20 Best 45 Acp Reloading Dies (2022 Updated)

I recently bought my first 308 rifle. And bought this set of 308 Hornady FL Dies. Hornady makes great dies. But I have a mixture. Some because of availability, others because of function of the die, others because of precision.

The tolerance on Hornady dies is among the best. I noticed it when I bought some once-fired mixed head stamp 308 brass. About a 1/4 of the brass were 7. 62×51 NATO not 308 head stamp. The 7. 62×51 NATO are thicker wall thickness, which can cause problems with bullet diameter.

This set of dies brings down the wall thickness on the necks of the brass, which stretches the length. I notice the amount of brass that I trimmed off was more. I don’t mix 7. 62×51 brass with 308 when reloading, the inside volume of the 7.

62×51 brass is slightly smaller. It can have an affect on pressure. Another issue with 7. 62×51 brass, some are fired in full auto rifles, they can get hot/expand and cause brass to swell to fit chamber.

The full auto chambers are often looser dimensions to assure proper ejection so this also contributes to swelling. 308 is a great cartridge, Hornady dies are a great help.

These dies work very well with jacketed bullets as they are intended to. I load mostly flat nose cast bullets, I would like to see a flat seating stem included with the seat die as is done by Hornady with their pistol caliber dies.

If you load cast bullets you will need a separate die to flare the case mouth before seating cast bullets, the Lyman M type die is the best that I have used for this purpose.

I fine tune all my dies so a light to firm cycle is obtained. As beginner the bolt wouldn’t close on 1 in 10 rds. This was because those primer holes were not cleaned enough for the proper flush seating.

Then I had the depth out of adjustment which caused me to use excessive pressure in my down cycle while sizing. This caused a small crimp on the beveled edge leading to the. 308 diameter. Again, the bolt wouldn’t close.

Today I have no problems at all with my single stage because I inspect, clean, size every length -. 002 to -. 005. Then separate into 2 categories. -. 002 to -. 003 and -. 004 to -. 005. Then lastly, after seating several rounds to Hornady reloading recommended depth put high spot on the ends of a few bullets.

Then carefully cycle them into the chamber. Bottom line is, take a little extra time to perfect your procedures. If you see a spot where the bullet is touching the rifling, increase your depth. 005 if the manual allows for it.

With my experience, at this point, all my rounds will be. 001 to. 004 difference. Again I separate into two groups. Just watch. 223 and 5. 56 reloads because if their too long they will drag on your clip.

I use 55 to 58 grain Hornady bullets and have zero problems. Of course, there is always that chance someone fell asleep at the wheel on a Monday morning and sent through a couple scraps. I’ve never had one.

I have used Lee reloading equipment for over 40 years now along with the other brands RCBS, Lyman, Pacific, Herter’s etc. I have Lee dies in most calibers and have never had them fail me or not produce good quality ammunition.

I have used the pistol does in presses that were used to make competition ammo with super results. I had a buddy pick me up an extra set of Lee 9mm Carbide dies to set up in a dedicated Loadmaster Turret so I did not have to change the adjustment on the Lee set I use in my Turret Press or Breach Lock Pro press.

The finish is just fine, like any other tool keep them lightly oiled and the tolerances are within specs. Lee offers a great deal by including a shell holder and basic load data and powder scoop for beginners and old veterans alike.

Thank you Lee for making affordable good quality tools! Do not be scared to give them a try.

Lee dies are a good value as they are less expensive than competitors and come with the required shell holder. Lee carbide dies for pistol cartridges do not require case lubrication, although, they are not as smooth and easy as titanium dies, for example.

They do sometimes have a problem when de-capping cases. It is difficult to sufficiently tighten the de capping pin and It is then necessary to hammer down the de-priming pin to eject the spent primer.

I have the. 40 Smith & Wesson set. The resizer works great. No complaints there, especially considering it doesn’t need lubricant. The expander works fine—I don’t know if it’s necessary since I chamfer my brass.

I have a bit of trouble with the Seating/Crimping Die which is most likely my inexperience. Mostly, it does far better if I seat all the bullets, then adjust the die to crimp all the cartridges as a separate step.

When I try to do both at the same time, I have a crooked bullet ever 7th or 8th cartridge.

when you are used to using rcbs and forster dies the quality of these WILL disappoint. Crimp/seater die won’t provide a solid crimp. Manufacture quality is poor with poor tolerances.

I thought I would take a chance and try these because they were on sale and I needed a set of dies for my new 9mm pistol. All my other pistol dies are RCBS carbide dies. Lee dies do not have set screws like others have on their lock rings.

I was concerned the Lee dies would not stay adjusted. So far I have not experienced any problems with the dies going out of adjustments. To date I have 600+ rounds of ammo on a Pro 2000 press. I have removed and replaced the dies in the press several times.

When I remove the dies from the press I will grip the lock rings instead of the die. The dies are a good buy and I would not hesitate to buy again.

I have several sets of lee dies, most being the 3 die pistol sets. I like them a great deal and use them every week. Depending on you application it makes good sense to pick up a roll crimp die. If my hand loading changes from providing high quality range ammo for practice to something more specialized then I might find a need to upgrade, but for now thousands of rounds into each set of dies I don’t see that coming anytime soon.

Buy them, use them and be happy. The only reason that I didn’t give these a 5 is because my last die purchase involved “new” dies with powder residue inside. These must have snuck past somebody, because they were definitely used.

I called customer service and Cabela’s made things right without a hassle. Thank you for the good customer service.

Using to convert 5. 56 to 300 Blackout. At the 300th case, the inside neck expander had worked loose and stripped the threads on attachment shaft. Have tried to order replacement parts and not buy the whole die set, So far no success.

First time using RCBS die sets. Lesson learned, every 100 cases remove decapping part and inspect. This die set comes highly recommended by many reloaders for “forming” brass conversion to 5. 56.

I bought these dies to load. 223 Remington. The dies do a great job. Just make sure to use a case lube when sizing the cases or you’ll be sorry. I use Hornady One Shot with great success and haven’t had a stuck case yet.

I’ve been reloading straight wall handgun cartridges for over 35 years. One die that comes with carbide handgun dies is a neck expanding die. This set of dies only come with a sizing die and a seat/crimp die.

When I try to place the bullet heads into the case I have a heck of a time because they don’t want to fit because the neck of the case has been sized to what seems to be the same diameter of the bullet head.

So, because I’m used to having the neck of the case expanded I also purchased a neck expanding die. Some people may disagree with expanding the neck of the case but let me tell you, by using a neck expanding die you’ll immediately be able to tell if the case has any neck cracks, which should be discarded immediately.

These particular dies give you the option of giving a roll crimp or a taper crimp when seating the bullet depending on the bullet head you use. Read the directions that come with the dies. The most difficult process is seating the bullet to the proper depth.

If you’re using a bullet head that has a cannelure the seating depth is easy to determine. If you are using a bullet head without a cannelure I recommend that you use some type of caliper type micrometer to assure the overall length.

One process I use is when setting up the dies for seating and crimping of any caliber is that I use a sized, flared, un-primed and un-powdered case and use a trial and error method to achieve proper bullet depth seating and crimp tightness.

After I’m satisfied with the results I use a kinetic bullet puller to remove the bullets (which are seated at all different depths) re-size the cases again then prime & powder the cases, place the bullet head in the case and start loading the bullets, knowing that the seat & crimp die is properly set.

I have used lots of different brands of dies; Redding, Wilson, Forster, Hornady, Lee, Lyman and RCBS. Comparing apples to apples I will pick RCBS over Lee or Hornady. RCBS dies just work, I like the decapping assembly of the RCBS much more than the Hornady.

I’ve broken several Hornady decapping assemblies but never broke an RCBS, or a Lee. I like the RCBS seater die better than the Lee or the Hornady. It has no moving parts to cause problems like the Hornady and no cheap aluminum like the Lee seater die.

The fit and finish of RCBS seems to be better than Lee. Also RCBS has excellent customer service if you ever have a problem they will send you a replacement shipped free!.

My first attempt to use the sizing and primer removal die was a disaster. It oversized the neck and the I could pull the bullets out by hand. I then thought, maybe it requires crimping the bullets in.

That crushed the cases and I had to salvage the powder, bullet and primer, and throw away the case. I finally resorted to using a universal primer remover, and then removed the assembly with the neck expander and de-primer pin, because the last time it stuck on me, I had to rip the threads on the stem to get it out of the case.

I have no problem with the bullet seater, you just have to be careful to adjust it very closely or you will crush the casing.

Tried 2 sets of the 6. 5 Creed Hornady dies. Both would fail to bump shoulder back to specs. Wouldn’t pass case gauge. Sent back to Hornady. They sent back a piece of brass and said they took off a few thousands from the base.

Case did gauge, but die still wouldn’t resize brass. Had to send back 2nd time. This time with my brass for them to try. Well, seems die was bad somehow, and they replaced and tested with my brass and was able to resize in their shop.

Got new die, and yes it will size brass back to spec. BUT it take a LOT of cam over on my press. In the mean time of all this messing about, I got a set of RCBS 6. 5 Creed dies and they work perfect.

I prefer the Hornady seating die though. But the RCBS sizing die was effortless to setup and takes hardly any cam over of press to get an acceptable bump back of shoulder and full length resize, passing case gauge.

I have Hornady dies in 3 pistol calibers, and 4 rifle calibers and this is the only set I’ve had to send back. Although, my. 224 Valkarie set of Hornady dies also takes a fair bit of cam over as well.

But didn’t have to send it back etc.

I’ve been using Lee precision dies for years and I’ve been very happy with them. When it came for me to start loading. 308 these Hornady dies were the only ones in stock that day, so I gave them a shot.

I was pleasantly shocked by the quality of these. The machine work seems very thoughtful, sharper lines and an overall smoother feel. If you’re in the market for a new die set and you haven’t given these Hornadys a shot, try them!.

It works. I haven’t had the pleasure of using many different brands. There were a couple of things that stood out to me as negative features. Compared to the old Herters Dies i have. 1. The lock ring system has got to be the worst out there.

Its held from spinning out of place with a rubber “O” ring instead of a set screw. It would not be hard to accidentally move the ring enough while changing dies and result in you having to “set it up” again the next time you go to use it.

I mean this is a cheap design. Come on guys im paying about $70 bucks to get these, I would probably pay another couple bucks for a nice lock ring, mkay? 2. I don’t like the set up for the depriming rod.

Its held in place by compression, not threads. It makes it hard to set to a specific depth if so you wanted. I will say that they seem to be nicely machined. No burrs on the threads or anything like that.

Maybe i was expecting too much but nothing about these dies made me feel like i was getting anything near a high end or even high middle. I get the low middle to low end vibe.

What can I say? I have a lot of different dies, from RCBS, Lyman, Dillon, etc. For the money, the Lee dies work great! The 444 Marlin dies do a good job from beginning to end. Although the roll crimp can be a little finicky if the cases are not trimmed to at least within a few thousand’s of each other, annealing cases properly helps, especially with Starline brass.

But I think that would be a common problem with any brand roll crimp die. I really like the Lee neck collet dies, I use them almost exclusively for my bolt rifles, along with the Dillon or Lyman seating dies for precision ammo.

Bought this a week ago and just had it come in. Got it in. 223,. 243,. 270. No matter the amount of lube I had put on and in the neck my cases would stick bad or would rip the rim off while in the resizing and decapping die cause it was would get stuck.

Wasted 4. 223 shells because they got stuck. Wasted 2. 243 shells. And 6. 270 shells. The last. 270 shell is when I had the decapping pin break. And now can’t reload my. 270. One case works the next gets stuck.

It’s a pain. I tried tuning in many ways and they still get stuck. Just gotta keep trying. They are good because they are cost effective and have the shell holder. Going to get into contact with cabelas and see if they will replace it.

Was also going to buy in 7mm rem mag if they ever get it in stock.

just bought the. 380 dies because everything else is unavailable. going to use these in a Dillon 550. these dies are not thought out to use on a progressive machine. 1- the decapper/resizer looks as good as anything else.

2- the seater combines the seating and crimp in one device. Dillon dies have those 2 functions as separate dies [which how i prefer it]. 3- this set comes with an unneeded ‘expander’ die. on the 550 that function is accomplished with the powder drop assembly.

other than the issues above, general machining and finished appearance looks good. i have yet to use them, tho.

The die set leaves a bit to be desired. Decapping/sizing die is easy to break the decapping pin if you aren’t careful. Found the Lee Decapping/Sizing die to be much better. Pin will push out the top of the die instead of breaking if you get a bad or mis-aligned case and don’t catch it.

Crimp on this set tends to be a bit off and won’t let the cartridge drop all the way down in the cartridge gauge. Replaced with a taper crimp die, problem solved.

I recently purchased these on sale and was debating getting the American series instead because they were cheaper. However, because these have the locking ring and the die case AND the free bullets, they were the better deal.

With regards to the dies themselves, they are every bit as good as I expected them to be. I have a set of Lee dies, which no one can complain about, but I wanted to try the titanium ring for the sizing/decapping die.

It works great. The flaring die is interesting because it is not a “powder-through-the-die” setup like the Lee version. This lets it be used specifically for flaring the case mouth. With space for five dies, I had room on my Hornady LNL AP Progressive Press.

Lastly, the bullet seating/taper die is again an interesting and different design. It actually allows you to customize the seating depth and crimp independently so that you can adjust one or the other as needed when switching from round nose, to flat nose to hollow point bullets.

Some posts complain that it is hard to set up, but I found it straight forward if you are patient and follow the instructions. Setting up your dies and reloading press shouldn’t be a rush job anyway.

Overall, I am extremely pleased with my purchase.

I have been using Lee dies for years and I have never had any issues with them. They turn out ammo that is just as accurate as most other brands and they cost a lot less. I have dies from serveral other manufactures and have never been able to see a real world difference with them except for competition dies and seaters, these are better but cost four to five times as much.

the only thing I don’t like about these are the O-ring lock nuts. They will work just as well but it takes longer setting them up. I have a couple sets that I purchased Hornady locking rings for on the sizing and crimp die.

that is something that I seldon change and getting it spot on does take some effort.

I was not using this die when reloading 32acp and occasionally, enough to annoy me, a round would hold the slide open a touch when going into battery. I was researching this problem and read an article about the problem I was having.

So, I got the factory crimp die, set it up and ran several hundred rounds through it. Most were pretty good but some you could feel the die work to resize that round. So far, Im happy.

I own several lee dies and when it comes to a roll crimp for reloading ammo for a revolver its tops in my book. The only draw back and its not a deal breaker I just wish Lee would make them with longer threads because with a Dillon press I have both the 550 and the 650 and the thickness of the tool heads just barely leaves enough room to tighten the lock ring.

however it is workable and I love the crimp.

This die is perfect for crimping the 327 Federal Mag reloads. The seating die works for crimping but when set up for that, bullet depth is difficult get right even with round nose bullets. So I just set the seating die above the crimp, get the perfect depth and use the Factory Crimp Die to finish.

I reload 6 calibers of rifle and handgun cartridges. All are reloaded with Lee die sets as I find they give excellent results at a nice price point. These are used on a Lee cast iron turret press – quick/easy to change calibers.

I recommend Lee products to my reloading buddies. Midsouth has great prices on your reloading needs.

After many years of having all the resources to reload, I finally got around to actually doing something with them. Note – I had another vendors “3” die sets but found them challenging to setup, make adjustments, and these are very good products and highly recommended.

My first two projects are to reload 185 grain SWC 45 ACP & 180 grain 10mm pistol ammo. I added Lee Factory Crimp 4 die sets for several reasons: 1. Experienced reloader’s recommend these die sets. 2.

The powder thru expanding die saves one position on the press. 3. Separate bullet seating & taper crimp dies My manual Dillon press only has “‘4” positions for dies, thus the powder thru the expander allows for the separate bullet seating and tapered crimp dies.

I find this much easier to initially setup each die station and make minor adjustments as needed. I am still working up loads – however based on usage thus far the finished product is very uniform & consistent.

I will probably add a Lee 38 Super Factory Crimp “4” die set in the near future.

This is the most useful lock ring on the market. No matter what dies you have in your press, you can still tighten this lock ring. Get the ones with the lock screw.

No problem except the plastic wrench which tends to bend and distort while in use…lock rings are OK

I have many dies from RCBS Lee Lyman and Redding. All perform with out any issue and my loading stations are a mix based on what I have tested to give the best results, but I have always had a soft spot for RCBS because their finsih is great.

RCBS sizing dies do not size down as far as some others, but this has never caused any issue with brass from anything outside of 40sw and is great for progressive setups because of the wider mouth. The badly bulged 40sw cases are fixed with a Redding push thru sizing die.

Many complain about the crimp/seater setup. Keep in mind that in order to get perfect uniform crimps you have to trim and measure every case and use the same brand in each run. I do not seat and crimp in the same process as I feel when using range pick brass I personally get better results in two operations.

In the end the result is the same, but the setup is easier. Add a Redding or Lyman taper crimp die for $25 to this set and you will get a lifetime of loading. Many talk about the Lee FCD, but I have yet to see an example of where this extra post sizing ring is needed if the load setup is correct.

If you are producing ammo that does need this step, your process needs adjusted to correct the actual issue. The lee collet FCD for bottle neck cases is a whole other story. Best crimp on rifle cases for severe duty you can get.

Unlike a roll crimp die however, a taper crimp can’t really crush a case if in the “operating range” of the die. If anyone is getting this result I would have RCBS confirm you have a taper crimp and not a roll crimp die.

I bought the 9mm set about a month ago. I have used it some and it seems to be consistent and easy to adjust. Even though the sizer/decapper is carbide coated I use a small amount of lube on every 5 pieces and it improves the action.

I do wish it had the 4th die with powder loading capability.

I use RCBS dies for reloading my rifle rounds, and they do a great job. Based on that experience, I decided to buy a die set to reload. 380 ACP. No matter what I try, I cannot get good results with the bullet seater/crimp die.

I either crush cases (even after trimming to ensure all are the same length) or I can’t get a consistent crimp. It may be user error, but I have read and re-read and followed and re-followed the directions to no avail.

By chance, I bought a Lee die set to reload. 40 S&W because it was the only set available in that caliber, and I was blown away by how easy it was to get a consistent, good crimp using the Lee Factory Crimp Die that comes with that set.

After that experience, I bought a Lee Factory Crimp die to supplement my RCBS. 380 ACP set and now use the RCBS seater/crimp die solely to seat bullets. I have reloaded at least 1,000 rounds using the Lee Factory Crimp die without a single crushed case.

I am also impressed with the other Lee dies. Personally, if I had to do it over again, I would not buy RCBS dies for pistol reloading and would instead choose the Lee dies.

This Small Base Rifle Die Set replaced my Hornady set. The Hornady Decapping/Sizing Die did not open the mouth of the case wide enough for the pilot for my Lyman Universal Trimmer to fit into. My Hornady Decapping/Sizing die was not for Small Base sizing and I prefer the Small Base Sizing for my AR.

Seating Die works well in my Hornady LnL Progressive. I run the Decapping/Sizing Die in a Lee Breech Lock Reloader Single Stage Press and it works very well.

Great! I purchased a load of brass at the latest show and every case needed this in order to work and they came through with flying colors. Making the proper adjustment (that’s important) it squeeze the case heads down far enough down for the Springfield Specs.

again pay attention proper adjustment is critical along w/ having enough case lube applied. Over all “It saved my bacon.

Those who reload generally know that RCBS products are of superior quality and design. Are they a good value? Yes, considering that many reloaders use RCBS tools for 10-20 yrs. So if you calculate the divide purchase price by years of service, you’ve good a pretty good deal.

RCBS also has a great “help desk” — which to me is as important as the physical product’s quality.

I have used several Lee dies and this one was no exception from what I have come to expect from Lee. No nonsense, sturdy, and quality engineering at a good price. Their carbide dies are so easy to use and come with detailed instructions for set up.

My other Lee dies have done thousands of rounds without issues and I would recommend them to anyone. I have achieved half MOA of accuracy at 300m using their die sets to size, seat and crimp. Yes, there are more expensive brands out there that also give excellent results, but for the budget conscious, give Lee dies a try.

I’m new to reloading brass cartridges, so it’s been a huge learning curve in both the purchasing and setup process. I decided to go with the Lee Classic Turret press and have no regrets. Plenty of YouTube videos on how to set everything up.

Sticking with Lee parts/equipment, I purchased the Lee Ultimate Die set in 308 and in 44 Mag. As advertised, you do not need to lube the cases before resizing. I actually did on one batch of brass as I had bought the lube based on other peoples advice.

The literature from Lee actually states that the carbide dies do not need lube, so don’t use it. Just another step in the whole process to clean the lube off of the brass before shooting it. Would I recommend the Lee Ultimate Die set to others? Absolutely! Great product at a great price.

I much prefer the Lee pistol dies over all others. They offer great performance at a great price. The powder through expander dies allow two steps for one die. On straight wall pistol cases the Lee factory crimp die works flawlessly with zero crushed cases and trimming cases to equal length is not as critical.

On bottleneck cases the factory crimp die is separate but available to purchase to compliment their 3 die sets. I use only Lee dies for all of my handgun cartridges and I highly recommend them. In my opinion you cannot find a better reloading die set for handgun cartridges than the Lee deluxe die sets.

Used these dies to process over 5,000 rounds. The seating die is starting to show some wear on the taper crimp shoulder. Because 9mm flash holes have some variance I de-cap cases separately before resizing.

On fired cases, every 20th or so, gets a bit of Unique case lube. The sizer die is in excellent condition. Clean and lube after every using on all my dies, some are over 20 yrs. old, though not all are Redding.

Spent the money on a #12 micrometer sizing plug and have not regretted it. I probably load more pistol rounds by hand than most*. Redding is right up there with Forster and Wilson. * Hand loaded; not by a machine such as Dillion.

These are top quality dies like all of Redding’s stuff. They come with a 45 Colt sizer die but it works just fine for. 460 Smith and Wesson plus you can use it for 454 Casull. I also ordered Redding’s profile crimp die because a.

460 needs a really good crimp to hold the bullets in place. I suggest you read the reloading manual and online forums before you reload this caliber because it’s a little finicky and the pressures are the same as magnum rifles.

I use Redding dies almost exclusively and have never had a problem in tens of thousands of reloads. In my opinion, Redding supplies great dies and they back up their products. On a wildcat round I sent them the sizing die and several fired cases and they custom fitted them.

Terry Mann a very satisfied customer.

I purchased the RCBS AR-series. 223/5. 56 dies. Make no mistake, RCBS makes a great product. However, brand new, out of the box, my first 5. 56 Lake City case got STUCK in the die. In 15 years of using this brand of dies (and the same case lube), I’ve never once had this happen.

I contacted RCBS, and they were willing to help only to a certain extent. The web of the case had to be in tact, I had to pay a $5 repair/shipping fee, and if the case was in too poor of shape they could do nothing.

I had a similar incident with some Hornady dies, and their response was “Give us your address, and we’ll make it right”. Like I said, RCBS makes a great product, but compare their warranty/customer service to their competitors.

Night and day difference. That experience will make me think twice on my next reloading purchase.

Bought a set of RCBS Full Length dies to go with the Rock Chucker Supreme Reloading Kit. The problem is: 1. Low Quality Allen Wrench that came with Kit. 2. Low Quality set screws on the die locking rings.

I made the mistake of using the allen wrench that came with the kit the first time I was going to set the lock screw on the die locking rings. It turned inside the set screw and messed up the shoulders.

I then got my good set of allen wrenches to set the screw on the other die. The shoulders stripped on it also. It’s going to be quite difficult to figure out the quality of the dies when the set screws are going to have to be replaced before I can ever use them.

Based on my experience with the dies, I would avoid them simply because of the poor quality of the set screws.