RCBS Vs Lee Reloading Dies?

hermiem

I've been an RCBS fan for many years and have die sets from them in all of my calibers. Over the last 2 years I've gradually purchased some Lee specialty dies like their factory crimp and bulge buster dies and have been very pleased with them. I have a .38 Special /.357 Magnum and .44 Magnum/Special (Pistol and Rifle) and decided that I'd like to have 1 set of dies for each of the 4 calibers. So I decided what the heck - I purchased full sets of Lee Carbide .44 Special/Magnum and .38 Special/Magnum dies. I am very impressed with them and actually like them better than the RCBS ones. Here's a stupid question, I'm really thinking of replacing all of my RCBS dies with Lee and then selling off the RCBS dies. Any thoughts on that idea? Sounds like a waste of money I know but I've found the Lee dies to be much more "user friendly" - much easier to adjust "on-the-fly." (Believe me I am not loaded with money but this is really my only hobby.) All of various reloading "tools" (Reloading presses, case trimmer, primer tools etc.) are RCBS, but quite frankly some of them I've been kind of disappointed in their performance. Plus their customer service Vs Lee is poor in my opinion. What I've kind of come to the conclusion is that with RCBS products part of the price is just the name that you are paying a premium for. I know the old saying of "you get what ya pay for" - but this may be an exception to that rule. Any comments or suggestions. On this?

(I've been reloading since I was about 8 years with my brother and Dad - I'm 60 now. We were not very wealthy and started out with a used (Very - LOL?!?!) Lyman "True-Line Jr" press and dies. Let's just say that reloading .30-06, .303 British and some other rifle cartridges were - well challenging to say the least! It took a lot of muscle - LOL?!?! But we got it to work - considering it was a small pistol press!)

charliemeyer007

I like my Lee carbide dies for the price, I have modified them some to work better. RCBS is good stuff too. I see no gain in swapping, you just add a collet sizer or factory crimp.

BGHillbilly

Well from an economic standpoint you might get enough out of your used RCBS dies(if they are clean and in good condition) to buy new Lee dies so you won't be looking at a lot of cost. And you may acutally get the extras cheaper than buying them as an add on.

I won't buy any new pistol dies other than Lee since they are carbide and much cheaper and the same holds true for rifle dies since you get the extras like the factory crimp and thier neck sizing die sets are much cheaper.

I've not bought any brand new RCBS dies in 20 years, but I think thier rifle die quality is or at least was much better in the long run than Lee but looking at some new manufacter RCBS dies I'm not sure that still holds true.

Lee presses, powder measure systems and scales leave much to be desired and won't buy them for personal use again.

There case prep tools are cheap enough and seems to work as well as any others I've used. I very much like the the Lee Auto Prime but have not used the current version that is supposed to 'safer'.

RCrosby

Having either one (and I have number of both) I see no reason to swap in either direction. I did contact RCBS yesterday explaining that I needed a new part for my CaseMaster. I told them that it had been damaged as a result of my own stupidity in using it for a purpose other the one it was designed to perform and offered to pay for the part plus S&H. They just asked for my mailing address and sent the part out, no charge. I've had similar service from them over the years.
By the same token I sold my RCBS powder measure once I found out that the "cheap plastic-y" Lee measure that I had was as, or more , accurate.
You pays your money and you takes your choice.

jonk

They both get the job done. That said I prefer Lee dies for several features.

1. Sliding decapping pins don't break if I make a mistake.
2. Decapping pins and rods are a lot heavier and stronger, and they are tapered so they are smoother, and they don't have flutes or a little bump where 'RCBS' is stamped, making them smoother still.
3. Powder through expanding dies for pistol are great.
4. Factory crimp dies.
5. I don't need hex wrenches or screwdrivers to change lock ring settings.
6. Money isn't wasted on making a checkered finish.
7. Clear die boxes so I can see what's inside from any angle, though to be fair RCBS includes a small label on their box.
8. No-lube-required carbide and collet dies.
9. Taper crimp dies.
10. Price.

To me all that adds up to: I only buy RCBS if I see them at a good price used at a show.

As to RCBS' customer service, I have had good luck with them with decapping pins, rods, and other small pieces. When I had to replace a broken digital scale, I was told 'our warranty on electronics is only two years.' Which I can accept, but I was furious when I PAID to fix the scale ($50, plus shipping, BOTH WAYS) and, upon getting it back, it STILL was broken- and they said 'We don't warranty repairs' and I had to pay another $70 (again, plus shipping BOTH ways!!!). For that I almost could have bought a new scale (at the time, now I could have). When I had to replace a part on my dad's rather old Lub-a-matic sizing press, they said 'We don't offer replacement parts on that anymore' and offered to SELL a new one at above retail price. Now, dad is still alive, AND still has his receipt from the 80s for the thing, but no dice. So much for 'No BS' warranty. Seems they are great about it IF the product is still in production otherwise, no. Not saying that Lee would have done any better, but I thought that this sort of problem was JUST what the warranty was for??? (Incidentally, we had a machinist fix the part- a snapped drive rod- by milling down a piece of bar stock to a hex shape for $10). Finally, one of his bullet molds warped after years of use- 'sorry, we can't fix that. No warranty service available.'

That really turned me off to RCBS. Not saying their products aren't good, and that their customer service isn't great for some things, but I always share these stories NOT to make a laundry list of complaints, but to educate the buyer as to what they are getting into- NOT a truly ironclad no bs warranty, just a 60% ironclad warranty.

shoff14

I don't think lee dies can be beat for the price, specifically pistol dies. I see absolutely no reason to be anything else but lee pistol dies. Depending on the rifle and the purpose, I will use dies other then Lee. Redding and Forester have better dies for rifles, but shooting .223 out of an AR, it doesn't matter what die is used.

Riomouse911

Looking at your post, I'm thinking that you wanted a dedicated set in each special and magnum caliber so you don't have to adjust the dies when going from special to magnum and back. I am set up that way for .45 Colt and .454 Casull now, and it makes life easier when loading. (I'm still using one set for .357/.38 and .44 spl/mags)

If your RCBS dies are in good shape, there's no real reason to dump them. I'd suggest you set them where they need to be in "magnums", and then use your second set of Lee's for the "specials" (or vice versa, your choice). That way when loading the magnums you'll know the procedures for adjusting that brand of dies, whether it's .357 or .44.

You can't lose with that set up.

RCrosby

Depending on your press (I can't do the following with my Co-Ax) you can set your dies for the shorter case, then use a spacer between the lock ring and the press when loading the longer rounds.

geeguy

Hermiem: Same issues, about the same age. I followed Charlie's advise, kept my RCBS and added Lee components. Lee stinks for a progressive machine, but they are making some very nice components for us such as you stated. Tuff to change at this point in life, but when you see a better product and innovation, you gotta make it easy on yourself. And you don't get much for used dies, so use what you have, buy what you want.

Best of luck

Ambrose

I like the Lee collet dies. I think cases last a few reloads longer when neck sized with them. The neck is squeezed against a mandrel while a conventional die squeezes the neck too small and then the expander button sizes it back out. It seems to me that works the brass more than the collet does. Most of my brass loss is from split necks. Less brass working should equal longer case life.

Navybat

I have some RCBS dies, but mostly all Lee dies. I think the RCBS dies are huge, much much larger than the Lee dies. The Lee dies work, and that's what counts--and they are a lot cheaper. AND customer support is outstanding.

When I found that the RCBS dies were more expensive and didn't give any appreciable better performance (they are dies, after all, not nuclear warheads), I replaced most of my dies with Lees. I kept some rifle dies in RCBS because it would not have been practical/economical to replace them.

Still, if I get new calibers, they are all set up with Lee gear.

Smitty500mag

I started out using the little Lee Hand Loader in the red cardboard box back around 1962 because I couldn't afford anything else. If it hadn't been for Lee there would be a lot of people that could never have afforded to start reloading. Lee is proof that an American company can build a quality product in this country that'll beat the pants off of the competition in price. I've tried other brands of equipment and there are some quality equipment out there but they are not any better than Lee's and most are not nearly as good and for the price Lee is twice the product. I won't ever buy anything else but Lee products for reloading today if for no other reason than they deserve my business. While other companies were price gouging their customers for their equipment Lee just continued to turn out quality products at the lowest price possible with the best customer service around bar none without the need to run down other companies equipment like they do Lee.

reloader44mag

I prefer lee 4 die sets for semi-auto hand gun rounds...my 2 cents

5mmgunguy

For the price you can't beat Lee. RCBS has a big name and at one time had great quality and would make almost any wildcat dies set for a fair price. Not any more.

Navybat

I think we're all agreed that Lee is a fine American company which deserves our continued business. They certainly are getting mine.