Hornady Dies, I hope I'm wrong about them

[basinman]

I have used RCBS, Lee and Hornady die sets. I get MOA or less with all of them and have had no issues with the Hornady dies. They are good for my purpose which is hunting loads.

 

[Dean2]

Getting what you pay for is relative Cost of dies is an interesting thing. I have a set of RCBS FL AND SEATING DIES FOR 308 that I bought in 1968 they were $32. A new set today is $42. Back then RCBS was pretty much the only choice in Canada. In relative terms reloading dies are FAR cheaper today than back then. I also don't think the old dies were any better made. Like I said before, Hornady isn't enough cheaper to make up for the poor QC on their dies. I agree with those that say buy Redding, RCBS or specialty like Whidden. Over 40 years the price difference is irrelevant.

 

[Wolf76]

If .005 runout or more is acceptable, hornady makes a great product.

Dies and optics are 2 very important areas to spend the money. Never regretted buying first class in either.

 

[DJ Fergus]

I'm sure that it's been done before, but I'm thinking bout putting up a thread for personal favorite on dies.

 

[Buck Buster]

I like their bullets, too - particularly the GMX. Performance on game has been perfect every time. Their loaded ammunition has been a bit spotty for me. In the Superformance line, I had some 30-06 cartridges that grouped extremely well, box after box. Then I got a couple of boxes ( same lot # on the box flap ) that shot patterns, not groups. I emailed the company at the contact address on their website and never got a response. I've never used their dies, having always had such good results with Redding & Forster dies. I haven't tried their brass, but have heard that it's pretty good. For my purposes, Hornady is a BULLET manufacturer, and a very good one. Period. I'll get other shooting & reloading supplies from sources that specialize in whatever it happens to be.

I think most of mine are RCBS, but I know I have some old Reddings but I will have to check the calibers they are for! And I am pretty sure I have some Hornady dies also! I feel that all of my loads seem to shoot at least minute of angle or better at 100 yards, so I will have to keep an eye out for something one die does possibly different ! I have never noticed anything obvious that I can think of ! Are the problems with all Hornady dies or perhaps the newer ones ? My father had most of the dies that I still use, I have bought perhaps a couple in the magnum calibers, 300 WM and 308 Norma Magnum ! I will have to see what is what ! The dies whatever brand they are for the 308 Norma can't be bad because that thing is a shooter it shoots about 2.5 " groups at 300 yards with the 178 grain AMAX bullets ! That is where I sighted it in for, so I could save most of my clicks for down range from there ! I can keep an oak leave dancing at 1300 yards with that gun and load !

 

[engineer40]

The experience I had that turned my thinking to bushing dies was with a Redding sizing die for the 30-06 Ackley. Neck run-out was excessive, so I started reading on what to do about it.

I have 1 set of Redding dies. Also had very excessive neck run out. Upon looking closer, the decapping pin/expander was way off centered. It was all over the place as I adjusted in and out. Redding has great customer support. They sent me a new expander. No luck, still have issues. Called again, they replaced the die. Still no luck. It was just as bad as the first one. I remember thinking I couldnt believe anybody actually uses Redding dies. They're horrible. BUT, obviously tons of guys love them too. Both of those Redding dies were 10x worse than any cheap Lee resizing dies I've ever used. I have a Sinclair concentricity gauge i use to measure.

Hornady dies... meh... I havent tried their match grade dies though.

 

[DJ Fergus]

I have 1 set of Redding dies. Also had very excessive neck run out. Upon looking closer, the decapping pin/expander was way off centered. It was all over the place as I adjusted in and out. Redding has great customer support. They sent me a new expander. No luck, still have issues. Called again, they replaced the die. Still no luck. It was just as bad as the first one. I remember thinking I couldnt believe anybody actually uses Redding dies. They're horrible. BUT, obviously tons of guys love them too. Both of those Redding dies were 10x worse than any cheap Lee resizing dies I've ever used. I have a Sinclair concentricity gauge i use to measure.

Hornady dies... meh... I havent tried their match grade dies though.

I've had really good results with Lee collet dies. No worries about donuts with them. I have saw fellows who want to partial size the neck with them make a bushing/ spacer to set over the case onto the shell holder that will engage the bottom of the die early as the handle is pulled down. I've never had to do that.