Breech Lock Carbide 4-Die Set (9mm Luger)

Carbide is the whole argument for pistol dies, and this set makes it cheaply. The sizing die carries a carbide ring, so straight-wall 9mm cases size without any lubricant at all, which deletes the lube and degrease steps from a five-hundred-round session. From there the layout is exactly what a progressive toolhead wants: a powder-through expanding die that bells the case mouth and lets the charge drop through the same station, a seating die that does nothing but set bullet depth, and a carbide Factory Crimp Die that applies a taper crimp while post-sizing the loaded round so it will chamber. Splitting the crimp out of the seater is the reason to buy four dies instead of three, because seating depth and crimp become independent adjustments you set once and stop touching. Breech Lock bushings let you lift a die out and drop it back without losing its setting, and Lee includes a universal shell holder, powder dipper, and load data. Lee tooling is not as finely finished as Redding or Dillon, but on pistol brass that difference is very hard to see on a target.