the 300, opened with an M die will let the 30 caliber sleeve push the bullet way deeper, even with the stem removed completely. I will not buy another set. I purchased them thinking that the floating alignment sleeve was going to be good but not in this application. Hornady touts the sleeve as being wonderful but that "One size fits all" approach is just a money maker to streamline production. Another ridiculous feature is when the seating die happens to be turned upside for whatever reason, the stem comes out of the sleeve and the die has to be disassembled to reposition the stem within the sleeve.

[MtGun44]

Floating alignment sleeve has to be a close fit on the bullet to do any good.
Since 99.99% of bullets loaded are jacketed, they are (not surprisingly) set
up for jacketed. If you want them to work for you fatter boolits, you will
need an extra alignment sleeve or to polish out the one you have.

Straight ammo is critical to top accuracy and dies with floating bullet alignment
sleeves are great to help this, and Redding and Forster charge about double
for a die set with this 'benchrest' sleeve. I am VERY pleased to have Hornady
offering these great dies at such a low price. OTOH, if it doesn't suit your
needs there are always other makers.

For Jbullets, IMO, Hornady is the best deal out there. Maybe not so much for
really fat boolits, but if you polish out the sleeve, you will have very straight ammo.

[FLHTC]

Even with jacketed in the 300AAC, the seating die can only be threaded into the press three turns so it's not a case of simply not suiting me, it's a case of a generic die being used and a sleeve being changed to suit the caliber, not the cartridge. I usderstand the benefit of a sleeve in a cartridge specific die, but not when the same seating die is packaged for every 30 caliber cartridge from 300 Blackout to 30-06. The sleeve ID is 1.3" deep and before I even remotely consider opening it up, I'll just use the Lee which work the best. The guys on 300BlkTalk are saying the same thing about these dies. Hornady simply changes the sleeve to whatever diameter matches the caliber and boxes them up.
By the way Mtgun44, if you are in the market for a GREAT set of Hornady custom 300AAC dies, you can have mine for $25 shipped. That's a $10 savings