Hornady Match rifle dies for general purpose, if I am working with something that would benefit from a higher grade of dies I go to Redding. RCBS has disappointed me too many times in the past, and I never buy LEE dies anymore under any circumstances. They're not the Glock of dies, they're the Hi-Point of dies.
I disagree about Lee being the Hi-Point of dies because I haven't been screwed by Lee yet. I say that with a grin and twinkle in my eye. I've been in this game of shooting and reloading for decades and have had bum products from most sources. I avoid some Lee products but have had no issues with their dies. I ain't saying it won't happen but feel safe with most makers' straight wall handgun dies. I will buy Redding steel handgun dies when I see them at stupid low closeout prices, an event that occurs rarely. They duplicate existing die sets, but I can't help myself. When time permits I prefer to use steel size dies in place of carbide one, and I enjoy versatility of having a cafeteria of choices. An example is seen in the large number of .38 spl dies in my shop. I urge all to ask for the privilege of rummaging around in gun shop junk boxes. All there is not junk.
I've got 150,000 rounds through one set of Lee 9mm dies... seems like a Glock not a Hi Point.
“There is no growth in the comfort zone.”--Jocko Willink
"You can never have too many knives." --Joe Ambercrombie
That statement is going to require some supporting evidence.Originally Posted by 358156hp
You're not the first person I've seen say that. Why do you prefer steel over carbide?
Chris
My preference for steel resize dies arises when I have time to use them and not carbide versions which eliminate lubing cases. Visualize a tapered case. 9mm is an example. When a tapered case is pushed into a carbide die, the case passes through a narrow carbide ring which is an insert cemented into the die body. After resizing by a carbide insert, the once tapered case is no longer tapered. It has been reduced to the same diameter from top to bottom.
When the same case is run into a steel die, it is reduced in diameter in such a way that the case remains tapered. Steel dies tend not to work the brass as much. Carbide dies leave a ring around the case. The ring indicates that point at which the case did not pass through the carbide ring. Some rifles chambered for pistol cartridges might have oversize chambers. In this example steel dies would be more gentle in reducing case diameter. Cast bullet shooters sometimes prefer steel dies because cast bullets almost always have a larger diameter than jacketed bullets. Many think that cases run through steel dies are not reduced in size as much. Therefore they might distort the lead bullet less.
Do I believe all of the above. Yes. But, the concern is one that purists argue about. I’m a purist with too much time on his hands, and I fret about these points. Are these points significant? No.
I know literally no one who prefers steel over carbide.
“There is no growth in the comfort zone.”--Jocko Willink
"You can never have too many knives." --Joe Ambercrombie
I'm familiar with the "ring". On the piece of brass I just checked (38 special), the brass above the ring is .015" larger than the ring. However, the ring coincides with the solid portion of the case head, so it can't be compressed further. I haven't used steel pistol dies, so I can't comment on whether or not they reduce the diameter of brass less than carbide dies, but it doesn't make sense that it would be the case since the carbide ring would (should?) be the same diameter as the steel ID of a non-carbide die. To do otherwise would be sloppy engineering IMO. I can see where not reducing the brass as much would be a benefit for cast bullet shooters though.
That leads me to wonder if a steel die could be bored slightly larger by a home hobbyist-machinist to allow for a fatter bullet (aka oversized 45cal bullets for 45 Colts with oversized throats).
That said, I'm not a good enough handgun shooter to notice a difference, so I'll be sticking with carbide dies.
Chris
I've been out of the reloading game for a LONG time, but I used Dillon carbides for all my handgun rounds, and whatever was on sale at the Gun Store I happened to be in for rifle rounds...
I failed to add that steel dies are obsolete. Before Lee started selling carbide handgun dies, from other makers the price was terrifically high. Lee devised a manufacturing method to make carbide dies inexpensive. I would never recommend buying steel over carbide. I know the difference and where this difference might possibly matter. If it did matter, I could make adjustments to compensate. Then it would not matter.
Hmmm. We started out discussing rifle dies, when did we switch over to handgun dies? The only LEE rifle die users I've met personally were the "burn 'em up" high volume AR types. I've never encountered a precision rifle type that uses LEE dies, except perhaps for a few who use the rifle version of the factory crimp die. I started out with LEE a long time ago, but now very rarely allow any of it in the house. The quality issues I had with them (yes, even with dies) has almost totally disqualified them from any consideration. I've had bad presses, powder measures, dies, shotshell reloaders, bullet moulds, and more. Still I don't bash them too hard or even very often because they have made it possible for many entry reloaders to get started, and produce usable ammo that they might not have been able to do at big name prices.
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