The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

...or decap separately with a universal decapping die for about a tenner.

ovenpaa wrote:

ANDY T wrote:Hi
I have just snapped my pin so looks like i will have to buy a new die any recommendations as to what would be the best die to go for that want cause me any problems
Andy

You mean the pin that ejects the primer? I have some spares if you need one. I would stop with Forster myself.

Thanks
But Im of to my gun shop for a new die, will the cases i have done be ok to shoot.
Andy

Andy,

I'm probably going to get roasted for this..........

Lee dies. There will be calls of "They are cheap and nasty, difficult to use, blah, blah, blah......." But, I believe, nothing beats them in turning out fantastic ammunition.

In the pistol days I always used RCBS, purely because that's what my local shop stocked. When I started seriously with rifles, I again used RCBS. However, I had problems when looking for .38-55 RCBS dies. CAS was still in it's infancy so very few companys made dies for the old western calibres.

Fast forward to Reigs Gun Shop on South Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando. Got talking with the propriator whilst looking for dies. He suggested Lee and I turned my nose up. He gave that smile that old fellas give someone when they are about to teach them.....

Paraphrased; "They may not look pretty, they come in a cheap box with other cheap things like the dipper, but, they guarantee the best internal finish of any manufactured die and guarantee to make the most accurate ammunition, with less run out than any other die maker."

"So? Anyone could make those claims" Now this is the bit that first convinced me to try them...... "Now this is the US where you can sue anyone because you tripped over your own shoes laces and get millions. Lee's competition took Lee at their word and measured, tested, measured again and compared them to their own. Lee didn't get sued. Reloading is huge in the US and billions of dollars are at stake. Not only did Lee not get sued, the other makers shut up because Lee's claims are true. In fact, some ammo makers use Lee dies in their commercial machines."

Some of Lee's stuff is crap. Their "perfect" powder measure and scales, I do not like or trust. Other Lee kit is outstanding like their hand and cast presses or autoprime. But their dies, really are the best in the industry for turning out ammunition. They'll not win a beauty contest or ease of use competition, but once learned and mastered, you'll not go back to any other.......

ANDY T wrote:Thanks
But Im of to my gun shop for a new die, will the cases i have done be ok to shoot.
Andy

Yes they will be fine to shoot with.

Sim G wrote:Andy,

I'm probably going to get roasted for this..........

There's a lot to be said for the collet concept (sizing the inside against a mandrel), and plenty of [highly experienced] people who favour the Lee collet dies over any other. In fact, I'd been thinking of starting a thread to talk about about collet vs bushing neck dies at some point.

I've heard of adjusting neck tension by grinding the mandrel, but is there any way to adjust how much of the neck gets sized?

I'd love to see a Redding collet die with sliding alignment whatsit - are Lee the only ones who make collet dies?

..

Sim G wrote:Andy,

I'm probably going to get roasted for this..........

Lee dies. There will be calls of "They are cheap and nasty, difficult to use, blah, blah, blah......." But, I believe, nothing beats them in turning out fantastic ammunition.

In the pistol days I always used RCBS, purely because that's what my local shop stocked. When I started seriously with rifles, I again used RCBS. However, I had problems when looking for .38-55 RCBS dies. CAS was still in it's infancy so very few companys made dies for the old western calibres.

Fast forward to Reigs Gun Shop on South Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando. Got talking with the propriator whilst looking for dies. He suggested Lee and I turned my nose up. He gave that smile that old fellas give someone when they are about to teach them.....

Paraphrased; "They may not look pretty, they come in a cheap box with other cheap things like the dipper, but, they guarantee the best internal finish of any manufactured die and guarantee to make the most accurate ammunition, with less run out than any other die maker."

I have a Lee Challenger press with a Lee bullet seater permanently set up on a corner of the bench for building '600m plinking' rounds for my AI. That cheap press and die never fails to produce some of the most consistent ammunition I have ever built. The press and a set of .308 dies cost under GBP20 second hand. A far cry from the GBP240ish I have just stumped up for a set of Redding does in 6.5-284

rox wrote:

Sim G wrote:Andy,

I'm probably going to get roasted for this..........

There's a lot to be said for the collet concept (sizing the inside against a mandrel), and plenty of [highly experienced] people who favour the Lee collet dies over any other. In fact, I'd been thinking of starting a thread to talk about about collet vs bushing neck dies at some point.

I've heard of adjusting neck tension by grinding the mandrel, but is there any way to adjust how much of the neck gets sized?

I'd love to see a Redding collet die with sliding alignment whatsit - are Lee the only ones who make collet dies?

..

Get is started, it will be interesting to see what people think.

ovenpaa wrote: A far cry from the GBP240ish I have just stumped up for a set of Redding does in 6.5-284

Crying out loud Dave!!! That's ten sets of Lee dies! And, they offer a custom die service for about 100 quid.

ovenpaa wrote:Get is started, it will be interesting to see what people think.

Maybe it's better that we never know that our GBP 200+ die sets are no better (or worse still, worse) than the 20 quid Lee offering.

..

Sim G wrote:Crying out loud Dave!!! That's ten sets of Lee dies! And, they offer a custom die service for about 100 quid.

I've not used the service, but the Lee site says $60 (presumably plus postage) for custom set comprising a neck sizing die and bullet seater die. That can't be much more than their off-the-shelf dies cost here!