Hornady custom grade new dimension dies

[winmagman]

Is any one using these dies praticularly in 6.5-284.
I just got back from breaking in a new barrel, while there I had 2 rounds the would not chamber. The bullet itself seemed to be hitting something about 1/4 inch above the neck. The mark wasn't from the lands as it was one solid line about a quarter of the way around the bullet.
Well needles to say when I got home I measured every concievable place I could think of. Every thing matched the other rounds I'd loaded that chambered just fine. I was just about to start pulling my hair out when I knocked one of the problem rounds over and as it rolled across the bench I could see the bullet was out of round in the case, and not just by a little bit . So what I'm wondering is if any one else is having trouble getting concetric (sp) rounds with these dies or did I just get a bad set?
Thanks in advance
Chris

 

[Guest]

They are pure crap , I have given several sets away. The only good thing I have to say about them is that the die locking ring is great.
I strongly suggest spending the extra money and going with Redding or Froster

 

[LDO]

i concur-CRAP-go with tthe recommendation on the reddings,wilsons,forsters-my-2-dave

 

[kraky]

I'm gonna catch heck here but I have 7 sets and ALL make excellent ammo. BUT, I do have to admit that I see lots of reports here on forums of guys that didn't seem to have good luck with them. Their expander is the best in the business--smooth as butter. But you have to get it centered in the die and tighten down the lock TIGHT. If you don't have a runnout indicator (like the rcbs casemaster) it is hard to get concentricity sorted out with any brand of die. In my book ALL DIES with expanders need to get them tuned into the middle of the die. Heck, a piece of typing paper is about .003" thick--it's obvious that an expander ball can easily pull a case mouth off center that far and more if not PERFECTLY centered.
The first step is to pull the expander completely and make sure the die will make perfectly concentric ammo. Once you know this you have to put the expander back in and give it small tweaks till you get it centered. On a hornady die it's best to use a concentric piece of brass raised into the die to hold the expander perfectly in the middle as you tighten it down. I GUARANTEE that if the body of the die is perfect you CAN get the expander to work perfectly on a Hornady!!

 

[SeniorSendero]

Kraky, your in the same boat I am. I have Hornady dies for my 300 RUM and it cranks out some good stuff. It's only one set so I don't have the credentials you do.

Ronnie

 

[ppro]

I use lots of different dies and for the most part, Hornady dies work fine. Issues I have with dies apply to most all of the major brands, like slightly oversizing the necks....and to get relief from that, the Redding S-dies with bushings work fine. You can always have a custom die cut to your cartridge....even better sometimes.
Lots of good die makers around but Hornady usually gets the job done....

Paul

 

[kraky]

A while back I made up 10 test rounds with the accubond for my .308 (with hornady dies). 8 of the ten assembled at .001" runnout and less and the last 2 were at .002" and under. It just doesn't get better than that with standard (no neck turned) win brass. I own lots of dies including rcbs, redding, forester, and a couple lee. With a little tuning all make good ammo and most make great ammo. I've never had a problem (and have usually been able to match forester bench rest die performance) with my good old cheap hornady.

 

[brian b]

winmagman,
hornady,RCBS,and even redding's standard
dies are crap. I am guessing that you have
a standard neck chamber, but even with that
you can get your run out consistently at .001
with some sort of bushing die like Redding
or wilson with the proper size bushing to
minimal size your brass. with standard dies
you oversize it by taking it .015 too small
then stretching it back,sure you can get 15
or 20 out of 100 back to .001 but 15 or 20
will be at .010 and all point's inbetween
make yourself happy and order a bushing die
and you will never say hornady again and be
happy about it
B