Hornady New Dimension Dies

[Cast Iron]

All of my reloading dies were RCBS until a while back. I made a trip to the gun shop to buy a set of dies for 7mm STW with RCBS dies only on my mind. This is a large gun shop with about every thing you need for shooting and reloading. They had a full selection of Hornady New Dimension dies and very little in any other brand. I asked one of the employes that has worked in there for several years why few dies except Hornady, and he told me I needed to give them a try. I bought a set of the Hornady in 7mm STW and was very impressed. Since then I have only bought one set of dies (6mm) and they to are Hornady. These Hornady dies will be my choice of dies from now on.


I paid less than $40 each for the two sets of dies. I purchased a micrometer seating stem for about $25 that can be used to replace the factory seating stem, and can be changed in a few seconds to different caliber seating dies. This is the easiest and best system I have found. I take my first bullet and seat the bullet long, measure it, find out how many thousands more I need to change it, dial it down on the micrometer and it is right there.


The seating die also has a sliding sleeve that holds the bullet in alignment during the seating process.


Has any of you tried these dies? What did you think of them?

 

[tvfinak]

Other dies

Other dies

Like many I've primarily purchased RCBS dies and equipment. I do have a variety of other dies I use including Lee, Pacific, Hornady, C-H, Herter's, Weatheby, Redding, Lyman, Savage, and others. This assortment has been accumulated over some 45+ years of reloading.

The Pacific dies do indeed look good and perform well. The Lee dies are good buy for the money esp. in some of the odd calibers that the other guys charge a fortune for.

In short my brand loyality to RCBS has changed. I am now more open to other brands and shop more by price and avaliability. The Hornady dies are defintely on my "buy" list and I'll be buying them in the future.

 

[Bullelkklr]

yep

yep

I have one set for my .45 Colt that I bought at sporties - not the same 40$ as what you paid, but I really like them so far.

 

[de03x7]

I use Hornady dies for .223, 38/357 and 32ACP with no problems. A buddy was using a Dillon set for .223 in an AR and was having problems with with rounds not chambering. He was going to buy a RCBS small base die but after trying my Hornady set and not having a problem he bought a set of them. I also like the bullet aligning sleeve so I can get my fingers out of the way with those little 223s and 32s. Knock on wood I haven't pinched a finger since I started using these.

 

[marshall]

Has any of you tried these dies? What did you think of them?

I started reloading 40S&W and bought a set of Hornady dies at that time.

Once the Ruger 375 came out I figured Hornady developed the round their dies would be best suited, I've had great results and outstanding accuracy. The run-out is very small, generally less than .002 in all my rifle cartridges.

I load the following with Hornady dies:

380 Auto
9mm Luger
40 S&W
45 ACP
204 Ruger
223 Rem
243 Win
270 Win
7mm RM
30-30 Win
.308 Win
30-06 Spg
300 WM
300 RUM
338 Laupa
338 WM
375 H&H
375 Ruger

Once I started acquiring these dies and they all worked great I decided to stick with them. For the most part they have functioned perfectly.

Only once did I have a problem and it was easily solved. The C-clip that holds the collar around the seating plug was installed up side down. It has a little 90 degree bend in the clip. That bend should fit in the hole and tilt up into the die. If it's tilted down the collar can slide out. No other issues at all.

I do like the collar on the seating die, it holds the neck in alignment while the bullet is seated. The pistol dies do not require any case lube.

 

[hap]

After repeated issues with the collets and a die clearly marked .243 with a .284 neck... I will not even consider them. The grief they have given me in the mentioned .243, 25-06, 7-08, and 7x57 cartridges is too much.

Hornady remains a favorite bullet for a number of different uses/cartridges, but their dies are not for me.
art

 

[1Cor15:19]

Dies are simple tools. If they are made to the proper dimensions and of quality materials then their ease of adjustment and intuitiveness is not that big of a deal. If you are happy with Hornady dies, I'll not try to dissuade you.

I will not spell out all of the problems I have had with New Dimension dies, let it suffice to say that they were numerous problems with only a few sets of dies. It is quite possible & probable that Hornady has made significant improvements in the past 20-25 years with their dies, but I've no intentions of trying another set. There are custom dies that are better, but for my hard earned dollars I buy Redding dies with very few exceptions. Redding FL and NK sizer sets are competitively priced and their quality is second to none among production dies. My advice is to spend the extra 5-10$ one time and buy Redding, you will not be sorry that you did.

Like hap,I like Hornady. I do not intend this post to be a reflection upon any of their other fine products, most especially Hornady bullets.

 

[Cast Iron]

When I first started loading all I could buy local was RCBS. They worked and if the gun shop had of had RCBS in 7mm STW I would of bought them without a thought. I wondered all the way home if I would be pleased with the Hornady Dies. I have never tried Redding and some of the other brands that have been mentioned and am in no way saying they are not top quality. It will be hard for me to buy anything else the way the Hornady works. The ones that had a problem with Hornady dies were they the Hornady New Dimeision? Were they purchased in the last ten years?

 

[1Cor15:19]

The ones that had a problem with Hornady dies were they the Hornady New Dimeision?

Yes they were New Dimension dies. Mine were in 25/06, 270 Winchester & 44 Magnum. The rifle dies were FL dies and the 44 dies were Titanium Nitride I believe. I could be wrong about the composition of the sizing ring on the 44 die as I have since thrown them away--I know they were lube free dies and were not described as carbide by Hornady.

Were they purchased in the last ten years?

No.

 

[gunbugs]

After carrying Hornady dies for a couple years, the shop I worked at quit ordering them as we were experiencing too many returns/problems. Personal experience by some of my co-workers showed that you couldn't tighten the decapping rod collet tight enough to keep the rod from slipping upward, or being pulled downward when expanding necks. At the SHOT show, the Hornady rep said to roughen the rod with sandpaper to prevent this. A standard threaded rod would be a better answer. LOVE Hornady bullets, though.

 

[marshall]

Personal experience by some of my co-workers showed that you couldn't tighten the decapping rod collet tight enough to keep the rod from slipping upward, or being pulled downward when expanding necks.

This comment blows my mind. I have never had any issues like this with 18+ sets of Hornady dies. The collet tightens down on the rod with a 1/2" wrench. I don't put a lot of tension on the adjustment and I have never had a rod slip.

The whole desing intension with a collet is to put chuck like tension on an object. I supose if I tightened the collet with my fingers It would probably slip just like a large drill bit tightened by hand in a high torque drill. I guess there will allways be user error with any product sold to the public.

I'm happy that Gunbugs said his co-workers and not himself as I do not wish to insult him.

 

[de03x7]

After carrying Hornady dies for a couple years, the shop I worked at quit ordering them as we were experiencing too many returns/problems. Personal experience by some of my co-workers showed that you couldn't tighten the decapping rod collet tight enough to keep the rod from slipping upward, or being pulled downward when expanding necks. At the SHOT show, the Hornady rep said to roughen the rod with sandpaper to prevent this. A standard threaded rod would be a better answer. LOVE Hornady bullets, though.

This problem has been corrected with the Zip Spindle in the newer dies and the older rods can be replaced with the new ones. The replacement kit is less than $10 at Midway. The new ones will still push up without breaking the decaping pin if you hit a Berdan primed case but will stay in place with the pressure required for boxer primers.

 

[gunbugs]

Can't really insult me as I am only relating what I have seen and experienced personally. Not only the collet problems but also dimensional problems resulted in us dropping Hornady dies from our lineup. Sometimes another persons experiences will not be the same as yours, that doesn't mean they are false or without basis in fact.

 

[Smitty of the North]

Dimensional problems, YEAH.

Dimensional problems, YEAH.

I ordered Hornady New Dimension Dies for 7x57, a few years ago. They stuck cases 1 & 2, and in getting the caseS out of the die, I damaged the Decapper/Expander.

I measured the OS diameter of the necks on the two cases after I got them out and they were .002 less than sizing with my RCBS die.

I called Hornady, and told them. A very cranky feller there said that the .002 difference WASN'T a problem.

They let me send in the die for replacement, and I didn’t send the decapper/expander parts, and they didn’t give me new ones. I hadda order them OnLine, plus they NEVER gave me a clue as to why the die stuck cases. I was pretty put out for awhile, but as time passed, this has receded in importance.

I’m still using the dies. Might as well. I like to have more than one set of dies for most cartridges, if I can get them cheap at Gun Shows, or somewhere else. Sometimes I use one set for cast bullets.

Every once in awhile, when I’m seating bullets, the sleeve that is spose to align the bullet, which is why I got them in the first place, sticks. Or something in there sticks, and I’ve never figured out just why. ????

Smitty of the North

 

[Cast Iron]

As I said in my first post I only have two sets of these dies, and they have worked perfect for me so far. I have not had any of the problems that the other people have posted about. I have not had to contact customer service at Hornady for anything and hope I don't have to. If I have to use customer service for any product the way I am treated will be the deciding factor as to whether I will purchase from that company again. I am not one of those people that are looking for something for nothing, but on the other hand I want what I pay for also. I want a couple more sets of dies and when I buy them they more than likely will be Hornady dies as well.

 

[tjen]

I have Hornady New Demention FL Die sets for the 35rem/358win/270win/35whelen/44rem mag all work perfect I really like them. The 358win is the newest a special orderd and has the zip spindle it works just fine but you have to have it in a groove and tight. I would say the guy at the store was UNKNOWLEDGIBLE to be nice, it dose not take a rocket scientist to figure it out but they due take a two minute learning cruve if you have never used a zip spindle before. Their cam bullet puller die is the only on to have, I retiered my RCBS as soon as I bought the Hornady. The only other die set I have is a LEE Collet set with FL & seating dies just for the 22-hornet and its thin neck. It works great too.

I have to say never an issue and the custon order was fast and they explaned any questions I had I will use Hornady for custon dies even wildcats I am that pleased with them.