Hornady brass wall thickness - ended up a Lee die issue

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Re: Hornady brass wall thickness - ended up a Lee die issue

Postby Blackedout12v » Tue Jan 08, 2019 1:56 am

I already had the Hornady 450 die set, bought a Lee classic turret press and the Lee 450 die set to use together, the same time I got a 450ar to reload for, before I was only reloading for a Ruger ranch 450. Let me just say this 450ar has been a rough customer to reload for , from bullets staying seated , mags feeding correctly, achieving the right crimp, brass looking like it went through a garbage disposal. Now reading this possibly two die sets not congruent with each other. I'm going to have to measure some brass now after using the different dies and see what I have. Thanks for shedding some light on the situation, that may have taken me a while to realize. Since loading for the ar450, I have had less than stellar results from a functionality standpoint and still trying to figure it out. It's been challenging. But there's a lot of good info on this forum that is helping get me up to speed, so thanks to everyone for sharing there experiences.
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Re: Hornady brass wall thickness - ended up being a die issu

Postby shadowwalker » Tue Jan 08, 2019 3:00 am

Al in Mi wrote:I like the mods you did on the expander.

But the carbide sizer going to be a problem. The 450 isn't really straightwalled, it does have some taper to it.

At some point I had planed on modding a Forster seater die for the 450, just haven't got that far yet.


You are correct. Looks like the carbide route is out of the question for me. All well, next adventure.
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Re: Hornady brass wall thickness - ended up being a die issu

Postby shadowwalker » Tue Jan 08, 2019 3:14 am

Sweetcorn wrote:I'm glad this thread has helped out a few people with their Lee die issues :D

When I called Lee last week, the guy who answered the phone asked if I called earlier that day about my 450 dies issues, but it wasn't me. He said he had another guy call with the same issues. He transferred me to a tech guy that said he never heard of the issue. At that point i pretty much wrote it off as a loss.

By the way, my die has G8 stamped on it, so their size issues are problematic in more than just one production run.


My sizing die has C8 stamped on it. I hope Lee Precision realizes they have a serious problem here with there 450 sizing die. The only thing my sizing die is good for is a paper weight. When you can size the casing and then push a bullet in by hand, something is terribly wrong here.
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Re: Hornady brass wall thickness - ended up a Lee die issue

Postby MiHunter » Tue Jan 08, 2019 5:26 am

Hopefully more people that have issues let lee know so they can fix their mistakes. If they will. I know this is my last set of lee dies. 2nd set ive purchased in the last few years that ive replaced with a hornady or redding set. I typically dont buy to save money, lee is just what my local shop stocks most of with a bit of redding sprinkled in.
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Re: Hornady brass wall thickness - ended up a Lee die issue

Postby Blackedout12v » Tue Jan 08, 2019 8:38 am

Just checked my Lee and Hornady sizer die against each other. Both produced .474 OD cases with the die set to touch shell holder, Hornady shell holder. 3 test cases each all measure the same. My Lee die is marked G8 fwiw. One thing to note is ALL the bullets (225 ftx, 250ftx) measured were .451 - .4505 , im guessing that's not helping my situation any, maybe that's normal , but I would think they should be .452 .
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Re: Hornady brass wall thickness - ended up a Lee die issue

Postby Thom28 » Tue Jan 08, 2019 5:01 pm

MOOSE EARS wrote:I learned my lesson with the first set of Lee dies I bought 20yrs ago...JUNK


I have to whole heartily agree with MOOSE EARS. Always used RCBS dies but couldn't find a set of 38 Super dies locally. I purchased a set of Lee dies. Used them 1 time and was not happy with results. I ordered a set of RCBS dies online that same day.

Only dies I purchase now are RCBS or Hornady.
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Re: Hornady brass wall thickness - ended up a Lee die issue

Postby shadowwalker » Wed Jan 09, 2019 12:55 pm

MiHunter wrote:Both the guys i spoke to on the phone a couple weeks ago gave me the "you dont know what youre doing" attitude toward me. I wrote these dies off as well. Its unfortunate though. Guess ill stick with redding and hornady.

After reading your response and hearing about there attitude toward you...I've decided to order the Hornady die set. Think I'm going to put my Lee 450 die set on my wall of shame. That way....next time when I'm considering buying Lee Precision equipment....I'll be reminded of how a company treats a paying customer.
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Re: Hornady brass wall thickness - ended up a Lee die issue

Postby MiHunter » Wed Jan 09, 2019 6:25 pm

They did send me another which i have not received yet and i will let you all know if it works properly. I may still even use the fcd die. Ive liked them for other calibers but the sizer is junk in my set.
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Re: Hornady brass wall thickness - ended up a Lee die issue

Postby MarkBush450 » Sun Jan 20, 2019 9:09 pm

My Lee resizing die marked G8 produces .474 also. Just test 10 resized once fired case from Hornady Blk. So neck tensions is not an issue. Even better with a very small factory crimp.

I set mine to touch the press and than a 1/3 turn more in.
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Re: Hornady brass wall thickness - ended up a Lee die issue

Postby mcheney » Fri May 24, 2019 9:24 pm

Hello,
Old thread but I just found it. I am experiencing the same issue.
Lee dies and I push the 250 FTX in quite easily even with the Lee taper die set to full.
Pulled 40 bullets and resized with the Hornady, (had to remove the decapper so as not to disturb the primer :o ), then used the Lee taper on some and the Hornady taper on others.
They all seem good.
Ill contact Lee and see if they might send me a new body like they did the other guy. My sizer ends in G8 so it's not just the K series it seems.
As they are they make a VERY dangerous cartridge.
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