Preferred Loading Dies

Time to do some shopping. What brand of loading dies do you prefer for the following cartridges and why?

.22 Hornet (jacketed and lead) .223 Remington .375 H&H .45/70 (lead and jacketed)

Thanks for any and all replies. Good hunting! Michael

Michael -

I've owned 2 sets of Lee dies, a mistake I won't repeat. I've had one set of Hornady dies; no particular complaint, but I prefer RCBS by a good margin. Most of the die sets I've had over the past 20 years have been RCBS. I've got one set of Redding (6x.284) which I really like.

I would go with RCBS for everything you list. I might add a Lyman 'M' die to the .22 hornet set for cast bullets. For the .223, you might give the RCBS X dies a shot. I've got a set in .223 ... it does seem to cut back my case trimming quite a lot.

That's questionable. The way their 'LoadMaster' works would directly contradict your assertion. It was designed by monkeys and manufactured by the blind.

Mine just doesn't work. Period. After talking to their 'engineer' for a while, he admitted that some parts, 'just don't work that well' and 'nobody really buys that option.'

As I said, I prefer the Lee Dies to all excpt the Redding, which cost 3 times as much. We have no argument here.

I have two Autoprimes and never has either of them 'broken.' The ability to change calibers VERY quickly is nice. I bought two so I could keep one set up with the large primer rod and another with the small rod at the ready. At $12 a piece, why not? My gunshop-owner friend talked me into an RCBS hand primer. It takes fifteen minutes to change calibers; I have to use the shellholder from the press (this could be good or bad, depends upon your point of view); and I have to be careful about re-constructing the RCBS handprimer after you take it apart to change calibers, or it won't work and you can lose the parts. The RCBS primer also cost more than the two Lees combined. But, I have to admit, it will prime very large magnum cartridges that the Lee won't (ie. Weatherby .30-378 magnum) so there is a place for it in my toolbox. I use it twice a year. I use the Lees twice a week.