Preferred 500 Linebaugh Dies

[AxeHandle]

RCBS three die set.... Hornady four die set
Which do we prefer and why?

[iwsbull]

Hornady as that was the only ones I could find. I will say that I do get some bullet pull as the neck tension is not as great as I would like.

[potatojudge]

I only have the Hornady dies

That said, I’ve had more issues with Hornady dies than other brands. Mostly asking them to load for tight chambers where tolerances didn’t quite match up.

[AxeHandle]

Loaned out the Hornady and RCBS 500L die sets today.. Perhaps we'll get some good first hand comparisons soon. FWIW looks like the Hornady four die set has a dedicated seat and a dedicated crimp die. The RCBS set is the standard three die set with the seat and crimp die being the same die.

[mike454]

might as well throw in the Lee set too if you are comparing.

[desertminer]

I have seen that some folks had issues with the Hornady dies not crimping well enough thus allowing bullets to jump crimp, but I have also seen others say that was an issue with the earlier dies and that they have since corrected this. I have a set of each (Hornady and RCBS) and am just working to get my reloading equipment set up and am planning on testing each as well.

[iwsbull]

I bought my set of Hornady dies from Midway less than 6 months ago so not sure if all the kinks are out yet. Moderate HS6 loads with a 450 and 480 grain bullet pulled some and the H110 loads pulled noticeably more. None of them pulled enough to lock it up ( BFR revolver), that being said the brass is new to only being loaded once or twice.

[lar4570]

I have the RCBS set and have not had any problems with bullet's pulling out of the crimp.

[iwsbull]

If they ever make another run of RCBS dies I may have check into them.

[mgrau]

When I got my 500 a bit more than 20 years ago, I spent the extra money and waited about 4 months to get the carbide dies that RCBS offers as special order. I still got them long before the finished revolver.
The resizing die is larger diameter to allow for the carbide ring pressed into it. This means that the threaded adapter in my rockchucker has to be changed for this die but it was/is more than worth the extra money spent so that I don't have to lube cases and then clean them again.

Mat

[Deleted]

Many thanks to Stan. I bought a set of C&H 500 Linebaugh dies because none of the other dies are available right now. I had a problem and Stan graciously let me borrow both sets to try and figure out the problem. Turns out C&H makes two different sizer dies for 500 Linebaugh. 1 is for using brass made from 348 winchester brass and the other is what they call the thin brass sizer, intended for Starline 500 Linebaugh brass. If anybody is looking at the C&H dies, they are a good set and gave me my best group with my 500 of the 3 sets. They are $192 with shipping and are actually stocked without having to be custom ordered.

[bigbrowndog]

Good info all around,....I have the Hornady and do deal with bullet pull, perhaps a new set should be tried.

Trapr

[bushog]

RCBS carbide.

Rare as hen's teeth on the secondary market but they can be found.

[lar4570]

Sept 4, 2021 18:59:07 GMT -5 bigbrowndog said:

Good info all around,....I have the Hornady and do deal with bullet pull, perhaps a new set should be tried.

Trapr

Is the problem with Hornady's dies not being sized down enough, or is the expander expanding too much? If it's being expanded too much, couldn't you just put the plug in a drill and sand it down some? Or I wonder if NOE makes an expander that would work? I have NOE expanders in several sizes for my 30-06 cast bullets and they work great.

[bigbrowndog]

The Hornady expander is not able to be taken down or apart, it’s a solid piece.

Trapr