Anyone ever bought a bad reloading die?

[toolz568]

I have a Hornady bushmaster 450 die set that will not resize correctly. Factory loads work great, but reloads or factory brass reloads are too tight In my AR. Sometimes they simply jam. I measured them after running them through the resized and they are too big. I contacted Hornady and they basically felt like they figured it was me.

I bought them from a guy that was doing a build and switched to SOCOM 458, so they were never used and but not returnable.

[jmorris]

I have but that's not going to help you.

mark your cases with a marker and try and chamber one, where is the case shiny afterwards?

[troyboy]

Turn your die in until it touches the shellholder and go half a turn more,then check. It could be as simple as this.

[alleyoop]

I like Hornady dies, but their customer service is nothing like RCBS,Dillon or even Lee. Good luck on replacing them under warranty.

[mdi]

Whenever there is a fit problem, measure. Size a bunch of cases and measure the diameter, with a micrometer, and the case length with calipers. If they are too big or out of spec., then mebbe it's the die. If they measure OK, measure again after each step, perhaps the methods you're using are bulging the cartridge...

[opos]

Not really a "bad die" but the die was much involved...Some time back I'd gotten a new set of Lee 38 special dies to replace a set I gave to a friend...I'd used the "old" set for a whole lot of rounds...

I found I was having problems with the new set where I was loading R/P brass (all other brass worked fine). I could not get neck tension to hold my old standby Remington 125 grain semi jacketed hollow points...I tried most everything and then contacted Lee.

Lee had me send the resizing die..some of my brass that was a problem and several of the bullets...they tested it all out and found that I had "stacking dimension problems"..The die, while "within spec" was at the top end of the allowable tolerance...the R/P brass has thinner walls than much of the other brass...in "spec" but thinner..the combination of the larger dimension with the die and the thinner brass in the R/P batch gave me about a .002 too much diameter and the bullet would not hold.

Lee replaced the die and no problems since...it loads everything...apparently the original die that I gave away was at the lower end of the tolerance scale as was the replacement Lee sent me.

[54bore]

I bought a set of Rcbs dies for a .257 weatherby and the sizing die left a scratch on the case up toward the shoulder, I tracked it down to the vent hole, it had a burr in the die at the vent hole from the factory, it would have been an easy fix if I could have got in there and polished it out but I couldn't come up with anything I thought would work good, it being brand new I contacted Rcbs and they swapped the die out with another new one, have had no problems with it. The guy i spoke with at Rcbs explained to me that the older die vent holes were drilled at the end of the making process and then polished, he told me they changed that process a few years ago and started drilling that vent hole first and then the chamber part, he had me read him the numbers on my die box and it was in fact one of the new styles but stil had a flaw (burr at the vent hole). This is the first and only issue I've ever had with a new die

[dudel]

I've had the carbide ring pop out of a Lee die. To use the Lee 1 year warranty, you pay the postage back to Lee. I ended up using some Loctite and pressing the ring back in. Figured it was part of the Lee "kit" tradition.

[Dan Cash]

Have had an old Herter's and a 1980s vintage Lee sizing die with the case neck sizing portion off axis to the case body. Made some very funny looking cartridges. Also have had a .30 Lee push through sizing die bored off axis. Bullet ram sticks in the die.

[flashhole]

I was unaware you could use the words Hornady and customer service in the same sentence without having the words ... lack of ... stuck in between. Too many bad experiences with them to ever consider buying any of their equipment ... ever.

[CraigOK]

I got a 308 win Lee Factory Crimp Die that hadnt been reamed out for the neck to fit into. I sent it back to them and it was returned in spec

[EDG]

If you are getting some round to chamber and others do not the issue is probably you.
If you measured them how large is a factory round? And how large is a resized case before you seat a bullet? How large is a seated case after you seat a bullet.

Yes I have bought a number of bad dies.
I have an old CH 7.65 Mauser that is .039 too short. I have a Herters 7x57 FL sizer that is .004 too tight in the body and is very tough to size anything with.
7.65 Lee dies that are too long in the body so you cannot really resize a case to fit. There are probably more that I can't remember.

I have a Hornady bushmaster 450 die set that will not resize correctly. Factory loads work great, but reloads or factory brass reloads are too tight In my AR. Sometimes they simply jam. I measured them after running them through the resized and they are too big. I contacted Hornady and they basically felt like they figured it was me.

I bought them from a guy that was doing a build and switched to SOCOM 458, so they were never used and but not returnable.

[gwpercle]

I've had the carbide ring pop out of a Lee die. To use the Lee 1 year warranty, you pay the postage back to Lee. I ended up using some Loctite and pressing the ring back in. Figured it was part of the Lee "kit" tradition.

The carbide ring popped out of a Lyman A-A resizing die , 45 acp, about 30 years ago, I just epoxied it back in and am still using the set, little problems aren't limited to just Lee dies. I never even considered sending it back....I'm from the old school, fix-it yourself bunch.
Ain't nobody said that reloading was going to be a walk in the park , sunshine and roses.
" Endeavor to persevere ! "

[country gent]

I have had Sizing dies that wouldnt bump the shoulder back to 000-or -.001 for tight chambers Had to face .010 -.015 of of bottlom of die. Any manufacturer can have opps its how they deal with them ( if they get out) thats important. Chanbers are cut by manufacturers to lower end sizes and Die manufacturers normally cut to mid upper sizes, this works 90% of the time and helps keep an excessive headspace issue from arising. Occasionaly you get a 0 chamber and a upper end die and it just isnt enough. As stated above coat a sized or 2 with with black magic marker and chamber See where the rub marks are if body is rubbed then you may need a small based die if shoulder is rubbed then try diffrent shell holder or remove some from die or top shell holder. Also check Loaded neck dia with a bullet in place large bullet and thick neck wall can cause binding. Check bullet dia neck wall thickness in relation to chambers neck dia. Also a heavy crimp may bulge necks just behind case mouths causing issues.

[EddieNFL]

Hornady .45 Colt - wouldn't size the case enough to provide neck tension

Redding .308 sizer - solid blank, never cut

RCBS .223 - sizer too long, had to trim 0.020 to set shoulder back

[Three44s]

I have a set of TiNi .45 dies from Hornady that does not size a .45 acp enough to hold a bullet ....... I sold my .45 auto and have not followed up since an initial call to the manufacturer ..... they (Hornady) were willing to tackle them ....... I failed to follow through on my end.

I also have the same in .38/.357 and in .357 it does not size down far enough but I like the action on my .38 cases ........ that I kept them as well. I have an RCBS carbide in .357 to do the magnum cases.

Best regards

Three 44s

[rockrat]

Try what troyboy said. I have a 6.5 grendel that I was having a hard time chambering a round fully. Ran the die till it hit the shellholder and still had problems. Turned the die in about an eighth of a turn more and working fine now.

For my 450 bushmaster, I just size with a 284win size die.

[toolz568]

Thank to all, I was not aware more members had problems with Hornady. None of my reloads fit and I checked them after sizing. It is the die. I never thought about getting a 284 sizing die. That is a great idea. I really did not want to buy another set of dies.

[lightman]

Yeah, years ago I had 2 sets that would not work. A 45 ACP set and a 22 Hornet set. The company is not in business anymore, so it was not one of the majors that we have now. I replaced them with RCBS and never looked back. Its not common but I guess it could happen.

[w5pv]

I find that if you use name brand equipment that if you have a problem for the most part they will bend over backards to fix it and of course attitude has a lot to do with the service you recieve.