New RCBS Dies

[lightman]

I just received a couple sets of new dies, a 2 die FL set for a bottle neck rifle cartridge and a 3 die Carbide set for a straight wall pistol cartridge. RCBS has been my favorite since the late sixties or early 70's, but I got away from them several years ago when I started shooting long range. My long range choices were Redding bushing neck dies, Wilson seating dies with an arbor press and Sinclair case prep tools.

The first thing I do with a new die set is to disassemble them and give them a good cleaning. Both of these sets were very clean, more so than in the past. No metal chips or polishing compound, just a light coat of oil. The machining work looks good. The knurl is a little courser than Redding uses and the threads actually look to be better quality. The labels were crooked on both boxes, for some crazy reason! The die rings and jam nuts are different than my older sets. The Carbide sizer has a more generous radius on the mouth of the die than older sets do.

I have seen some bashing against RCBS in recent years, so I just wanted to post my latest observations. They look like the same good quality that I always expected from RCBS. I cannot find anyplace on the box, dies or in the instructions stating where they are made. I believe they are still 'Made In America'. I'm looking forward to loading some ammo with these.

[str8wal]

I've never had a bad RCBS die set. They have even sent me missing parts free of charge for dies that I bought used. Great company.

[kjorgy]

I always buy RCBS. They will replace their reloading equipment for no charge. they stand behind their product & have good support

[Mauser48]

I just bought my first set of rcbs dies a few months ago. They are the carbide 38 special/357 mag dies. They are very nice. You have to make sure you put a piece of shot or something under the lockring set screw because the set screw will mash the thread. I didn't try that until the second die so the sizing die thread has a flat spot in it. When you twist the lock ring past it now it tightens up a bit. I should have read the directions better and I could have prevented this. All in all great dies and the seating die holds depth perfect!

[orbitalair]

With Lees recent (imo stupid) move away from having ANY roll crimp dies, if I need any bolt gun dies in the future they are going to be rcbs.

[TXGunNut]

Big fan of RCBS but I like Redding as well. At one time I thought Redding was worth the few dollars more. RCBS has a line called Cowboy dies that I think work especially well for cast boolits. They're only available for cartridges generally used in CAS/SASS matches. Nice patina-like finish and brass locking rings, many come with an expander die very much like the Lyman M-type. The sizer die doesn't overwork the neck by sizing it down and then expanding it. Very well thought out, IMHO.