What's the real difference between reloading die brands?

[iMigraine]

[BigBronco]

Fit and finish. High end dies have tighter tolerances. Another example is, Lee dies come with an O-ring type jam nut. When you remove the dies from a press they need to be reset each time. Clamp type lock rings provided with most better dies once set can be removed from a press and when placed back in retain the original setting.

Warranty better on other makes. Lee comes with a 2 year warranty i believe. RCBS, Dillon and Redding have lifetime warranty's. Break a decapping rod on an RCBS die and a phone call will have one sent put to you Free, you do not even pay the shipping. I have broken Lee parts and had to pay for the replacement. Get a piece of brass stuck in a RCBS die, send it to them with $5.00 for return postage they will remove the stuck brass, clean and polish the die and send it back. Redding Charges $40.00 however the send back the die with a stuck case removing tool.

[LynnJr]

With the custom dies you get a better fit to your guns chamber.
Most dies size the front of the case too much and they don't size the head of the case enough.

[JMP]

There are also many different features. The dies that have a spring loaded housing that is fit to your cartridge to seat with a micrometer are going to guide the bullet in straighter. Then, you will have bushing dies and expander ball sizing dies. The exander ball sizing doesn't do a good job when the expander ball ends up off its axis of symmetry or gets dented. The exander ball neck sizers always overwork the neck that leads to splits.

Dies, you pretty much get what you pay for. For straight walled pistol cases, it tends to be less of an issue, but for bottleneck rifle used for precision shooting, the $40 die sets don't hack it.

[Ubermcoupe]

Just wondering with all the different brands of reloading dies, what really sets them apart? I use Lee because they are very affordable and many people seem to like them too. However, I know RCBS, Hornady, Redding, Dillon, and probably a few brands that reloaders swear by them too. So without turning this thread into a “my brand dies are better than your brand”, I want to know why? I.e. Are they easier to setup? More forgiving with small variances or less tolerant of them?

Go Blue or don't go at all...

[mif_slim]

RCBS seem to be the best value for what it does. Lee is the best bang for buck and Hornady is good but i dont like some features on it. I havent gone blue and dont have experience with other brands so i cant tell you.

What i can tell you is that Lee (19.99 dies) can load ammo just as accurate as RCBS(49.99) and Hornady (53.99). Its the warranty that sets them apart.

[JMP]

Go Blue or don't go at all...

That's for brass, I go blue for Lapua. If you are talking about Dillon, they do just fine for autoloading handguns.

For cheap rifle dies, my recommendation is RCBS. For good rifle dies, I recommend Redding Competition. For serious precision, one may go with a custom shop die where your sizing die is made custom to fit your cartridge. It really depends on what your needs are, but you get what you pay for.

[Fishslayer]

I buy Lee dies because of the price & I know for sure that they will work with my Lee press.

I also have some RCBS stuff I found used. It's GTG.

Reloading equipment is a competitive business. I've heard pretty much unanimous praise for customer service with all of 'em. Lee has been A+ when I've needed to order parts.

[Lead Waster]

For pistols, Lee dies are fine. Probably for rifles too, but once you get into knocking fleas off a fly's back at 400 yards, you'll probably want dies that can hold exact measurements (ie bullets seated to the micrometer or whatever)

But for handguns, it's really hard to get more value than Lee dies.

Keep in mind that Lee dies tend to use friction and rubber rings to keep settings, like bullet seat depth. And again ... in a pistol, not much of a big deal.

[RR.44]

I really like the performance and longevity I get out of RCBS dies, I've had my .223 set for well over 20 years now and still use them occasionally, I recently acquired some .223 Redding precision dies with the micrometer settings, now these are nice dies and produce outstanding ammunition . I have owned several sets of Hornady does but I don't care for moving parts when it comes to dies. YMMV.

[sl0re10]

a lot of Hornady seating dies have a little sleeve that drops down and guides the bullet into place. So I use a few for that. Their resizing dies are cr*p though. I'll always use a different brand. The RCBS x dies are kinda cool for resizing. They have a feature that slows brass growth... so you don't have to trim after the first time.

otherwise; I've had good luck with everything. Even Lee.

[toby]

I use a few of each brand and they all work fine. I am not a precision shooter so fine to me won't be fine for the next guy.

[CSACANNONEER]

Dillon dies are different. The pistol dies do not come with an expander die to flare brass and the bullet seating die is separate from the crimp die. Dillon dies are great for loading on progressive presses and what I prefer when loading on my 550. But, I have also used Eagle, Lymann, Hornady, M2 Precision, CH4D, Hollywood, Redding, Lee, RCBS, etc. on my Dillon as well as my single stage presses.

[Eljay]

I'm generally happy with Lee dies. I have some Dillon dies on my 650 and I actually like the Lee dies better in some cases (the Dillon bullet seater in particular is lame).

For some calibers I might replace a die or two or buy another brand if there's a reason. Some rifle rounds I want a fancy micrometer bullet seating die. For 300 BLK there was a period where Lee didn't make very good 300 BLK dies for some reason and I think I have RCBS. In one or two calibers I decided to go with a taper print and not have the "factory crimp" ring in there. That might sound like a lot of special cases but I load an absurd number of C&R calibers at this point and frankly most of the time I just want something cheap and decent that works, especially if surplus is still available and this is for more occasional use.

[LynnJr]

IMIgraine
There isn't much difference in the factory dies. If you step up the cost you get some added features that make your ammo more precise.
When you really step it up you shoot 4-5 cases 3-4 times and send your brass in for a custom die.
The dies come with a custom neck/shoulder bushing and a separate body bushing. On the bottom of the die were it would normally make contact with the presses shellholder there is a ring that holds shims so you bump it exactly the same no matter which press you use without any adjustment.
They run $425 just for a full length die.