a better die set for 450/400 3" NE?

[matt85]

i currently have a set of hornady dies for 450/400 3" NE and to put it simply... they suck! the full length sizer likes to dent brass and thats only when its not falling apart. the seating die is "ok" but you have to be careful cause it also likes to crush brass.

where can i find a better die set for this cartridge?

according to Midway, RCBS makes a set but ive never seen it in stock and RCBS is vague on its website.

thanks!
-Matt

 

[AkMike]

I've never had problems with any Hornady dies. The dents are usually from too much lube on the case. Very little is needed.

I just did a quick check and Buffalo Arms has CH4D dies ready to go. They're very good quality also.

 

[matt85]

the die itself falls apart 1 in 3 uses. the method they use to hold the expander plug at correct height is poor and the plug and rod are easily pulled out of the die when extracting the cartridge from the die. this can be fixed by placing some vice grips on the piece of the threaded rod that comes out the top. however, I really don't like having to rig a $80 die set to just barely work.

as for the dents, at first I thought it was too much lube as well. however even after I cleaned all the lube out (I use CLP), I still find it to cause dents. I have never had a problem with my case lubing method with any other die set.

thanks for the heads up on the CH4D dies, I will order the set and give it a try!

-matt

 

[hunteratheart]

Matt,
I use the RCBS set for my 450/400 and really like it. I have ordered 2 different Hornady dies sets for various calibers in the past and absolutely hate them. Cheap pieces of junk. As CH4D dies were mentioned, just ordered a set for my 500 NE and love that as well. Price is 2.5Xs Hornady and on par with the RCBS Safari grade dies but worth it in my opinion.

 

[matt85]

instead of buying from buffalo arms, i contacted CH4D directly over the phone. Dave is a very nice guy and very knowledgeable. they have a die set aswell as a neck sizer in stock and i will be ordering directly from them.

-matt

 

[matt85]

i didnt have any luck with th CH4D dies. the neck sizer eats brass if your not extremely carefull and the seating/crimping die doesnt reall crimp... it sizes the neck down over the bullet. this might work in theory but in reality it tends to damage the bullets and doesnt hold them in very well. if those problems werent enough, when i reproduced the load that i was using with decent success it no longer regulated. im sending them back and requesting a refund.

next try will be RCBS dies... heres hoping those work out!

-matt

 

[hunteratheart]

M

i didnt have any luck with th CH4D dies. the neck sizer eats brass if your not extremely carefull and the seating/crimping die doesnt reall crimp... it sizes the neck down over the bullet. this might work in theory but in reality it tends to damage the bullets and doesnt hold them in very well. if those problems werent enough, when i reproduced the load that i was using with decent success it no longer regulated. im sending them back and requesting a refund.

next try will be RCBS dies... heres hoping those work out!

-matt

Matt,
See if Dave is willing to look at the dies by sending him 2 or 3 spent brass to work with. They are usually willing to work it out if the possibility exist of a problem on the manufacture side. Hate to see you go back to Hornady!

 

[matt85]

ive already sent the CH4D dies back with a letter requesting a refund. ill keep the CH4D neck sizer since its the only neck sizer I can find for the cartridge. I don't like the method the CH4D dies use to crimp cartridges so even if he was able to fix the problems I still wouldn't want to keep the seating die.

I put an order in for a set of RCBS dies, ive heard good things about these so I hope they work out for me.

-matt

 

[hunteratheart]

ive already sent the CH4D dies back with a letter requesting a refund. ill keep the CH4D neck sizer since its the only neck sizer I can find for the cartridge. I don't like the method the CH4D dies use to crimp cartridges so even if he was able to fix the problems I still wouldn't want to keep the seating die.

I put an order in for a set of RCBS dies, ive heard good things about these so I hope they work out for me.

-matt

Is your 450/400 a double or magazine bolt gun? Wondering why you're crimping unless it's a magazine bolt gun.

 

[enysse]

Matt is shooting a double in a Sabatti.

 

[hunteratheart]

Absolutely no reason to crimp then

Matt is shooting a double in a Sabatti.

 

[matt85]

ive gotten in this argument many times with people. ive had a bad experience while hunting using uncrimped cartridges (the bullets got pushed into the cases) and now i crimp all cartridges. aside from that, i reuse my brass many many times and heavily used brass will not reliably hold a bullet without a crimp. i suppose i could crimp some and not others but i would simply prefer to use the exact same load all the time.

-matt

 

[hunteratheart]

Just my personal experience which seems different from yours, but I have big bore brass I've loaded atleast 10 times now and still have no issue with. Never crimped my 450/400 and presently not crimping my 500 either although the most any of that brass has been reloaded at this point is 3 times (for the 500 NE that is).
With the doubles, I just don't experience the movement.
Now mags where a cartridge goes thru 3 or 4 heavy loads before it's time to be chambered...different story.
Anyway, personal preference it is and good luck.

 

[Glenn Slaven]

I know this is an old thread, but I am going to revive it I guess. I thought I was the only one that had problems with Hornady dies. I have them for my 9.3x74 and .458 Lott. Stupid expander keeps falling off, the adjustment rod thing, comes out, and the decapping pin is not dead center. You would say send it back....but I just got it back from Hornady and that is how they sent it. I was looking for a set of dies that are not Hornady for the .450/400. It looks like RCBS will be the way to go. I am not dealing with Hornady dies in the future.

 

[tarbe]

Interesting....I have had very good service from Hornady dies, though I must admit I am a newby Hornady die user.

Between 470 Nitro, 450/400 Nitro and 458 Lott I have loaded just shy of 1,000 rounds of ammo in the past 18 months without a hitch (edit: 934 to be exact).

Now that new set of Redding 450 Dakota dies? Grrrrrrrrr...they want to gall the brass even with more lube on them than my RCBS dies require. In fact, I added more lube to eliminate galling and started getting dents from too much lube and they were still galling!

YMMV

 

[Glenn Slaven]

I found if I tighten the living crap out of that top collet it works much better. I just did some .458 Lott and had almost no problems at all.

Seems like 20% of my reloading time is fixing stuff I jack up. Lol

 

[Christopher Kennedy]

Time for me to re-resurrect this thread. I am looking to do some reloading 450-400 Nitro Express 3", and am looking at Hornady. I’ve had trouble-free reloading with my .458 Lott and .375 H&H (though I had terrible problems with Lee). RCBS dies are almost twice as much, and I have found them comparable to Hornady in every respect.

 

[IvW]

Never had any issues with RCBS dies in all my calibers. . I do have a Redding die for 375 H&H AI not used yet

 

[tarbe]

Time for me to re-resurrect this thread. I am looking to do some reloading 450-400 Nitro Express 3", and am looking at Hornady. I’ve had trouble-free reloading with my .458 Lott and .375 H&H (though I had terrible problems with Lee). RCBS dies are almost twice as much, and I have found them comparable to Hornady in every respect.

As stated above, I have had good results from a number of Hornady die sets, including 450-400 NE.

Keep the decapper assembly VERY tight and don't over-lube and the issues mentioned earlier in the thread should be non-existent.

 

[Glenn Slaven]

Maybe someone can help me then. When I resize me brass in Hornady dies, it makes it so that it no longer chambers in my Ruger #1. Factory ammo works just fine. It is not OAL, but the shoulder is weird.