What Die Set To Get ???????

[ZakAttackMan]

Looking for a good die set in 357/38 for Cast Boolits????

RCBS Cowboy Dies???
Lyman "M" Die???

Or I might need both????

[JesterGrin_1]

My Standard RCBS Die set has worked fine for me thus far. But the Cowboy Die's are Purty lol. :)

[454PB]

You shouldn't need an "M" die with any set of handgun dies. They all come with a tapered expander plug that works fine for cast boolits.

As to what brand, I've tried about all of them and never had a bad set.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Pick the brand you want. I've used Lyman, Lee, RCBS and Hornady. Can't tell a big difference, except the Lees are cheaper and I tend to start out with them, unless I come across a used set of another brand in a caliber I want at a good price.

I've also had good luck mixing and matching dies for a particular reloading setup.

Regards,

Dave

[skeet1]

For the money you can't beat Lee dies.

Skeet1

[mtnman31]

My Lyman set suits me well for small batches of ammo. No complaints. I ordered (from Lyman) a couple seater plugs for some of the different bullet styles I shoot as well.

I have a Dillon 550 that I use when I am loading a large volume and it works well too. My only complaint is that it seems like I end up cleaning bullet lube out of the seater die a little more often than when I am using the single station press.

38/357 is a pretty commonly found die set and you could easily find a used/well maintained set and save yourself some money.

[higgins]

so the question of whether to get an M die is no longer a factor. I have .44 mag RCBS dies, and ended up getting a separate M die because I just think it handles lead bullets better. If you keep your eyes open and you're patient, sometimes you can get an old Lyman steel die set for about the price of a new M die, and get some spare lock rings, die parts, etc. in the bargain - never hurts to have spare parts on hand.

[Mk42gunner]

If you are patient the mix-n-match approach works well. I have a set of CH carbide dies with the "Speed Seater" and taper crimp, and an older set of RCBS steel dies that I use.

Robert

[462]

I've switched from Lee to Lyman for two reasons:
1. Lee's seater dies were downsizing boolits to jacketed dimensions.
2. The M die.

[MtGun44]

Hornady has a floating sleeve to help seat the boolit straight in the case, plus
it comes with two seater stems, RN and SWC. Lees are pretty good too.

Bill

[docone31]

I use Lyman 310 dies for this.
Kinda interesting, simple to use, and does the job.

[dukenukum]

Unless I need to full length resize I use my 310 tools.

[Firebricker]

I like the M die so I would go with Lyman but there's alot of good brand's out there. FB

[Green Frog]

Another point is that both Lyman and Lee have through-the-die powder measure dies. You bell your case mouth and add powder at one step/station. I have this for my old Lyman All American for loading .45 acp... along with Lyman's TC sizer and taper crimp dies, and while this arrangement is not as fast as a Dillon Progressive, it lets me make precise ammunition quickly.

Froggie

[Dale53]

I have die sets from all of the available major manufacturers (due to a life time of reloading extending back nearly sixty years). Lee makes VERY good dies at a most reasonable price.

The only die set that is really any better (particularly for a progressive press) is the Dillon die set. You can pop a snap ring and dismantle the dies for cleaning without removing the die from the tool head. This allows you to clean bullet lubricant from the seating die (as a for instance) without losing your die adjustment. That can be a BIG help. The only downside is that Dillon dies are a bit pricy.

So, good quality at a reasonable price - I go with Lee. For the absolute best in operations, there is Dillon. Dillon has a good "funnel" entrance to their dies to minimize case mangling (without being TOO much) and THAT is also a GOOD thing.

FWIW
Dale53

[TAWILDCATT]

I like Lee dies as the expander can drop powder at same time and I have some of my pistol dies in turrets with their own powder measure.can you mount a measure on the lyman die??

[JesterGrin_1]

I am sorry if you shoot oversize cast bullets the Lee has never done well for me.

But I have read I think on this site that you can hone out a Lee die set to work well for cast. You might try a search on that.

I tend to use RCBS 3 Die set with an extra seating die as I can use one to seat the bullet and the other to crimp. I just like it better that way. :)