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noylj · December 7, 2010, 05:41 PM

Any dies will work.
If you want to buy a die set, buy the Lee 3-die set and a Lee taper crimp die. You can get the Lee 4-die set, but I consider the Lee Factory Crimp Die to be a special-purpose die rather than a universal die.
Put dies in bushings so you don't have to adjust. You will only have to change the seating stem and, possibly, the seating stem itself when you change bullets.
You will also buy turrets for each die set-up for the LCTP.
If you want to spend money for "optimum" dies, my choices would be:
1) Hornady New Dimension sizing die
2) The Hornady comes with the excellent Hornady powder measure. A lot of people seem unable to get the PTX (powder-through expanders) adjusted to not only expand the case but also bell the case mouth), so read the directions and learn how to set them up. You can get PTXs for lead bullets that are designed to flare/bell the case mouth even more than the standard PTX. I also used the Dillon powder measure (with the Dillon powder die and their cartridge specific "powder funnels") and the Lee Pro Auto-Disk with the Lee PTE dies. All three systems worked great.
3) RCBS Lock-Out die
4) Hornady seating die. Excellent die and you can remove the seating stem without removing the die from the press for cleaning and losing your set-up). Alternative, you can try the Lee seating dies that have the advantage that Lee will cut custom seating stems for a reasonable price and they work with Lee's bullet feeder which works pretty darn good compared to my trying to place the bullet on a case with shaky hands.
5) Lee taper crimp die or the Redding Profile Crimp Die (for roll crimps--this is THE die to have). You will probably want to have a Lee FCD for back-up in case you are having problems with case bulges and rounds not chambering.

December 7, 2010, 05:41 PM	#2
noylj Senior Member Join Date: October 21, 2007 Location: Between CA and NM Posts: 858	Any dies will work. If you want to buy a die set, buy the Lee 3-die set and a Lee taper crimp die. You can get the Lee 4-die set, but I consider the Lee Factory Crimp Die to be a special-purpose die rather than a universal die. Put dies in bushings so you don't have to adjust. You will only have to change the seating stem and, possibly, the seating stem itself when you change bullets. You will also buy turrets for each die set-up for the LCTP. If you want to spend money for "optimum" dies, my choices would be: 1) Hornady New Dimension sizing die 2) The Hornady comes with the excellent Hornady powder measure. A lot of people seem unable to get the PTX (powder-through expanders) adjusted to not only expand the case but also bell the case mouth), so read the directions and learn how to set them up. You can get PTXs for lead bullets that are designed to flare/bell the case mouth even more than the standard PTX. I also used the Dillon powder measure (with the Dillon powder die and their cartridge specific "powder funnels") and the Lee Pro Auto-Disk with the Lee PTE dies. All three systems worked great. 3) RCBS Lock-Out die 4) Hornady seating die. Excellent die and you can remove the seating stem without removing the die from the press for cleaning and losing your set-up). Alternative, you can try the Lee seating dies that have the advantage that Lee will cut custom seating stems for a reasonable price and they work with Lee's bullet feeder which works pretty darn good compared to my trying to place the bullet on a case with shaky hands. 5) Lee taper crimp die or the Redding Profile Crimp Die (for roll crimps--this is THE die to have). You will probably want to have a Lee FCD for back-up in case you are having problems with case bulges and rounds not chambering.