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Point man, Most manufacturers produce good dies. I like the Hornady dies because you get a bullet alignment sleeve (on the bullet seating die) with the regular set- usually reserved for the more expensive bench rest types. You can later upgrade to a micrometer stem for the seater die if you find it necessary... probably not for the 45-70 though. RCBS, Lyman, Redding, Forster... all make good dies. Since you'll be shooting in a lever gun with tubular magazine- you should roll crimp. Just set the crimp die (usually the seater die) so that the crimping shoulder of the die depresses the case mouth just slightly into the crimping groove on the bullet. Too much and it may buckle the neck just behind the mouth making for a poor neck-to-bullet contact. Too little and the bullets may be moved (while stacked on each other in the magazine) during firing of the rifle. Usually the taper crimp is not enough for securing the bullets during heavy recoil in tubular magazines. For roll crimping be sure to check and trim cases to same length- won't work right if cases of different lengths are used. Also, you may or may not need to use a neck expander die for initial bullet seating. Usually not needed for jacketed bullets that have a slight bevel at the base... for easier starting. Some lead bullets require the slight "bell" and neck expansion for proper bullet starting and seating. Good luck! The 45-70 is a great cartridge for reloading.

Message Thread:

• which loading dies for the 45-70? Point man Mar 20 2005
  • Thankyou for the info on dies Point man Mar 23 2005
  • 45-70 Dies Murphy Mar 21 2005
  • lee factory crimp die Thebear_78 Mar 21 2005
  • 45-70 George Mar 21 2005