Why does Hornady do this?

[Riesel]

I have bought a few sets of Lee dies, but honestly, they take second fiddle to my Redding dies. I used to load 6.5 Grendel with the Lee Pacemaker set, but I replaced them with Redding equivilants, and get a micrometer seater out of it.

The one thing I do like in Lee dies is the generic decapper, I have used it for much of my decapping. It has a small expander ball that doesn't touch my necks.

Not Really apples and apples. I have used both and Like the Lee dies for the price to reload my middle of the road hunting rifles. They do a wonderful job. Do not like the non replaceable primer pin.

 

[Fast14riot]

Just seems to be the RED reloading companies have some great ideas but manufacture to a target price point and often need massaging to get really good equipment. I like my Hornady and Lee stuff, but none of it except for my presses are factory original.

Sacrifice a bullet and chuck it in your drill with some valve lapping compound and custom fit the stem to your bullets. You could also carefully drill it out and use Devcon with a bullet as a mold. Just coat it in case lube as a release agent.

 

[atblis]

Lee is also the only company I’ve found that doesn’t make the neck ridiculously undersized.

 

[209jones]

The more Hornady stuff I can avoid, probably the better, I haven't had great luck with their stuff. They have some useful stuff, they also have some QC issues, and some stuff that is poorly designed, and some marketing policies that seem assenine. But, like a lot of things in reloading, don't know til you've tried it out.

 

[brokeasajoke]

I like my Hornady custom (I use that term lightly) pistol dies but why in the heck have a flaring die you can't take apart to clean. What are they pressed?

 

[284winner]

So, one day I jumped back into the boutique round/dumb guy pool and bought everything I needed for a 6mm ARC. As the title notes I have questions about what/why Hornady does what they do. The point is when I bought Hornady dies for the 6mm ARC the seating stem is just some kind of generic stem with a hole in it. It dents the bullets when I seat them. Hornady says if you plan to shoot high BC bullets you need to spend another $40.00 on a ELD stem. Considering the 6mm ARC is supposed to be a long range round from an AR, I would have thought that the dies would reflect that. And, not include a seating stem made for stumps.

The answer is simple... $$$. There in the business to make money first, help customers second. I've wondered that with all the cartridges designed to shoot the long Low drag bullets when I get the dies. Redding is the same way.

 

[jepp2]

Just Drill a Hole in the Stem DEEPER and "Lap" the Stem ( chucked up, in a Lathe / Drill ) with, Lapping Compound On, a High BC, Bullet.

And if this doesn't do it, bed it with Devcon.

 

[Big Mc]

So, one day I jumped back into the boutique round/dumb guy pool and bought everything I needed for a 6mm ARC. As the title notes I have questions about what/why Hornady does what they do. The point is when I bought Hornady dies for the 6mm ARC the seating stem is just some kind of generic stem with a hole in it. It dents the bullets when I seat them. Hornady says if you plan to shoot high BC bullets you need to spend another $40.00 on a ELD stem. Considering the 6mm ARC is supposed to be a long range round from an AR, I would have thought that the dies would reflect that. And, not include a seating stem made for stumps.

Buy BERGER. Tommy Mc. You get what you pay for..

 

[Bill K]

lately it seem more than one die maker, no matter the brand, the seating die leave a mark on the bullet in seating. That is the reason many have turned to lightly polishing the die interior face to smooth them up and not leave that mark/ring. Many are doing this and it matters not if it is Hornady or other brands, you can run into this unless you spend a little more money and by the custom finished dies to begin with.

 

[K22]

Perhaps because reloading equipment is not their main line of expertise or business like Redding and RCBC?

 

[spudgun]

I had the same issues with the dent at the tip of the bullet.

I took a old seating die, filled the seating die with J B weld and waited until it was starting to set up. Took a 6mm bullet and applied wax to the bullet and then seated the bullet into the brass case.

Pulled the seating die out and let it set up and removed any excess J B weld from it.

No more dents.

 

[jwv2001]

I wouldn't ever buy Redding again, solely because of their customer service. I had a stuck case in a Redding die and I called customer service. I explained the entire problem to the technician, who then blame then gun manufacturer for my problem. I had a fully loaded round stuck in the seating die. He didn't realize that I had used a Redding sizing die prior to loading the stuck round. He said they wouldn't touch it because it was a loaded round. It was my problem. I took a hacksaw and gingerly cut the case head off, boxed it up and sent it to them.
When I finally got it back, they sent a note that the die was in spec on the tight side. They said they polished it. I'm no machinist, but that's a "Kamala" lie. What they did was they made the seating die on sizing die blank. I will never buy anything from Redding again.

 

[bozo699]

That would frustrate the hell out of me. But then I look at that concentricity gauge they market and shake my head.

Isn’t that a joke?!….ive had mine for years because I don’t know anyone I hate bad enough to give it too
Wayne

 

[bozo699]

And here's why the micrometer works better for me.

Both the non-micrometer and the micrometer and about the same to adjust. But let's say I seat too far, then I need to pull the bullet and re-seat it. Having the micrometer takes me less tries as I can pretty much see how far it's adjusting, where the non-micrometer doesn't show me that. For that reason, it saves me time in the end, and if you consider that you need to pull and re-seat a bullet, that's a PITA, for me.

I have a 6.5 Creedmoor seating die from Hornady I got from someone else and it has a micrometer. It's their match grade set. This is what I have, not trying to fool anyone on price or product. This is not a bad die for free! LOL

View attachment 1589784


You can see I have several 6.5 Creedmoor dies, but 2 sets were traded for here on AS. I only have 2 sets of Lee Pacemakers, 6.5 Grendel and 300 blackout, both of which have been replaced with Redding equivilants.

One thing I do like about the Hornady seating dies is the seater portion which moves up/down, not sure why but I like the sound it makes...LOL

View attachment 1589786

I couldn’t figure out how you got a picture of my walls and loading bench,…. Then I noticed the input shaft and Hoppes and realized it wasn’t my bench as I keep the car parts and Hoppes in the shop other than that there identical hahaha

 

[Konocti's Wigwam]

I couldn’t figure out how you got a picture of my walls and loading bench,…. Then I noticed the input shaft and Hoppes and realized it wasn’t my bench as I keep the car parts and Hoppes in the shop other than that there identical hahaha

I was trying to hide the mess. I'm rebuilding a T5 transmissions for a '46 Chevy Pickup on the bench in the middle of all my reloading equipment.

You're right, I do have a bottle of Hoppes, but I tend to use Break Free CLP most of the time, but it doesn't hurt to use Hoppes every once and a while.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

To be truthful, I have had the worst luck with Forster seating plugs fitting the bullet’s shape.

 

[FNSafari]

IMO if you want good bullet seating dies buy LE Wilson if you use an arbor press or Redding or Forster if you use a bench mounted press. There are other alternatives from custom die makers such as Neal Jones and others.

 

[3Ackleys]

So, one day I jumped back into the boutique round/dumb guy pool and bought everything I needed for a 6mm ARC. As the title notes I have questions about what/why Hornady does what they do. The point is when I bought Hornady dies for the 6mm ARC the seating stem is just some kind of generic stem with a hole in it. It dents the bullets when I seat them. Hornady says if you plan to shoot high BC bullets you need to spend another $40.00 on a ELD stem. Considering the 6mm ARC is supposed to be a long range round from an AR, I would have thought that the dies would reflect that. And, not include a seating stem made for stumps.

$40? They are $14.99 on Midway.

Hornady Custom Grade New Dimension Die Seater Stem 243 Cal, 6mm 110

The Hornady Custom Grade New Dimension Die Seater Stem is the perfect addition for the reloader utilizing specialty Hornady bullets like the popular FTX...

www.midwayusa.com

If you call Hornady they may send you one...

 

[Chilly807]

Does Lee offer a micrometer for their seating dies?

I don't think they do. The dead length seater die that comes in the Pacesetter 3 die sets is still pretty darn good IMO. I have the top of mine marked off in 10 thou depth increments so I can index it pretty easily.

I lapped and polished the cup on the seater plug, no more marks on bullets. I use dummy rounds to set the seater die since I load several different 223 bullets. A slight tweak one way or another and it's dead on.

I have a 223 Pacesetter set that I paid a whole $50 CDN for a couple of years ago that's been very good value. The full length sizing die is better than a Forster 223 die I bought thinking it would be a step up from the Lee.

As someone else mentioned, the Lee dies don't seem to undersize the neck as much as others do. I don't recall the last time I had a split neck on a 223 case.

If there was one improvement I could suggest, it would be getting rid of the O-ring and loose lock ring on the sizing die. I swapped mine out for a Forster split lock ring so I don't have to fiddle with setting the lock ring each time I use it. Lee makes a similar ring now, but I had a local source for the Forster ones.

As for the one piece decapping/expander rod, Lee tells you to use it to pound a stuck case out of the sizing die if you stick one. Well, I stuck a 223 case about a year ago.. and figured I'd try their remedy. It worked and did no damage to the die or decapping/expander rod.

I'm not a Lee fanboy, but some of their products are quite good. My reloading bench has a lot of different colours on it to take advantage of the high points from each different maker.

 

[sandwarrior]

$40? They are $14.99 on Midway.

Hornady Custom Grade New Dimension Die Seater Stem 243 Cal, 6mm 110

The Hornady Custom Grade New Dimension Die Seater Stem is the perfect addition for the reloader utilizing specialty Hornady bullets like the popular FTX...

www.midwayusa.com

If you call Hornady they may send you one...

Thank you, I did not see that.