ADVICE ON die set

[Tex74]

Hornady for me. I had bought Lee dies when first started reloading 6.5 Grendel and it over worked brass big time 3-4 reloads with Lee and 7-10 reloads with Hornady

[lazyengineer]

All of them will work. I personally like Hornady as the best value for your money. With Lee, they tend to not necessarily be as polished mirror smooth on the inside, meaning high risk of stuck cases on imperfect lubricated brass and a little more effort to run, but not that big of deal. Lee seating dies are about the most basic you can get, and aren't very good. It's possible to get a misaligned, blowing out, or even crushed case-neck, if not careful. More of an item with Spitzer bullets, and I ran some 6.8 ammo with Lee dies and had quite a few alignment issues with bullet seating. The bullet just flops around in there in a very big cavity, on its way up. Hornady has the floating bullet sleeve, that dose a very nice job aligning the bullets that mitigates that.

But if you are running well lub'ed brass and boat-tail bullets, they are mostly fine. I will say I'm a big fan of the Lee FCD.

As to overworking brass, IMHO, Grendel in particular is very susceptible to this general. I suspect the Grendel chamber neck dimension is overly generous, to support the Wolf Steel ammo spec. Which is fine, but brass neck's seem to thus swell to a bigger diameter than other rounds seem to. And then get worked all the way back down. TBH, Grendel brass is the one brass where maybe Annealing is starting to make sense. Most factory dies run too small of a neck resize and then bring them back out with an expander ball. Best option is really to get a bushing die and picking a less aggressive bushing. Personally I just run the Hornady die without the expander at all now, and then just mandrel them right before seating, allowing me to hand-pick the mandrel size a bit small than the factory ball. Not quite as good as running a bushing sizing die, but it does helps mitigate the over-worked Grendel necks some, but IMHO best practice really is to custom chamber your Grendel barrel to have a less generous neck. Yea, few people have that particular option, and I don't actually do that either, as I don't have that option, and tend to run steel at times anyway.

[LR1955]

I would choose any brand other than Lee. Their Grendel dies will overwork your brass. They size the necks down too much and many people found that they could not bump the shoulder back without having to grind down their shell holder.

BITD, Forster competition dies were the best but honestly, the Hornady dies work very well at half the price. May not be quite as good but a bunch of guys here are using the Hornady dies with no complaints.

LR-55

[Jimla]

I would choose any brand other than Lee. Their Grendel dies will overwork your brass. They size the necks down too much and many people found that they could not bump the shoulder back without having to grind down their shell holder.

BITD, Forster competition dies were the best but honestly, the Hornady dies work very well at half the price. May not be quite as good but a bunch of guys here are using the Hornady dies with no complaints.

LR-55

I own 11 Lee Dies, all the rifle dies bump shoulder back to SAMMI correctly. I personally don't like the seating dies that comes with the lee sets, because of run-off.

Lee die sets are so inexpensive, it not a bad idea to keep it as a backup(Seating dies do break, sizing dies sometimes get cases stuck) and for it's Lee factory crimp die.

i would recommend forster Bench Rest #004256 to start off if you want a single die set and a Lee factory crimp die.

or

My favorite setup that works the brass the least of all my setups is:
Redding Body Die (only sizes the body, I have also used it to fix mistakes on loaded ammo that will not chamber)
Lee Collet Die (sizes neck, can buy custom mandrels for more neck tension)
Foster bench rest seating die. (Redding dies brake loading compressed loads)
Lee factory crimp die

My brass fails mostly because of Primer pocket get too large, or when testing too hot of loads with soft brass.

[Klem]

Haven't used Lee in this calibre but don't doubt the bad rap they get on this forum. I use Forster mostly, and have Redding dies which both work well.

The issue of the .300 neck in Grendel is real, but does not seem to affect case life noticeably. The calibre was designed for semi-autos so reliable cycling is a priority. Generous necks would be part of this. That said, the 6.5x47 has the same neck dimension. The Creedmoore SAAMI spec is tighter however.

If you have a bolt gun your die needs will be different of course. Also depends on the quality of gun you have, and what results you are striving for on the target. Any price difference between die manufacturers will be quickly forgotten.

[Kosh65]

Mostly Redding here with some caliber in RCBS. Even have a couple old Vickerman Seating dies, .224 & .264

[Old Bob]

I started out using Hornady Grendel dies but now use a L. E. Wilson full length bushing sizer & their arbor press seater. Then, for my gas gun reloads only, I use the taper crimp seater (with seater stem removed) from a RCBS small base die set for a light taper crimp.

Not a fan of Lee stuff. Had one of their hand-held primer seater. The ram on it broke... looks like pot metal. I use a RCBS version now days. A Lee factory crimp die I had for .308 Win put more crimp on one side of the case neck than the other -- you could see it. Bought another one & it did the same thing. Switched to a Dillon taper crimp die. To be fair, the Lee FCD's I have for .223 Rem & 30-06 seem to work just fine... nice concentric crimps.

[Jimla]

I started out using Hornady Grendel dies but now use a L. E. Wilson full length bushing sizer & their arbor press seater. Then, for my gas gun reloads only, I use the taper crimp seater (with seater stem removed) from a RCBS small base die set for a light taper crimp.

Not a fan of Lee stuff. Had one of their hand-held primer seater. The ram on it broke... looks like pot metal. I use a RCBS version now days. A Lee factory crimp die I had for .308 Win put more crimp on one side of the case neck than the other -- you could see it. Bought another one & it did the same thing. Switched to a Dillon taper crimp die. To be fair, the Lee FCD's I have for .223 Rem & 30-06 seem to work just fine... nice concentric crimps.

When choosing dies people might want to pick one of the same make as press they own. I have not had problems with Lee dies, but it could because I use them with top of the line lee press with lee shell holders. I have had problems with non-lee dies and had to return in the past also. In general foster and redding seam to compatible to a lee press and shell holders. If you had two Lee Factory dies fail on the same press, it could be the press or shell holder design causing the uneven pressure. This uneven pressure could explain break of a ram also.

[LR1955]

When choosing dies people might want to pick one of the same make as press they own. I have not had problems with Lee dies, but it could because I use them with top of the line lee press with lee shell holders. I have had problems with non-lee dies and had to return in the past also. In general foster and redding seam to compatible to a lee press and shell holders. If you had two Lee Factory dies fail on the same press, it could be the press or shell holder design causing the uneven pressure. This uneven pressure could explain break of a ram also.

JM:

Can't say I ever heard anyone here say that Lee equipment was 'top of the line'.

What Lee press is 'top of the line'?

LR-55

[SCJim]

I've owned several presses, only one mounted on my bench at the moment is a Lee turret. I currently load for six rifle cartridges and three pistol cartridges. I have nine of those 15 dollar turrets, each set up with its's a different cartridge die set plus one more set up with a universal depriming die, a universal seating die, a expansion mandrel die, and a collet bullet puller. Anyone who sweats the slop in a press needs to think about how much slop there is between the shellholder to the case head. As far as dies go fit and finish on a Lee is bottom of the pack but the inside of their FL sizers are cut with a through reamer, same as the high price dies. I do still keep one RCBS Rockchucker under the bench just in case I need to do some heavy duty stuff but that little Lee worked great turning 6.5 Grendel brass into .30 Grendel and 6 ARC. Made myself some .260 Remington from Lake City .308s too so one day I will probably put the RC on the club classifieds too

[Old Bob]

When choosing dies people might want to pick one of the same make as press they own. I have not had problems with Lee dies, but it could because I use them with top of the line lee press with lee shell holders. I have had problems with non-lee dies and had to return in the past also. In general foster and redding seam to compatible to a lee press and shell holders. If you had two Lee Factory dies fail on the same press, it could be the press or shell holder design causing the uneven pressure. This uneven pressure could explain break of a ram also.

Used the same shell holder for my 30-06 brass as I did for my .308 Win brass. The crimp for the .308 was non-concentric while the crimp for the 30-06 was near perfect. I don't believe it was the shell holder (RCBS #3) or the press (Rock Chucker) that were causing uneven pressure on the case which in turn caused lop-sided crimps. It was just my bad luck to get two bad Lee crimp dies.

As for as the ram on the hand-held priming tool breaking: I emailed Lee pics of the broken ram & they sent me a new one free. So far, the new ram is holding up, but then I haven't used it very much these days. The RCBS tool is the one I use all the time now. It's the one they made for using priming strips. Don't think they're making new ones anymore but they still have the strips, the strip loading tool & replacement parts if needed.

[LR1955]

I've owned several presses, only one mounted on my bench at the moment is a Lee turret. I currently load for six rifle cartridges and three pistol cartridges. I have nine of those 15 dollar turrets, each set up with its's a different cartridge die set plus one more set up with a universal depriming die, a universal seating die, a expansion mandrel die, and a collet bullet puller. Anyone who sweats the slop in a press needs to think about how much slop there is between the shellholder to the case head. As far as dies go fit and finish on a Lee is bottom of the pack but the inside of their FL sizers are cut with a through reamer, same as the high price dies. I do still keep one RCBS Rockchucker under the bench just in case I need to do some heavy duty stuff but that little Lee worked great turning 6.5 Grendel brass into .30 Grendel and 6 ARC. Made myself some .260 Remington from Lake City .308s too so one day I will probably put the RC on the club classifieds too

SCJ:

A buddy of mine from years ago used a four hold Lee turret to prepare his bench rest brass. Said it worked perfectly. I have a horror story about every single piece of Lee gear I ever bought with the exception of their ten and twenty pound casting furnaces. Those two furnaces are really good.

I bought a Lee APP press a couple months ago and every time I have used it, I have spent more time trying to get it to work than the time spent sizing brass. The brass feeding system is secured using a threaded rod and some nuts. Extremely difficult to get it aligned properly and it loosens up quickly. The plastic tub that is on top of the four tubes that feed brass is supposed to orient the brass down the tubes base first. Like any Lee product, it does, most of the time. One in ten pieces of brass are inverted which is a minor hassle clearing. The sliding system they use to grab the brass and push it over the shell holder is a absolute disaster, Cheap plastic whose jaws constantly fail to open up enough to grab the brass, or open enough not to pull it back once it is over the shell holder. I think that it is faster to size using a standard single stage press. Its good feature is in sizing cast bullets. The bullet feeding system doesn't work but it is still very fast dropping the bullet into the die by hand. Way faster than anything else I have.

I have three automatic powder measures. One never worked at all, the other two spray powder all over my reloading bench. Shoddy fitting of the rotors to the measure.

I have a Lee classic cast press. A huge amount of spring back and poorly designed linkage requiring a lot more force to size brass. I use it for pulling bullets now.

A couple of days ago I had to swap out some Lee pistol dies with Dillons. Wow -- what a difference. No comparison between them. Yes, the Lee dies worked -- except for maybe the factory crimp die which I think didn't crimp the bullets uniformly, but the brass was really scraping as they went into the dies and it required more force to size than through the Dillons.

I am impressed with the designs and innovation coming out of Lee. I am not impressed with their quality. They think they are saving us money but I think we would rather spend more for something that is easier to use and works better.

[SCJim]

Like I said if I have any heavy duty sizing to be done I can always mount the RCBS, however biggest I shoot at the moment is .308 Win and the turret works fine for that. I also keep a Lee Classic under the bench that is rigged with a base plate so I can clamp it onto a bench and use it as a range press when working on seating depth. I load 50 or so rounds and seat the bullets at max length then reseat them at the range adjusting depths, Saves components and always found powder throwing at the range a huge PITA fighting wind. As far as my sizing I pull the decapping rod on my Lees, then use either a expander mandrel or a Lee neck sizer as a follow on to get the necks where I want. Works for me and my ammo is never a problem when competing, however the wind has a habit of kicking my behind

I have a friend who bought of the 1000 dollar zero float presses. When he was showing it off to me I casually reached over and wiggled a case setting in the shellholder and asked him how much float was there. I can't repeat here what he said, but he later sold that press and used the money to buy something with more use and less hype

[Jimla]

SCJ:

I bought a Lee APP press a couple months ago and every time I have used it, I have spent more time trying to get it to work than the time spent sizing brass. The brass feeding system is secured using a threaded rod and some nuts. Extremely difficult to get it aligned properly and it loosens up quickly. The plastic tub that is on top of the four tubes that feed brass is supposed to orient the brass down the tubes base first. Like any Lee product, it does, most of the time. One in ten pieces of brass are inverted which is a minor hassle clearing. The sliding system they use to grab the brass and push it over the shell holder is a absolute disaster, Cheap plastic whose jaws constantly fail to open up enough to grab the brass, or open enough not to pull it back once it is over the shell holder. I think that it is faster to size using a standard single stage press. Its good feature is in sizing cast bullets. The bullet feeding system doesn't work but it is still very fast dropping the bullet into the die by hand. Way faster than anything else I have.

While I'm a Lee Fan don't buy a low cost lee press, like Lee APP press. I had similar problem with my first lee press a low end Progressive Pro 1000, I spent a lot of time getting it to work each reloading session, having to make many adjustments. Halfway into a reloading session I would have to fix it again. It did work reloading many thousands of pistol rounds, but as time went on it took more effort to have it work, having to make adjusts 3 or 4 times during reloading session.

[Klem]

Same here with the Lee progressive for handgun rounds. I got the Lee Load Master and wrestled with it for years. The piece that most often crunched was the plastic primer feeder. I'd buy several replacements at a time and once crunched they'd never feed 100%. Loading 9mm for mates it literally did 10's of thousands in the end but boy did it require patience and constant fiddling. It felt good the day it went in the bin.

I use a Dillon 650 now and it is the best thing since sliced bread. One thing I kept is the red plastic case feed bin. I put a piece of tape over three of the four holes and use the fourth open hole to feed cases into the Dillon single tube. 55 is right in that it feeds an inverted case every 10 or so but that's an easy fix and the lesser of two evils. By that I mean it's much faster than hand feeding every case into the tube (I haven't got round to buying their automated case feeder).

Lee's collet dies are good but you move on from everything else they sell eventually - and never look back.