Learning

[Aries]

What about dies? I have Hornady lock n load and a Lee single. Does the brand of dies matter? Will any brand fit in my presses?

If your press is single stage, as far as I know you should be able to use any brand of dies. I think there are some models of Dillon progressives that may require Dillon dies, but I don't have one so don't know for sure. 7/8” x 14 threads is pretty standard, so if you can find something that says that's what your press takes, just about any brand will work.

Hornady dies and Lee presses are pretty much all standard (as far as I know) so other brands of dies should work.

 

[DRC458]

What about dies? I have Hornady lock n load and a Lee single. Does the brand of dies matter? Will any brand fit in my presses? And do die sets come with deprimer?

Your resizing die will do the depriming, or "decapping" as it is known. You can get separate, universal dies that do nothing but decap, but they're not required. @Aries is correct, 7/8" x 14 TPI is the standard. I, too, think at least some of the Dillon presses take Dillon dies specifically, but I've never used Dillon equipment.

 

[dennishoddy]

I wish all loading manuals showed pressures, but few of them do.

They won’t show pressures because of legal implications I’m thinking.

 

[dlbleak]

What about dies? I have Hornady lock n load and a Lee single. Does the brand of dies matter? Will any brand fit in my presses? And do die sets come with deprimer?

The deprimer/decapper die is the one with the pin sticking out of the bottom(order extras now) that die will take out the spent primer and resize the brass. All modern dies have the same threads.

 

[DRC458]

They won’t show pressures because of legal implications I’m thinking.

The only one I know of that still shows pressures is Lee, and their data is just a compilation from different sources. Not to mention the fact that, in the past, everybody used CUP's as unit of measure. Now, you also see PSI, BAR, and HST that I'm aware of. You talk about apples and oranges!

 

[swampratt]

Something to look at is the shell holder.
I purchased a Hornady shell holder and was going to use it with my lee press.
Yes it will work but the hole was HUGE in the Hornady shell holder vs the Lee shell holders.
The lee primer seater that most Lee presses have fits perfectly into a Lee shell holder. no side slop.

This makes seating primers quick and easy.. the large Hole Hornady would not line up the primer with the primer pocket.
That is what I noticed.
I use a Lee single stage cast iron press and Lee dies for my rifles. I have made many thousands of rounds of pistol ammo
on it also.

 

[cdschoonie]

Case trimmer, power or is hand crank good enough? Not sure about my old shoulders and elbows.

 

[Okie4570]

You wont do much case trimming on straight wall cases, either way I'd go power trimmer

 

[Cowcatcher]

Case trimmer, power or is hand crank good enough? Not sure about my old shoulders and elbows.

I have Hornadys hand crank trimmer. It came with an adapter that replaces the handcrank and you can put a drill on the trimmer.

Carbide dies need no lube. Someone else may have mentioned that.
The only Dillon proprietary dies/press I know of is the Square deal b model. All the rest are the same standard.

 

[Cowcatcher]

Do your presses accept quick change bushings on the dies? Those bushings are a real time saver once you have the die set the first time you can remove it and replace it without all the fine tuning.