I'm guilty of using cheap dies but I just set up my first Hornady die. I bought the cheapest seater die (hornady) I could find just so I could seat some bullets in my 300 NM to fire form a couple of cases to send off to get a die set made. My first impression is that the price reflects the quality. Anyway, I guess that I shouldn't complain until I give it a chance. I've had good experiences with cheap dies but I really have my doubts about this Hornady set. I hope I'm wrong.
Hornady Dies, I hope I'm wrong about them
- Thread starter DJ Fergus
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lancetkenyon
Well-Known Member
I only have one set of Hornady dies. And will never own another one. They work OK after setting them up properly, but thank goodness it is for a cartridge I do not even own. Redding, Wilson, Whiddon for me. RCBS comp dies are pretty good too.
ShtrRdy
Well-Known Member
I got turned off after my first set of Hornady dies.
therifleman556
Well-Known Member
They have their place. The sets I have are for low volume calibers that are limited in factory ammo options. They shoot fine, but I'll never win any matches.
If I was running a multi thousand dollar rig competitively, then certainly not.
If I was running a multi thousand dollar rig competitively, then certainly not.
I have them in .270 Win, .300 WM, and 6.5 CM (have not used it yet), my accuracy loads have hit the mark up 1K yards, if I do my part.
I am generally a Hornady fan, and their dies have a couple of neat features. All in however, their QC is not very good and their FL and neck dies both overwork the brass. Their seating dies with the sliding collar do work quite well for 17 and 20 caliber cartridges. I have also had their sizing dies in 460 Bee and 257 Bee that did not fit the brass at all. Stamped right but wrong length entirely. I won't use their sizing dies, neck or FL, anymore unless there is absolutely no other option.
I'm a big fan of Hornady bullets, most of the time they are all I prefer to shoot. They should offer high end reloading dies & of course they do offer economy reloading dies but their economy dies doesn't appear to be as good as other companies reloading dies. I guess it's hard to be good at everything.
nicholasjohn
Well-Known Member
I like their bullets, too - particularly the GMX. Performance on game has been perfect every time. Their loaded ammunition has been a bit spotty for me. In the Superformance line, I had some 30-06 cartridges that grouped extremely well, box after box. Then I got a couple of boxes ( same lot # on the box flap ) that shot patterns, not groups. I emailed the company at the contact address on their website and never got a response. I've never used their dies, having always had such good results with Redding & Forster dies. I haven't tried their brass, but have heard that it's pretty good. For my purposes, Hornady is a BULLET manufacturer, and a very good one. Period. I'll get other shooting & reloading supplies from sources that specialize in whatever it happens to be.
This is exactly why I stress if you want consistency theres only one way, reload!
SavageHunter11
Well-Known Member
They do have a higher end set of performance dies complete with bushing neck sizer and mic'd seating die. I have one of these for my 280 Ackley after a friend who's been reloading for years recommended them to me over the Redding S series. I should note though, I'm reloading my Ackley for hunting and .5moa to sub 1moa groups and was told the Redding set was better but the Hornady set was a better value as I didn't require single hole accuracy
misterc01
Well-Known Member
Extremely happy with my Hornady dies. Might be because they are Match Grade neck sizing dies and they do not overwork my brass. My others are Lee, Forster and RCBS, all of which work fine.
