Non-Dillon dies in 550B?

[Aldeer]

Dillon says to work smoothly with the 550B, dies should have a flared mouth for easy case entry. Looking at the Lee and RCBS dies I've got, they are flared some but I have no idea how much is required. Have any of you experienced problems using Lee or RCBS dies with the 550B?

[felix]

Depends on how fast you want to load, and your patience when loading slowly. Go for WIDE mouth dies on the 550. Dillon dies work with a hiccup only once in a while, like once out of 200 fully loaded rounds. It has to do with how straight the cases stand in the center of the plate hole. ... felix

[Denver]

I have the Dillon 550 and have never used their dies in it. I've used RCBS and Lee with no problem. Just used what I already had. :-D

[Mugs]

I use RCBS dies in my 550 to load 30 carb. No problems.
Mugs

[straightshooter1]

Dillon's are flared a bit more, but I never bothered to measure to see how much. I have used many other mfg'ers dies in my 550s with no problem. The idea of the flare is that the casing will always enter the die, never hit the rim. If you make sure the shell plate is completely in place before you work the handle, you should never have a problem. This can happen when you are trying to load real fast with smaller casings like the 9mm and 38 Super. I suppose it could happen with any caliber, but not if you pay attention.

Happy 550 user since 1987.

Bob

[376Steyr]

I did have trouble with an early version of a non-Dillon carbide die when I first got my 550B in 1989. It wasn't flared enough at the entry of the sizing ring and a case mouth would sometimes hang up on it, stopping everything until I lowered the ram. Of course every time I raised and lowered the ram a charge of powder dropped at Station 2, so eventually...

Do your current dies have enough flare? Just try them and see, going REALLY SLOW until you have confidence in them. If they give you trouble, replace them with Dillons. If you're thinking about saving a few bucks by not buying Dillon dies
for a new caliber, I strongly recommend you reconsider.

One nifty feature of the Dillon pistol dies is the quick-removable seating stem that lets you clean out the build up of lead and lube from the seater without removing the die from the toolhead or losing its adjustment. You'll soon appreciate this if you start loading lots of 38 wadcutters.

[broomhandle]

Hi Sir,

I have Lee, Lyman & Hornaday & RCBS dies. I can load at about 400 cases per hour.
The Dillon dies are nice, but are they worth the extra money?

My pal has all Dillon dies, I see no real improvment in speed or quality of the shells made.

Be well,
broomhandle

[Shepherd2]

Your Lee and RCBS dies should work fine in the 550B. I use them and Hornaday dies in mine with no problems. Like Broomhandle I load about 400 rounds per hour which is a leisurely pace. I don't get much build up of lube or lead in my seating dies.

[ebner glocken]

I use a 550B. The dillion dies are nice but unfortunatly don't make them in very many calibers. The last time I bothered to check I loaded for over 25 headstamps and have probably 5 different brands of dies. No problems here with any of them although I don't worry about setting speed records while loading. Yes, the dillion dies do tend to be a bit more speedy due to the flared die mouth.

[broomhandle]

Hi Fellows,

Please use caution with the die conversion sets that Dillon sells.

They will sell you a kit for 45ACP,30-06, 8 mm and others, in reality, it is the same set with diffrent stock numbers.

This is so with many other cases also.

Please open a book and see if you really need a conversion kit.

I use my 9 mm set for 9 mm, 9 mm Largo, 7.63x25 Mauser, 7.62x25 Tokorov and S&W 40 cal.

My pal has found about 6 others by switching pins out.

Be safe,
broom:drinks:

[KYCaster]

The huge radius on the Dillon sizing dies was origionally to compensate for sloppy indexing on the older machines, and they're still made that way even though the newer machines work fine with other brands of dies.

I know several people who have had problems with ammo that fails to chamber because the Dillon die does not size the case all the way to the rim. The problem is mainly with .40S&W that has the "Glock bulge" and .38Super that has been loaded to "IPSC major". Changing to a Lee sizing die always solves the problem.

Another thing I've noticed is Dillon's .45ACP dies have some really funky dimensions.
They size the case ten thou. smaller in dia. than most other dies, so when a .452 dia. bullet is seated, it leaves a noticable bulge at the base of the bullet. It seldom causes a problem, but I have seen a couple of guns that had erratic feeding because of this condition. Changed to a Lee sizing die and the problem disappeared. I know one commercial caster who sized his 45's to .450 to compensate for it. The result was a lot of leading and poor accuracy, but they fed without a hitch.

Jerry

[j4570]

I have only one set of Dillon dies (223). They work fine.

However, I won't buy another set, especially pistol. I can buy RCBS which comes with an expander and the Dillon Seat die which has the previously mentioned removable insert seating stem to clean the lube/lead out for the same price as the Dillons. That way, should I choose to load that caliber single stage in the future, I have an expander. The Dillon uses a special powder thru expander funnel on the powder measure, elminating the use of an expander die in the typical 3 die pistol set. Also, by purchasing the Dillon seater, you can remove the seating stem from your crimp die, have seperate seat/crimp stations (station 3 and 4 on a 550).

JW

[straightshooter1]

Broomhandle-Dillon is very good about telling you what shell plates and pins will work with other cartridges. The info is also available all over the Web.

What can happen, however, is that two months ago you ordered a caliber conversion for 30'06 and today you decided to load 308. If you call Dillon and just order the 308, you will find you ordered a caliber conversion exactly like the one you already have. BUT, if you tell them what you are already loading, they will try (in my experience of 19 years as a happy Dillon customer) to save you the $. The 550 manual used to have all the info, too, though I don't know about newer manuals as mine is many years old.

Bob

[45nut]

Broomhandle-Dillon is very good about telling you what shell plates and pins will work with other cartridges. The info is also available all over the Web.

What can happen, however, is that two months ago you ordered a caliber conversion for 30'06 and today you decided to load 308. If you call Dillon and just order the 308, you will find you ordered a caliber conversion exactly like the one you already have. BUT, if you tell them what you are already loading, they will try (in my experience of 19 years as a happy Dillon customer) to save you the $. The 550 manual used to have all the info, too, though I don't know about newer manuals as mine is many years old.

Bob

Thats been my experience too,its amazing what a donzen conversions and a extra powder tube or two can take care of. And dropping 400 45-70's in an hour is sure to bring a smile to your face.:castmine:

[j4570]

Also,

Call the tech help line. That's what I do and they will take your order also. They will help you figure out what you need. They can also help you for a caliber that's not listed, sometimes if it's really odd they won't know.

Another thing I did was to copy the back page of my owners manual that lists all the caliber conversions by shellplate. Each time I bought a conversion kit, I highlighted all the pieces that came in it. I highlighted the plate number, then I highlighted all kits that used those pins, and I highlighted all kits that used the same powder funnel. That way, I could quickly glance at the chart for a given caliber, and see what I was missing. Over time, I picked up a piece here or there for different calibers and I bet I could load hundreds now (though I do have about a dozen shellplates). I also took a pen and put an asterisk beside the specific conversion kit that I bought, so I'd know that' the box that contained those part numbers.

JW

[PatMarlin]

How old of a year are you talkin' about the 550B that has sloppy indexing? And, can that be upgraded?

I bought a set of Dillon .357 Sig carbide dies that looked to be unused in a pawn shop for $19.95. Guess how much that set is new?... break out a "C-note".. :mrgreen:

Most all my LEE dies work fine in my 550B... :drinks:

[mike in co]

Hi Fellows,

Please use caution with the die conversion sets that Dillon sells.

They will sell you a kit for 45ACP,30-06, 8 mm and others, in reality, it is the same set with diffrent stock numbers.

This is so with many other cases also.

Please open a book and see if you really need a conversion kit.

I use my 9 mm set for 9 mm, 9 mm Largo, 7.63x25 Mauser, 7.62x25 Tokorov and S&W 40 cal.

My pal has found about 6 others by switching pins out.

Be safe,
broom:drinks:

dillon furnishes a list with the instructions. it shows which plate, which buttons and which funnel is required for a given cartridge.
yes it is often esy to use the same shell plate, just adding a proper set of buttons....but you also need the correct funnel/flare/powder activator.

so if you read the instructions(duh!) you may not need to buy an entire conversion set for every cartridge you load......all the peices can be bought individually.

[rebliss]

so if you read the instructions(duh!) you may not need to buy an entire conversion set for every cartridge you load......all the peices can be bought individually.
That's great to know. I wish that the catalog would make that clear--it would be nice if you could just refer to a specific caliber's powder funnel and order that instead of the entire caliber conversion.

So, I guess I'll just be calling Dillon for my next powder measure. They're always nice to deal with anyway.

[toecutter]

I use RCBS dies on my lee pro 1000. One of the problems I ran into was after belling the case mouth (to seat cast boolits) they would sometimes hang up on the RCBS seater/crimper, it was an older die set (the ones with the round knurled aluminum lock rings) that didn't have much flare. I just chucked them up in the lathe and put some more on the die mouth. You can also control this situation somewhat if you work the belling die so you have just enough bell to set the bullet into (without stripping jacket/lead) but still small enough that it easily fits into the seating/crimping die.

The big thing is to keep a feel for your press, if it feels like it's hung up, don't force it, because it will simply crush the case.

[broomhandle]

QUOTE!
Dillon is very good about telling you what shell plates and pins will work with other cartridges. The info is also available all over the Web.

Hi Straight shooter1 & others,

Can anyone direct me to some of the sites?

Thank you for your help,
broom - still learning!

PS
I have discovered that a .223 shell plate & pins works even better on 9 mm Largo the extractor rim groove is deeper!

[j4570]

broomhandle,

Go to Dillon's site.

It's here:

http://www.dillonhelp.com/rl550benglish/cal_cross_ref_chart.htm

Caliber Conversion cross reference. It's inside the last page of the instruction manual too, or it's in mine.

JW

[45nut]

been using my 550 for about 10 years and there isnt dillon dies in the house yet.

[rebliss]

I just got my package in from Dillon. They were great about telling me which caliber conversion I already had, just needed a different funnel. I also got the new toolholder for my 550B. It's pretty nice. Don't have to search through a bin of allen wrenches to get the one I need. I recommend it! Also bought 500 Leadsafe bullets for my .40 HK (can't use lead in that).

My wife (bless her heart) said, "your gun stuff arrived." I asked how she knew it was gun stuff? She said, "well, I opened the door, thinking, 'wow! A Christmas present!' but it weighed a ton and sounded like bullets. Then I saw where it was from and I knew." She's a smart one. I'm glad she has patience with my hobbies.

As I said previously, I had bought a set of Lee .40 dies from a pawnshop, so I set them up and churned out 100 rounds; it went flawlessly. Dillon dies do have some great points, but the Lees work just fine in my 550.

Incidentally, I did have some trouble with a set of older RCBS dies in .357 Mag. The mouths on those dies were very tight.

[j4570]

rebliss,

I don't understand what you mean by the mouths were very tight on RCBS dies. Do you mean there is almost no flare to the die opening and cases are hanging up?

Jason

[utk]

I have two very old RCBS die sets, one in .357M and the other in .32SWL. Both sets have "zero radius" mouths. Guess they are from before progressive presses were common.
My modern RCBS die sets all have a generous mouth radius and work fine in my progressive Ammomaster.

Urban

[rebliss]

Precisely utk, thanks.

[yodar]

Hi Sir,

I have Lee, Lyman & Hornaday & RCBS dies. I can load at about 400 cases per hour.
The Dillon dies are nice, but are they worth the extra money?

My pal has all Dillon dies, I see no real improvment in speed or quality of the shells made.

Be well,
broomhandle

I load my own cast boolets, I use my own home made lube (Saeco Green) and by all means the Dillon die is worth it because as in normal cast bullet loading with lubes, you are going to exfoliate lead rings,fragments, and lube bits and much of it goes UP to the top of the die, interfering with proper bullet seating and COAL.

Normally you can stick a solvent coated q-tip up there and clean it out, SORTA, or do it right, Tear open the dies and clean it out with liberal application of naphtha followed by a little ballistol. The Dillon die can be gutted for clean-out and returned to the tool head without changing your settings

Furthermore, the bullet seating insert can be reversed on axis allowing flat point or round nose seating, again, without affecting the die settings.

Worth the money, damn right!

yodar

[utk]

My opinion also, for lead boolits. I bought a separate Dillon seater and a crimper for my .38spl reloading.
Because it´s so easy to disassemble for cleaning, the inserts just drops out of the die after removing a locking clip. And reassembles without changing the settings.
One slight drawback is that the Dillon dies are quite long, only some 1.5-2 threads are engaging the toolhead of my RCBS Ammomaster. And that´s for .38spl. Magnum cases would probably not work. The sizer is a Hornady.
Dillon presses must have a larger distance between the toolhead and shellplate than other makes.

Urban

[j4570]

Dillon's are notorious for liking longer dies. That's why some people have reported problems with LEE dies. They will screw in, but you are sometimes left with no room for a lock ring up top, it is removed and placed on the bottom of the toolhead!

I have very few LEE dies and in odd calibers that I don't normally load in a progressive.

[Sundogg1911]

I have a Dillon 550b. I have a dozen complete caliber changeovers. Not one set of Dillon Dies. (Mostly RCBS) seems to work fine. The only Dillon dies I have ever used are the .45 ACP dies in my Square Deal B, sice they are the only ones that fit, and loading 45's was the sole purpose that I bought that press.

[georgeld]

Read all this the other night and didn't see anything to comment about, tonight I do and have questions maybe you fellows can help on.

Last spring I picked up an old rusted up RL450 press pretty cheap, I thought. It cleaned up nice, but, a lot of parts are missing. I'm trying to make it work now.
Got one order in Sat. Still missing the primer magazine, pick up tubes that didnt' come with the kit like I thought would. And that tiny little plastic bushing down in the primer hole.

Two major problems so far.
Primer cup hits the top of the hole it slides under, when I pressed it down to go in. Damned thing popped up into the primer hole inside and had to take the pipe off and press it down with a pin to get it out of there. WHATS wrong??

Am trying to use Lee's disk powdermeasure. Head of the thru die hits the shell plate, yet the case won't go up far enough to push the activator.
What do I need to do to make this work??

What's the difference's between these blue presses and others? IS the head thicker? Is that why the dies need to be longer?

The 450 is a solid topped press, don't have the tool head that comes out.
Yes, I know they've got a replacement program for a bunch of bucks. But, wanted to see if I can make this work.

Appreciate any suggestions you may have. This is my first Dillon experience. 8yrs ago I debated long and hard on whether to get the 550, or Load Master. Guess what mistake I made?? Lee refunded my money, but, lost all these years over making the wrong decision. Am looking forward to using this old blue press.

Thank you,

[PatMarlin]

I'd be tempted to drop it in a box and send it to Dillon and say you can't make it work... what's wrong? I bet they fix it for free and send it back to you.

I bought my 550B back and 97, and what a great investment. So glad I didn't by the RCBS piggyback progressive every one was pushing.. :roll:

[Sundogg1911]

the only problem i've had with using my RCBS dies in a Dillon 550, is that with taller cases (In my case the 7.62 x 39 cases) if i'm going a little to fast sometimes i'll smash a case, because it's not completly straight going into the die. with the Dillon dies this is less likely to happin. all I do to avoid it is slow down a bit. I've never noticed this with any of my pistol brass with the RCBS dies. just the .223 and the 7.62 x 39 (the only rifle/bottleneck cases I load with the dillon) and they are also the tallest so they are most likely to be a little bit out of line.

[Texasflyboy]

I load my own cast boolets, I use my own home made lube (Saeco Green) and by all means the Dillon die is worth it because as in normal cast bullet loading with lubes, you are going to exfoliate lead rings,fragments, and lube bits and much of it goes UP to the top of the die, interfering with proper bullet seating and COAL.yodar

I second that. The only reason I use Dillon dies is the easy quick clean feature.

On calibers where I don't load long strings of ammo (like 44MAG hunting loads, etc....) I can afford to take the time to unscrew an RCBS seating die to clean it out.

However, with volume loading calibers (like 9mm 125 gr LRN cast) that I load when I know I am going to have a run of 2 or 3 .30 caliber ammo cans of loaded ammo, the Dillon dies are the cat's meow. Easy to clean is the key here. Get a lot of gunk up in the seating die and your OAL and crimp points are going to wander all over the place.

[ELFEGO BACA]

I have had my 550B since the mid-80's and have yet to use a set of Dillon dies. I use RCBS and Lyman dies with a few Lee crimp dies.

It is critical to minimize the space between the shellplate and base of the Dillon.

I reload for a variety of rifle and handgun rounds. The 223 and 45acp are two of the smoothest!

My RCBS 41 magnum die set should be replaced. Cases entering the old carbide sizer quite often get 'hung up' and slow the reloading process!

[rebliss]

Georgeld,

One of the best points of Dillon is their customer service. Boxing the press up and sending it to them for a once-over is great advice--I'm sure you'd be pleased-as-punch with the results of that endeavor.

If you're not interested in doing that, just give the folks over there a call. Their technicians are wizards at listening to your description of what's going wrong, and explaining to you how to fix it.

Enjoy that Blue Press!

[Redleg99]

Another happy Dillon 550 user here.
My dies are mostly Redding, but I have some RCBS and one set of Dillon dies.
No issues using other than Dillon brand dies.