RCBS Cowboy Dies for .45-70 Cast Loads?

[JohndeFresno]

RCBS - bless their outstanding warranty and service - has some high end "Cowboy" dies for sale at around $50, if I recall, for the .45-70. Although they make quality stuff, are those purty dark metal and brass dies really worth the extra price for loading the larger cast rounds for the Marlin?

The claim seems to be that they are roomier inside to allow for the larger warheads, and that the cases are expanded more uniformly to save on the life of your brass. Other than the neat appearance of these somewhat expensive tools, are they really any better than the standard dies sold by that company, or by Lee, for that matter?

[O.S.O.K.]

IMHO, no.

I use standard dies. But I also use Lee's universal case mouth expander die for loading cast bullets. It bells the case mouth to allow the cast bullet to seat w/o scraping any lead off of the sides. It does this w/o expanding the case below the mouth at all.

So, if the cowboy dies also accomplish this and you don't load other calibers with lead bullets, then maybe they're worth the extra $$.

[Tycer]

IMHO, no.

I use standard dies. But I also use Lee's universal case mouth expander die for loading cast bullets. It bells the case mouth to allow the cast bullet to seat w/o scraping any lead off of the sides. It does this w/o expanding the case below the mouth at all.
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+1

[Chuck 100 yd]

I use standard RCBS dies (.45-70) and a Lyman M die to expand. I have never found a bullet that would not seat just fine in the RCBS std. seating die. Mine has enough room to handle .460 bullets and Remington brass togeather just fine.

[JohndeFresno]

I have done well with the jacketed rounds, but I'm going to proceed to various varieties of cast loads, so thanks for answers. I have one of those Lee universal case mouth expander dies and use Lee dies for this particular caliber, including a Lee crimping die; so I guess I'm good to go.

[1886]

Cowboy dies are a good idea when loading cast bullets. The sets I own work the case less than "conventional" dies and the multiple expanders that are included with the cowboy dies help when loading cast bullets of differing hardness. 1886.

[Hobie]

I use standard dies, too!