204Ruger

edited****

Glad I stick with Redding now.


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That's a pretty frustrating experience. Not only was the warranty not honoured, but further promises also broken.
I wonder how many second hand die owners would actually chase up on warranty claims. My bet would be not too many, so I doubt they'd lose out much at all on replacements. Now they may just miss out on a few more new sales.
Shoulda stuck by their word.

Thanks Brad for making us aware of this issue

I had a similiar experience a few years ago with Hornady and their dies. After a lot of measuring, with and without the depriming rod, the dies were "swaging" the mouths of my .204 cases way too much and splitting a lot of the cases. I was comparing the measurements with a set of Forster dies I already had. I know you're wondering why buy another set of dies if I already had the Forster. I have two .204 Cooper rifles, one with a "tight" chamber, and the Forster dies weren't quite doing the job.
After a call to Hornady, explaining my situation, their tech said the dies were in spec... I asked if I could send the dies in and let them examine and measure the dies themselves. No. I bought these dies new, so they couldn't use that for an excuse. Guess I could have pressed the subject, but cut my losses and bought some Redding bushing dies. Cured all my problems, and a great company to deal with. Will Hornady get any more of my business.........I don't think so!

Brad, I am glad you are posting this on more than the one site/forum. As I said on one other, Thank you for the info on Hornady and thier policy, makes me re-think purchasing thier dies and other reloading equipment, if they are not going to stand behind them no matter who has possession of them. I know, in the past, I have never had a problem with RCBS and REDDING, even when I told them I bought a item at a yard sale on via a forum and needed a part, etc. Full replacement or repair at no cost. Too bad, for Hornady, that they will not do the same, when they advertise "life time warranty". Bill K

So are they forcing registration of dies? Or do you need to keep receipts? I mean, how are the enforcing "original purchaser" status?

to my knowledge they aren't registering dies. They simply asked me if I was the original owner and I told them honestly that I wasn't. I could have lied and probably gotten them replaced, however that's not the way I do business. If the company offers a Lifetime Warranty they should honor it regardless of who is in possession of the dies at the time of their failure. Just my 2 cents.

Trent wrote:So are they forcing registration of dies? Or do you need to keep receipts? I mean, how are the enforcing "original purchaser" status?

Agreed

Sounds a bit like the guy that buys a used car out of warranty and then wants the manufacturer to repair it for free. I returned a scope to Leupold that was 30 years old, it had a lifetime warranty on it too. They couldn't fix it because there weren't any parts available, that model had been redesigned several times during the intervening years, so they offered me a new one at cost. I took the deal.

With over 100 die sets in my inventory, I have had problems with every manufacturer's products over 50 years of loading. I had a problem with Redding dies that wouldn't thread through a T-7 press turret, they worked with me and repaired the dies, offering a new turret just to be sure, but I had identified the problem as limited to the die threads. RCBS listened to my complaint about a problem with the Pro 2000 Auto Progressive Press. They supplied a replacement part, then redesigned the part to eliminate the problem and sent me one when they were released. I bought a F.L. die from RCBS that had a burr around the shoulder vent hole, it gouged the brass. It was returned with a note and I had a new die within 10 days. I bought a Redding bushing die set for the 6mm PPC cartridge that came with a .062" decapping pin, which stuck in the .062" flash hole. A quick email and they sent me a pack of the correct .057" pins. All these manufacturers listen and respond to problems with their products, especially when it comes to honoring their warranties. Most even supply parts free of charge, even though I was the cause of the breakage and offer to pay for them. I have returned products to Hornady, from presses to brass cases and they always took care of the problem. I was the original purchaser, and I have the paperwork had they asked for it. The custom hydraulic forming and sizing dies Hornady's custom shop matched to my chamber work flawlessly. No complaints here, I believe Hornady is completely in the right to limit warranty service to the original purchaser.

Just think if they started covering every old die set that was found in a barn or swapped for at a flea market. Get a grip people, limiting a lifetime warranty to the original purchaser is a legitimate business practice.

Keith in Ga wrote:I had a similiar experience a few years ago with Hornady and their dies. After a lot of measuring, with and without the depriming rod, the dies were "swaging" the mouths of my .204 cases way too much and splitting a lot of the cases. I was comparing the measurements with a set of Forster dies I already had. I know you're wondering why buy another set of dies if I already had the Forster. I have two .204 Cooper rifles, one with a "tight" chamber, and the Forster dies weren't quite doing the job.
After a call to Hornady, explaining my situation, their tech said the dies were in spec... I asked if I could send the dies in and let them examine and measure the dies themselves. No. I bought these dies new, so they couldn't use that for an excuse. Guess I could have pressed the subject, but cut my losses and bought some Redding bushing dies. Cured all my problems, and a great company to deal with. Will Hornady get any more of my business.........I don't think so!

Common problem with chambers cut with new maximum dimensioned reamers and chambers cut with worn reamers. I have two custom barreled .204 Rugers, fired brass is not interchangeable. However the Forster die is the one with the tight base and works for both. If the Hornady die was in spec, the chamber reamer was probably worn to the minimum dimension. Problem was the rifle not Hornady.

I think you may be comparing apples to oranges with your Car out of warranty analogy. Hornady sells their dies with a lifetime warranty and always have to my knowledge. They recently made a change to include only warrantying the dies to the original purchaser. When this happened they must of decided to go retroactive with it back to the begginning of the time they started making dies. To sum it up: what use to be a true lifetime warranty has now changed to a limited type of warranty. In my opinion its wrong to sell a product represented one way and then change the warranty coverage midstream after people start buying it. Again just my 2 cents.

Wrangler John wrote:Sounds a bit like the guy that buys a used car out of warranty and then wants the manufacturer to repair it for free. I returned a scope to Leupold that was 30 years old, it had a lifetime warranty on it too. They couldn't fix it because there weren't any parts available, that model had been redesigned several times during the intervening years, so they offered me a new one at cost. I took the deal.

With over 100 die sets in my inventory, I have had problems with every manufacturer's products over 50 years of loading. I had a problem with Redding dies that wouldn't thread through a T-7 press turret, they worked with me and repaired the dies, offering a new turret just to be sure, but I had identified the problem as limited to the die threads. RCBS listened to my complaint about a problem with the Pro 2000 Auto Progressive Press. They supplied a replacement part, then redesigned the part to eliminate the problem and sent me one when they were released. I bought a F.L. die from RCBS that had a burr around the shoulder vent hole, it gouged the brass. It was returned with a note and I had a new die within 10 days. I bought a Redding bushing die set for the 6mm PPC cartridge that came with a .062" decapping pin, which stuck in the .062" flash hole. A quick email and they sent me a pack of the correct .057" pins. All these manufacturers listen and respond to problems with their products, especially when it comes to honoring their warranties. Most even supply parts free of charge, even though I was the cause of the breakage and offer to pay for them. I have returned products to Hornady, from presses to brass cases and they always took care of the problem. I was the original purchaser, and I have the paperwork had they asked for it. The custom hydraulic forming and sizing dies Hornady's custom shop matched to my chamber work flawlessly. No complaints here, I believe Hornady is completely in the right to limit warranty service to the original purchaser.

Just think if they started covering every old die set that was found in a barn or swapped for at a flea market. Get a grip people, limiting a lifetime warranty to the original purchaser is a legitimate business practice.

What exactly does the warranty card say that came with the dies? If it says "Limited Lifetime" or "Lifetime to the original purchurser" then one is out of luck. If it says "Lifetime Warranty" then Hornady should honor it.

I like Redding dies but around here RCBS die components are readly available compared to others. Hornady dies are available but the individual die components aren't. It's rare that I see Lyman dies at all anymore unless I'm at a gun show.

Dillon has never failed me with their warranty.

If they were a rusty set of dies picked up at a garage sale, understandable that they wouldn't touch them - that doesn't come under the normal wear and tear umbrella.
But a set that was only a few years old (I'm guessing) and taken care of, might come under manufacturer defect - replaceable/repairable under warranty.
But as Jim mentioned - "Limited Lifetime Warranty" - they've got you over a barrel