Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Lee pacesetter dies

Never owned or used these. Can’t find a set of 223AI dies except Lee. Good to go til I find some Redding’s?

I have several sets of lee and never had an issue.

Lee dies are just fine. I did have a couple that had a burr ring at the joint of the neck and shoulder, which came out with a couple of seconds of buffing. It will work just fine.

My philosophy is that a set of Lee PaceSetter dies, is the cost of a box of premium bullets...

RCBS dies are close to the same, along with Hornady and a host of others...

A box of bullets, you pull the trigger 20 times and its gone...

the Same $40 or $50 spent on a set of dies, will last you a life time, and when you give them to another, their life times also.

almost in ANY caliber I shoot ( which is a lot of them)... I have at least a set of Lee's and RCBS dies... and often another set, either Hornady or Redding.... each has certain features that come in handier than one of the others at times...

but if truth be told, I find myself reaching for the Lee's a lot more often than any other manufacturer....

Dies are your cheapest expense in the reloading world....

My only complaint with Lee dies is with the rubber O ring on the lock rings. I have a hard time getting them to be adjusted the same each time I put them on the press. I've replaced them with Hornady split lock rings. Problem solved.

Thanks for the input. Not a lot of choice since nothing else is available that I've found.

Lee has recently started to offer the split lock rings as well. If using a Lee breech-lock type press, the dies are very easy to switch out if you install the breech-lock bushings on the dies. You can leave them permanently installed in the bushing and swap the die out in the press in a matter of 2 or 3 seconds with no need to adjust. MUCH easier when using a single stage press. All of my dies except for .41 Mag are Lee. I really like the "powder through" charging feature of their case mouth belling die that enables me to add the powder charge while the cartridge case is in the die. When charged, I remove the case from the die, glance to verify the powder charge, and place a bullet on it before putting it into my loading block. I think using this feature is a good safety method to avoid double charges. Lee dies are what I started with, so I've stuck with them. Some people tend to disparage them, but I really don't know why.

I put another Lee lock ring on die with "O" ring up, set the die and bring top lock ring down on bottom lock ring, tighten. When you remove die, this setting allows for repeatable measurement.

I get bullets in boxes of 50 or 100 - it's much more economical