Reloading Dies, The Best

Just got my new .223 by Lee today from Bass Pro in the States. I have some used RCBS and Hornaday dies, plus I just got new Hornaday .308 last week. The Hornaday set needed a shell holder and requirement a lot of fiddling to set up, and then I busted/bent 2 of 3 primer pins on the first set reloads. No problem once I fixed the set up though. The Lee I got today is complete set with crimp die as well. It came ready to use right out the box, no pre-setting, and it also came with a shell holder, this is something I always had to buy separate in the past. I am impressed. Anyone else with this experience on Hornaday?

Never tried them. All my dies are RCBS.

RCBS & Lee were all i ever used!

I am using Forster Bench Rest Dies , which I buy from Sinclair International In the U.S. have found that using these dies I get far less bullet run out than with most of my previous dies, brand names I will not mention as I do not want to start arguments here from others saying "we are using that brand of die and have no problems with them".

Yeah, this is one of those topics that can degenerate quickly into schoolyard name calling, as many threads have been doing lately. Some people are really opinionated regarding reloading equipment.
Personally, I have both Lee and RCBS dies, and they both work fine for what I am trying to achieve. I've never used Hornady dies, but I do use Hornady bullets, and I really like them, so I'd imagine that the dies would be pretty good quality.
One thing to look into is using the Lee Collet neck sizing dies - they really speed up the reloading process because you don't need any lube.

This set came with a crimper, I have case lube and use it, just not willing to shell out for the titanium dies yet. I think those are the ones your talking about, seen them BP website, is this correct?

I am just really happy with this purchase and have all 3 types equipment as well.

I always used Lee and RCBS on pistol and mostly Lee collet dies on rifle.

I use the Hornady HPBT and the Vmax a bunch and the Amax a little.

Are you shooting semi, or bolt?

No, I'm not talking about carbide dies or whatever. Collet neck sizing dies are simply a different design whereby the collet squeezes the neck around a mandrel, but doesn't touch the shoulder or body of the case. This does away with the need for any lubrication. I'm not sure if other companies make them, but I know Lee does - I use such a die for my 30-06. Theses dies are not very expensive at all. I like them, and I am thinking of ordering some other collet neck sizing dies for other calibers I load for. Lee will even make custom collet dies for about $60 if you send in two cases fired from your gun. This is useful if you reload for a wildcat cartridge, like I do.

As alluded to by Pijetro, these dies are normally only used for bolt action rifles, and normally you would only use cases resized with one of these dies in the gun that previously was used to fire the case.

By the way, I do recall hearing really good things about the Hornady system (I don't remember what it is called). Apparently, once you get your die set up, it is a simple matter of turning the special bushing(?) a quarter turn to remove your die and switch it for another die.

.223 bolt
.308 semi and bolt
30-06 bolt
30-30 bolt

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Originally Posted by Pijetro

Are you shooting semi, or bolt?

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Lee dies. They work for me. 6.5 and 300 win mag.

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Originally Posted by line052

.223 bolt
.308 semi and bolt
30-06 bolt
30-30 bolt

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Just curious...what model of rifle do you have for the 30-30? I've never seen a 30-30 bolt action. That would be interesting to reload for since you could use a pointed tip bullet.

1964 Savage 30-30 with internal magazine. Iron sights, ok shooter clearly a bush gun. I got it in trade. The guy wanted a Traditions Pursuit Ultra light .50, and I got a Cooey .22 (tube feed), Mossberg 400G, and the 30-30. Good trade. It’s a nice gun and required a bit of cleaning to make the action smooth again, but once I polished the bolt and action housing it was a lot smoother.

Trying to find a picture on FB to post. All pictures on my phone are downloaded to PC when I upgraded. Will post once I find it.

I was loading only round nose 150 and 180gr Sierra’s and learned about 4 months ago why round nose are used. Mostly tube feed 30-30, levers need them. The guy I bought my model 100 semi, .308 has a model 94 30-30 in lever for $350.00, when the budget is right.

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Originally Posted by rf2

Just curious...what model of rifle do you have for the 30-30? I've never seen a 30-30 bolt action. That would be interesting to reload for since you could use a pointed tip bullet.

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The Savage 340 was made for years chambered in 30-30, with a detachable box magazine. I had a 340C in 30-30, and a 340E in 222Rem.

Here a picture from FB of my Dad shooting the gun from last Sept, the .22 Cooey is on the bench as well. The wood on .22 looks alot better today.
Attachment 24158

Neat little gun line

It is a beautiful gun, well made and silky smooth. Only problem is not very accurate after about 150M. Big kick too, my hadn't fire a gun in over 25 years and this one was the same his brother Art (Uncle) had when they young. After the first shot he turned to me and and said with a big grin "thats just f***ing great", not a man to swear to very often. It will be one of those moments I carry for a long time, he was 78 in this picture and still kicking today. He just ordered a 20 gauge auto from I think Canadian Tire near woodstock.

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Originally Posted by line052

1964 Savage 30-30 with internal magazine. Iron sights, ok shooter clearly a bush gun.

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Originally Posted by Bluebulldog

The Savage 340 was made for years chambered in 30-30, with a detachable box magazine. I had a 340C in 30-30, and a 340E in 222Rem.

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Cool. I'll keep an eye out for one of those.

Exact one is for sale at The Ole Co op in North Gower for $300.00 I think. Seen it last week when looking for bullet heads.

I like Lee for convenience and adjustability. No wrench or Allen key needed. Also the Factory Crimp die is WAY easier to use than roll crimping.
I have used Redding and RCBS dies before, and their quality was easily as good as Lee's but I prefer Lee for their locking rings and easy-adjust seating stems.

I have never used Hornady dies, but I use their bullets for everything.

I am learning that about Hornaday Dies, will stick with Lee from now on. Just learned of the Higgson in Hawksbury today, feel a trip and pocket book getting lighter already. Like the electric ovens and 6 position bullet casters in .50 for Hawkin's 50 cal BP. Currently melt lead on turkey fryer stand and spoon out lead to 1 oz slug caster die as shown in Lee cataloge. Have about 300 lead slugs now, lot of work to trim and finish, but nothing like quality control and making your own.

Mark,
I have RCBS, Lee and Hornady dies. I find that each have their strengths and weaknesses. I suspect that much of the discussion comes from what each person is used to. I have mostly Hornady dies and I like them best. I find they are a little more versatile for adjusting on the press and setting seating depth.
rf2 is absolutely right about Neck Sizing Dies. I have Neck Size dies for just about all my sets. I really like the Lee factory crimp dies but they need to be set carefully. I already crimpe a number of 22-250 case too much. My reward was cracked necks and 5 more pieces of brass for my 'Dead Brass' bucket.
The RCBS dies set up nicely but I find that adjusting them with a wrench is a pain.
The Forster's would be nice but they are pricey.
For the Hornady dies you can buy a micro adjust seating stem (it fits all the dies) if you want to get some of the same performance as a Forster.
I use the Hornady cartridge compare tool with a modified case to measure the seating depth for all my rifles. This allows me to set and control the distance from the ogive to the lands when I am reloading. I find control of this really improves accuracy along with Neck Sizing. Note: Once you have Neck Sized that cartridge can only be chambered in the same rifle that originally fired it. If you want to use the cartridge in another rifle them the case has to be full sized.

I have the crimping die set with my new LEE .223 set. But I am questioning the need to do it, most info I found said if not originally crimped - no need.. I want to crimp the 55gr Hornadays, but not the 50gr varmit grenades. What the best course. P.S. never crimped before with all rds. Don't shoot more than 400M, so not really sure if needed, however have the urge to make the best bullets....frack..perfection can drive you mad....

Crimping does a number of things. It helps the cartridge chamber smoothly. Provides a little more pressure to yield more speed and normally assists in making all seating depths the same. Consistent seating depth equals tighter groups. Careful not to crimp too much. With 22cal cases it should be a light crimp.

Yup understand that part, I will crimp half of the batch of 223 I just loaded, Impact and I might go this weekend. Should be interesting to see the difference in shooting the two differnet types of settings. Crimping today.... Here a picture of loading room during construction..the trade off was wife demanded cabinets and shelving units in Laundry room for "stuff" I was displacing in furnace room.
Attachment 24192

LOL. I always have something on my "Honey Do' list. I am fortunate in that I have a 24 x 30 shop out back. I am going to build a reloading room inside the shop (5 x 10). Do you have a chronograph? I have been clocking speeds and taking data for over a year now. The biggest difference I see is temperature. The down range results are apparent but it is always interesting to see the speed changes with crimping. I normally shoot a minimum of 10 rounds to ensure at least some statistical validity. I haven't toyed with using magnum primers yet for standard long rifle. The general theory being the using a magnum primer in winter helps reduce the impact of cold temperatures by yielding a greater flash to the powder. It is on my 'to do' list but not a priority. Faster is not always better

No chronograph yet, just seen them recently on some posted links here. Just starting out with whole reloading thing, only about 1 year now on my own. Chris my old buddy got me into it when I got back into guns. His reloading "shop" was relegated to boxes when I met up with him, the wife turned it into a bathroom...lol

I welded together my own rest for shooting. With the rest and the chrony I get some pretty reliable data on what the bullets are doing. The chrony is key to understanding the whole story. I bought mine at Lebaron (about $139). I had a bullet delaminate after leaving the barrel last year - it destroyed my first one. Just joined the EOSC and I am heading there this weekend to test more loads. I just put together some 22-250 loads with CFE 223 and Superformance. Going to do a side by side compare. Then I will test some new 30-06 loads using IMR 4895 with 100 Gr V-Max. I expect somewhere close to 3500 fps (probably something less given the air temp)

Do you find the CFE actually does what it is advertised to do - "Copper Fouling Eraser". I've heard that it is a really good powder, but I wonder if it really gets rid of copper fouling.

rf... I don't have enough experience with this powder yet to tell if it is working as advertised. I do know that it is like rocket fuel for my 22-250 loads. The Hodgdon load data for a 55 gr bullet with a max load of 39.3 Gr CFE 223 is 3855 fps. Two weeks ago I clocked 5 rounds at +3950 fps on at -6 C

Goose bumps 3950, thats ripping em out. yotes won't stand a chance, however hydrostatic shock will render the fur unusable....lol Love to see that on a Watermelon/Honeydew or Orange. The 50gr Varmit Grenades do a number on big oranges with 25.3 grams of IMR 4895, if remember right the speed was in the range of 2400fps.

Here's the kicker. It was not a max load. I backed off .3 grains. I had shot a previous load at 1 full grain less than max. I had a high speed of 3985 fps. So all things being equal I expect that when I go out this weekend I will clock pretty close to 4000 fps using 55 gr Spire points. When the warmer weather comes I will go back out and chrony them at temps above 10 C. I expect that I will see close to 4050 fps for warm weather performance. At that point I will likely move the load back down as there is no real advantage to racing them out that fast. Under 4000 fps is just fine with me since I don't plan to shoot beyond 300 yds

Maybe I will get working up loads like that soon. Still playing in the .308 and .223 file right now. I do see the electric cooker and 6 die mold for .50 as the next project. Never really was confident with .50 cal my Dad gave to me this year. Hawkens .50 kit he built in the 1970's, picture of me the night he presented. It was in memory of his brother (Uncle Art, coolest Uncle ever) who he used to hunt with all the time. Uncle Art's name is etched in barrel (Brother Art), keeper to pass down.
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Mark,
You may want to have a look at this
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/product/40937
Lee Precision lead melter ($61 USD). Funny enough I have a good friend Mark that is now trying to get me into shooting muzzleloader. I am forever picking up lead tire weights at the Canadian Tire next to the Louis St Laurent bldg where I am working now. At the same site you will find that they also carry a six cavity mold for most calibers. Good thing is that he has the melter and the molds so I don't have to buy one since he lives up the road in Carlsbad Springs...

Last year we went on a lead hunt to all the local garages in Barrhaven and got turned away by all but one. The Gov has instituted lead policy for safe disposal and coupled with $2.00 a pd at Cohens many guys are picking up lead at shops. Keep your supplier well fed then. I still have 250pds of lead bars to use at this point and I am always looking for more