Cowboy dies? Hype or fact

[crabo]

Do the RCBS Cowboy dies work any better for cast and the 45/70 for lever guns?

Thanks,

[jlchucker]

Do the RCBS Cowboy dies work any better for cast and the 45/70 for lever guns?

Thanks,

I've never tried the RCBS cowboy dies in any caliber. I can say that their standard dies work plenty good for my cast bullet loading. I load as many or more cast bullets in 30-30, 35 Remington, and 45-70 as I do jacketed ones. I load far more cast bullets in 44 magnum and 38 and/or 357 than I do jacketed ones. I don't cowboy shoot, but if I did, I probably would use the same dies that I always have. :neutral:

[Doc Highwall]

I bought the cowboy dies for my 38-55 and they came with two expander's.

[JesterGrin_1]

HYPE at least for the 45-70. But they are about the same price as the normal RCBS 45-70 dies now. The Reg RCBS 45-70 dies are around $42.oo and the Cowboy set is $45.oo. And sorry to say Doc for the 45-70 it will only come with one expander and only one seater die or I should say only one seater that will fit the seater die lol.

[cajun shooter]

I have purchased and used the RCBS Cowboy dies in 45 Colt and 45-70 and I cowboy shoot. Therefore I feel that I can make the following observation. They do bell the case mouths and widen the upper case to accept cast bullets more so than the standard dies. They are also much better looking dies for that die party that we all take our dies to on Friday night. With certain 45 Colt lead bullets I like them better. Now let me say this. On my Pedersoli Sharps they make the upper case too big to chamber well in the chamber. I loaded 20 cases with 68 grs of Goex Cartridge and the 535 Postell. When checking them for chambering it was very hard to chamber all the way with a couple that would not go. I looked everthing over and decided to try my standard die set. The standard die set loaded them and they chambered perfect. So with that load and gun, it's a no. For my 45 Colt USFA's it's a yes. Are we still at square 1?

[JesterGrin_1]

Cajun they might have changed a bit then. On a wild hair I went and purchased the Cowboy die set for my 45-70 and brought them home and put a mic to everything and they were the same as my Standard RCBS die set so I took them back.

I do agree though they are purty lol.

[Springfield]

My Dillon dies would shave a bit of lead when seating, the RCBS cowboy dies didn't. So for my 45 Colt they were worth it. It might depend a bit on what diameter bullet you use. Some use .452 in the 45 Colt and they might be OK, but I use .454.

[JesterGrin_1]

Just a wild thought lol. But you can purchase larger expanders without the need to purchase a whole die set. :)

[watkibe]

Just a general observation: items marketed to a niche market always cost more. For example: take some forceps made in Pakistan. Sell them in the hardware store for $7.50. Engrave "Fly Fisherman's Friend" on them, sell them in a tackle shop and get $24.95. Make them from stainless, deburr and polish them a little better, and sell them to doctors for $100. Each is a little different, yes, but not as much different as the prices are. I looked at the cowboy dies and that's how they struck me, mostly marketing.

[Bill*]

-Watkibe: Whatdya figure we can get for those forceps if we sell em to the military? :mrgreen:

[watkibe]

I figure $1000 easy !

[cajun shooter]

60 min did a show on that very subject, they had the following listed on a order
Portable Graphite transcriber @ $650.00 ea.
How is that for selling #2 pencils to your goverment

[cajun shooter]

Jester Grin 1, Perhaps you didn't read my posting. The expander was too large and causing the problem of unable to chamber in my Pedersoli. The standard die set worked better. Now with the 45 Colt I'm the same as Springfield in that I shoot 454 bullets and the Cowboy dies do a better job. The seating die from the 45-70 set of the Cowboy dies is used because I could buy the fitted seater from Buffalo Arms instead of making one for that set.

[Dale53]

Speaking ONLY of the 45/70. The best die sets I have seen are the Lee Dies furnished by Pat Wolf. Further, she sells die parts. These are really custom dies (originally for the Springfield Trap Door rifles) but work VERY well for BPCR. The beautiful part about the Lee expander, it has no threads (it's a floating expander) and can easily be reduced in size to exactly fit your needs by use of a lathe or even a drill press that has a large enough chuck ot hold it. No threads, means SIMPLE. I have done business with Pat Wolf (widow of Spence Wolf - together they wrote THE book on the 45/70 Trapdoor) and she is one fine lady!

Look around at their web site as they have some other nice products for the purpose. If you don't have the book, it is a MUST for those interested in shooting the 45/70 (the later editions have a lot of good information on the .45 Colt, also):

http://www.the45-70book.com/Dies

I shot BPCR for fifteen years. I shot 40/65's, mostly. I used the information and drawings of the Wolf (Lee) expander and compression dies shown in the book and had a friend with a lathe make me some to my exact needs. They worked better than anything I could buy.

If you have a 45/70, it is simpler to just use the Wolf tools. If you have a 40/65 or 38/75, just buy the book and use the information to construct your own tools (very easy to do using Lee Die body parts).

FWIW
Dale53

[MtGun44]

I am having trouble with the "$650 pencils" - is this supposed to be real or
some internet fantasy??

Bill

[cajun shooter]

Go to the archives of the news programs and it will be there. I never have nor will I ever put out something that I just read on the wire. The company that did it thought they were being clever with the wording but ended up before a Federal Court. This did not happen yesterday but If I remember it was during the time of the first Bush war. If you want to ignore it then do so as it's old news that I had first hand info being that I watched the program. It would do me no good beating my brains out to confince anyone of the truth.

[mike in co]

Do the RCBS Cowboy dies work any better for cast and the 45/70 for lever guns?

Thanks,


lol...."cowboy" shooters(?)...like to dress up and shoot wimpy loads at close range. more about dressing up than shooting. rcbs saw this and "dressed up" thier dies.....an excellent corp plan to make money.
mike in co

[watkibe]

lol...."cowboy" shooters(?)...like to dress up and shoot wimpy loads at close range. more about dressing up than shooting. rcbs saw this and "dressed up" thier dies.....an excellent corp plan to make money.
mike in co

..."tactical shooters", too maybe ? :-D

[cajun shooter]

Mike, Not all cowboy shooters shoot mouse fart loads and to paint them all with one brush is not correct. They also have people who are history buffs and enjoy the reenactment part with the clothing that is true. They have entire families that do this together and I can't see any bad in that with the times as they are. RCBS is no different than the food companies or car makers , this economy of ours runs on people buying products. I think that I see you selling items on this forum so you are in the mix also.

[Shane]

I have a set in 32-20. The expander measures 0.3105". Which should work out fine for cast boolits at .312/.313, or jacketed at .312 I would think.

The seating plug is made for there cowboy bullet mold they say in the instructions.

[Dale53]

cajun shooter is absolutely correct. However, the "gamers", in all of the sports, tend to be a bit of a turnoff to "realists". When I watch all of the "top shooters" on TV, I see them shooting their revolvers rapid fire with NO recoil visible. What ARE people to think? Minimum velocity levels of 350 fps? Bah-h-h!

Dale53