I don't have much experience loading rifle rounds and this may be a bad idea, but have you tried Hornady One Shot aerosol case lube? It can be purchased
here as well as most other places reloading supplies are sold. Although there are some negative reviews on that link with bottleneck cases, the majority of the 74 reviews are very positive and it might be at least worth a try if you haven't already.
I read about it some time ago and like to use it on straight-walled pistol cases. Though of course not needed with carbide dies on the straight walled cases, it substantially reduces the handle effort. Not a big deal if I am only loading a hundred or so, but if I am cranking out a big volume I like saving my arm not to mention it would seem to make sense that it makes things easier on the press as well.
It is really easy to apply and doesn't have to be tumbled off afterwards or anything. For bottleneck rifle, I am sure you would want to stand the cases up in a loading tray to spray them, but for straightwalled cases, I just throw a couple of large handfuls of brass on an old towel in a shallow pile, spray them, give the towel a shake to move them around some, and then put them in the casefeeder. It takes just a few seconds and is more than made up for by the smoothness of press operation and less work at the handle. If you load pistol rounds and have never tried it, before you completely blow it off as unnecessary, consider giving it a try. I've seen several people become believers after doing so.
Back to the original topic, if the One Shot doesn't work well enough, I can see a die that doesn't require case lube being worth a premium as you describe. Oh, but I would still probably use One Shot to make it easier! LOL. (No, I don't work for Hornady nor do I make anything off of One Shot sales. It's just a product I really like.)
