Just got my Dillon 550B, do I need to buy Dillon Dies?

[TMenezes]

Well I finally bit the bullet and bought a Dillon 550B. My question is do I need to replace all my Dies with Dillon Dies? That would be quite an investment as I have a ton of Lee Dies already. I'm starting off with the 45 Colt as that's my biggest shooter. Next conversion kits will be 44 spec/44 Mag, 38/357mag. I also load 458 Socom and 480 Ruger, but I don't see that Dillon has those conversions or dies. Also, do you guys buy the expensive quick change conversions or go with the cheaper versions where you use the same powder drop? This is all very complex for a guy that has never loaded on anything other than my Lee single stage......

P.S. I also posted this on the Equipment section, trying to get a fast response as I am putting together my order from Dillon right now and need to know what to add to the order ASAP

[IraqVet1982]

No you can use the Lee dies. I have multiple powder dies but use only one dropper.

[TMenezes]

Good, replacing all my dies would be expensive. I was thinking of trying just one set to see if I liked them better. Has anybody tried both the Lee dies and Dillon dies on a 550 to see if the Dillon's work better?

[grampa243]

i have a powder measure for each powder bar i have ( small; reg. and magnum.) to i only put the die i use the most in their own tool head. i change my less used dies out as needed.

P.s. a powder die for each toolhead is a good idea.

[cwheel]

Dillon die sets are great in my opinion, but not necessary to run in a 550. If you have the need to buy new die sets, sure would consider them, their carbide dies are outstanding. I like to do the crimp in the last station separate from seating, always do taper crimps, don't know how you would set it up to do a roll crimp with that die tied up for bullet seating in station 3 unless you did a seat and crimp in the same step.
Chris

[Tatume]

You may need to buy some locking rings from Dillon, but they are cheap and they ship fast. The tool head on your press is very thick, and the rather thick locking ring on most dies, especially Lee, may not allow you to adjust your dies down far enough. The Dillon rings are thin.

[TMenezes]

You know your right, I saw how thick the tool head was but it didn't occur to me that would cause an issue. Dam, it would suck to get my nice shiny new Dillon and not be able to use it. Guess I'll have to wait till it gets here and find out as I finished my order a few hours ago. Hopefully it gets here and my current dies work well with it. But if not I'll order Dillon dies asap. What is the benefit of seating and crimping in separate stations? I've always seated and crimped on the same step so just wondering what the difference is...

[TMenezes]

As far as taper crimping vs roll crimp, I've always roll crimped my revolver ammo and taper crimped my semi auto ammo. But to be honest I load tons of 45 Colt and very little 45 Acp. I enjoy shooting big bores far more than small bores, and revolvers in particular so much more than semi's that I really don't load much taper crimped ammo. I am guessing seating and crimping in separate steps would be far more important if you taper crimp than if you roll crimp but that's just a guess. Please enlighten me so I don't have to guess...

Edited for my crappy spelling....

[IraqVet1982]

Good, replacing all my dies would be expensive. I was thinking of trying just one set to see if I liked them better. Has anybody tried both the Lee dies and Dillon dies on a 550 to see if the Dillon's work better?
I have both and IMO Dillon dies are better/smoother but if you already have Lee dies and they work save your money for components. I'll probably buy my 357Sig dies from Lee because they cost 1/3 that of Dillon.

If you start reloading a new caliber try the Dillon dies at that time or buy a used set.

[tigweldit]

No need to buy new dies. I've been using a Dillon 550b for many years with no problems. You are going to love that press. The best progressive I have ever used. Dillon products are top of the line,and their warranty and customer service are legendary (no B.S.). You will have to get the shell holder plate and alignment pins, which are sold in sets, for each caliber you wish to reload. Congratulations on your purchase. I hope your as happy with yours as I am with mine. If you do have any problems,call them ASAP. You won't believe how nice and knowledgeable the support staff is. They don't make you fell stupid if (I) asked a stupid question.http://castboolits.gunloads.com/images/icons/icon6.png

[MtGun44]

No, but they are great dies for the machine, some significant difference make them faster to
load on, quicker to adjust and clean in the machine.

Bill

[dragonrider]

I don't know about a 550 as I have a 650 and I am doing something right now that I swore I would never do when I bought my GP-100. That is load 38 specials. But a very long time friend of the wife and I has a 38 that she has not shot since her husband died about 10 years ago. Recently I cleaned and checked her gun pronounced it OK to shoot and set about to load some 38's. Have had my GP for 20 years maybe 25 and have never put a 38 in it, but her shooter is strictly a 38 so here I am loading them. I have about 2000 once fired cases cases so no problem there. On to the loading part. I do not have Dillon dies in this caliber but I do have Lee's. I found I was able to use the size die just fine, I did have a 38 Dillon powder die, don't know where that came from, but the Lee seat die would not reach, so looking around the die shelf I see the Dillon 38 super dies my press came with that I have never used. Set up the 38 super seat die and it worked perfectly. Next came the crimp die and the Lee worked but I had to move the lock nut to the bottom of the die plate as not enough thread stuck out the top and it worked just fine on the bottom. After fooling around with the adjustments and the powder dropper it's all working just dandy and smoothly. So in a short time I will have enough 38 to spend a couple of happy hours with Ginger at the range this weekend. Oh I am using a 130 grain truncated cone boolit, don't remember the maker right now, and Red Dot powder as I have a lot of it. She would also like to try out a couple of my guns so I will bring the Browning High Power 9 mm and the Browning BDA 380. And My maybe my 22 LR 1890 Winchester pump gun. Should get even funner.

[imashooter2]

You know your right, I saw how thick the tool head was but it didn't occur to me that would cause an issue. Dam, it would suck to get my nice shiny new Dillon and not be able to use it. Guess I'll have to wait till it gets here and find out as I finished my order a few hours ago. Hopefully it gets here and my current dies work well with it. But if not I'll order Dillon dies asap. What is the benefit of seating and crimping in separate stations? I've always seated and crimped on the same step so just wondering what the difference is...

Just put your existing lock rings on the bottom of the tool head. Works fine.

[TXGunNut]

I used Lee and RCBS dies when I bought my 550 years ago-it's one of the first ones built. I noticed a huge improvement when I switched over to Dillon dies but I think today's dies may be more progressive-friendly. I ordered tool heads, dies and powder dies for each cartridge I loaded but used the same measure for all. I'd give it a try with your dies but don't fight it if they don't work well. Could possibly get a Dillon set for whichever cartridge you load most just to experience the difference.

[wistlepig1]

You may need to buy some locking rings from Dillon, but they are cheap and they ship fast. The tool head on your press is very thick, and the rather thick locking ring on most dies, especially Lee, may not allow you to adjust your dies down far enough. The Dillon rings are thin.

What he said about the rings. With them I have used RCBS, Lee, Herters dies. Yes I have one set of Dillion 45 acp dies and would give them a long look if I need to do a replacement. This is with a 650, not 550 for full discloser

[kweidner]

replaced all my dies in tool heads with Dillon. Costly but a good move in my opinion. Kept all rcbs and redding for single stage load development.

[Petrol & Powder]

I use a combination of dies in my 550, including Redding Pro Series, RCBS and Dillon, sometimes all on the same toolhead. The newer Dillon dies have removable center sections and that's a nice feature that allows you to clean a die or change the seating plug without upsetting to adjustment.

[Shiloh]

Enjoy your machine. I've loaded too many rounds to count. Many, many thousands of rounds.

Shiloh

[cainttype]

Dillon dies are my choice for their presses. Although not required, they are a pleasure to use and maintain.
Dillon dies have cured a lot of issues that used to be commonly encountered when loading for semi-auto handguns for many reloaders.
Seating and crimping in seperate operations is always preferrable, especially since you have the extra station just begging to be used. On taper crimps it is a necessity. On both type crimps, you normally only need to adjust your seater plug on a test load (Make sure the shellplate is EMPTY so there is no casing getting double-charged as you readjust seating depth!) without touching your crimp die.
The SOCOM conversion should be easy to piece together. A shellplate for 45 ACP, or 308 Win, and a powder funnel for a 45-70 should work fine. If using a case feeder, I think the adapter for a 300 WSM should work for your base diameter.

[fourarmed]

Probably not an issue with any of your Lee dies, but there are older pistol dies out there that have the decapping stem in the expander die instead of the FL sizer. These would not work.

[abearir]

I'm very unhappy when I use my RCBS Carbide sizer on my 550B... It leaves a bulge (unsized) about a 1/4"-3/8" up from the rim on my 45LC brass. The brass will chamber in my Win94 but not my revolver. Win chamber is a bit big and causes the bulge.

I have to single stage size prior to loading on the 550B.... :sad:

[bruce381]

You may need to buy some locking rings from Dillon, but they are cheap and they ship fast. The tool head on your press is very thick, and the rather thick locking ring on most dies, especially Lee, may not allow you to adjust your dies down far enough. The Dillon rings are thin.

+1 the die lenght is about all the trouble you may have I run a mis mosh of dies but did have to swap the lock rings around to either be right lenght or they hit each other (too wide)

[David2011]

After owning 3 550/650 presses I've never had any issue with the thickness of locking nuts. OTOH, the 1" Dillon nuts give much better side-to-side clearance compared to the standard nuts of most brands.

Dillon's sizing and decapping dies are very nice IMO. They are spring loaded to eject the primer, helping prevent pulling the primer back into the pocket with the decapping pin. Grinding an angle to the tip of any decapping pin and polishing it very smooth will help reduce the number of primers that get stuck on the pin as well.

David

[h8dirt]

In my experience (pistol ammo only), any good die set will work -- but the Dillons work best. Over time, I have replaced all of my dies with Dillon.

[TMenezes]

Well, I'll give the dies I have a shot on my Dillon (when it gets here). By the way, anybody have an idea how long it will take Brian Enos to get my press? So far haven't gotten a date of expected delivery from him.

[slughammer]

Probably not an issue with any of your Lee dies, but there are older pistol dies out there that have the decapping stem in the expander die instead of the FL sizer. These would not work.
I have 3 sets of RCBS dies that are like that. However the sizing dies have threads in the top. I called RCBS and described the problem, they sent me three decapping rods with threaded adapters so I could use them in station 1 of my press.

[TMenezes]

Ok my Dillon arrived! I really want to set it up but can't get to it for a few days. Work the next several days for 12 to 16 hours. I'm off Thursday and will put it together then. Can't wait!