Powder thru expander die what is best for Dillon 550B

[Sgtonory]

Just picked up a used Dillon 550b and i want a good expander die that i can use to drop powder also. I have been looking into a lyman M dies and want something like that . Wondering what other people are have had success with. Will be reloading for 9mm, 45acp and 44mag. Thanks in advance.

[wrench man]

That's what the powder funnels in the conversion kits are for.

[Sgtonory]

I know that. Just wondering if people have good luck with them. I am worried about swaging down my bullets.

[Iowa Fox]

Yes, I have had good luck with all my Dillon powder dies. They work just fine no need to worry.

[altheating]

Call Dillon and order the funnels you need. I have used all of the funnels for the calibers you mention. They work fantastic. You can also check with Alvarez Kelly, he may have some used funnels in stock. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/member.php?14147-Alvarez-Kelly
I have ordered from him in the past, very good to deal with.

[btroj]

My Dillon expanders work just fine.

Why solve a problem they most likely doesn't exist?

[Petrol & Powder]

The factory Dillon setup works fairly well and there is some adjustment built into the system. You can get the powder measure to drop the charge without belling the case (or belling so slightly you'll never notice after the bullet is seated) All casings are different but Dillon got the funnel pretty close to universal and it doesn't really expand the case unless you want it to. I did have some problems with my .40 S&W setup but after removing the expander and polishing the funnel the problem was solved. I could have sent it back to Dillon and they would have replaced it with no questions or cost but it was just easier for me to fix it.

Dillon is a great company to deal with.

[HATCH]

I don't see how the expander would swage the boolit down?
I know the crimper could do that but the boolit isn't in play when you bell and put powder in the case. The boolits comes into play at the next station (seating).

[Sgtonory]

I know the expander dose not swage the boolit. Just dont want the case to swage it down because it is not opened up. I measured the 9mm expander die and was .3525 and my boolits will be .359. If people have had good luck with them i will try. Just have seen a lot about lyman M dies. And them opening up the case closer to .356ish so the case dose not swage the boolit down.

[Petrol & Powder]

Try the stock Dillon setup before you start fixing something that isn't broken. If you want, pull a bullet after seating but before crimping to confirm what's going on. I think you'll be OK with the Dillon rig, "as is".

[r1kk1]

If for some reason the F powder funnel does not work try the D.

Take care

r1kk1

[376Steyr]

I like to use my Dillon 550 to crank out lots of sized/primed/expanded handgun brass using a Lyman M die. Later, I swap tool heads and use the powder funnel to only drop the powder while I charge/seat/crimp.

[USMC87]

Never had a problem with Dilon powder funnels.

[W.R.Buchanan]

The Dillon works just fine.

Much ado is made about swaging boolits down, mostly with regard to Lee Factory Crimp Dies.

I personally don't have these problems. You probably won't either.

Randy

[wrench man]

Your .359" boolits sound kinda fat for the 9mm?, the Lyman manual shows them sized to .356 for the 9mm.
I load cast boolits for the 357 Magnum, 44 Special/44 Magnum and the 45 Colt and as the others have said, I've never seen any issues using box stock Dillon funnels?

[Sgtonory]

Anyone make custom funnels?

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

If you're concerned about the "stock" size of a funnel not opening up your case enough, look at other sizes of funnels not for your particular cartridge. Often times, there is a funnel that will fit the bullet you're wanting to use.

Also, you can get custom funnels made, you can buy Lee powder through expander dies and use Lee Pro Auto Disk powder measures, you can use RCBS or Hornady case activated powder drops.

Sometimes, when you have an "oddball" application, a little research will find the answer you need. In your case, I recommend you first research to see if you can meet your needs with a different powder funnel than the stock funnel if the stock funnel isn't expanding the case enough even after adjustment. Second, look into a custom powder funnel and finally, look into other brands.

I wish I could advise you on the non-standard funnels and where to get them, but I haven't needed one to date.

BTW, I use all of the above mentioned powder delivery systems for my cartridges on an RCBS press, but they work equally well on a Dillon.

[ffries61]

Anyone make custom funnels?

There's a guy on ebay that does, made of tool steel, I had him make me an oversize one, the Dillon wasn't expanding case mouth enough ( one of my 1911's has a .4522" bore, so I size @ .453", and the bullets were being "swaged" down to .452" by the case.

Fred

[jmorris]

I know the expander dose not swage the boolit. Just dont want the case to swage it down because it is not opened up.
You can, improperly, adjust a Dillon expander to open up the case so wide that it will not fit into any die.

Your looking for a solution to a problem you don't have, at least give it a try first.

[clownbear69]

I don't own a dillon but if there was a serious problem with any piece I doubt they would stay in business. They are IMO the most popular progressive press ever.

[Garyshome]

Use the Dillon stuff! Don't mess with a good thing! Troublemaker!

[Dan Cash]

Sgtonory,
I understand what you are looking for; a Lyman M die with a hole in it that will work on the Dilon. The Dillon pistol powder funnels do just that. You might get a funnel for one of the other nominal .38 pistol cartridges to work but I can't say for sure. The dillon dies are made for use with jacketed bullets but I have not had any problems using them for commercial cast or my own softer cast bullets. I have loaded 9mm with the Dillon funnel but have shot so little of it that I can not comment.

Try the stock Dillon funnel set up and see if it works. If it does not, I am certain that Doughty, Buckshot, Lathesmith or one of the other machinist member/supporters of this forum could make an oversize expanding funnel to fit your specific requirements.

[pal82]

sgtonory, I agree with you.
Proper case neck tension is achieved with .003 interference fit between the boolit and the case neck. I think Keith wrote about that in SixGuns in reference to reloading pistol cartridges. If you must shoot a .359 boolit than .3525 expander die is too tight. I can't tell you where to get one, but a do agree that you need one.

[Sgtonory]

Sgtonory,
I understand what you are looking for; a Lyman M die with a hole in it that will work on the Dilon. The Dillon pistol powder funnels do just that. You might get a funnel for one of the other nominal .38 pistol cartridges to work but I can't say for sure. The dillon dies are made for use with jacketed bullets but I have not had any problems using them for commercial cast or my own softer cast bullets. I have loaded 9mm with the Dillon funnel but have shot so little of it that I can not comment.

Try the stock Dillon funnel set up and see if it works. If it does not, I am certain that Doughty, Buckshot, Lathesmith or one of the other machinist member/supporters of this forum could make an oversize expanding funnel to fit your specific requirements.

Going to have Buckshot make me some custom funnels. Was haveing issues seating .358 boolits in my 38 special cases with soft HP boolits was deforming the nose of the boolit.

[wrench man]

Sounds more like an issue with the seat die than the expander to me?

[flyingrhino]

Anyone make custom funnels?

If you want something other than the Dillon funnel, try the Mr. Bulletfeeder funnel. I switched to it when I built my bullet feeder. I can use very little bell on the case because it expands the first little bit of the case neck just enough so that my cast bullets sit in it nicely. You can get it from Competitive Edge Dynamics. The problem I had with the stock Dillon funnel was the bullets tipping over when indexing to the seating station and the powder die was sticking in the case mouth. This die fixes that. If you are hand placing bullets, as you would be on a 550, it makes it much easier to place the bullet on the case.

[dudel]

The Dillon expander dies have worked just fine for me in multiple caliber. Note that only the pistol dies expand the case the rifle ones (at least .223) do not expand the case mouth.

You may have some sticking when you lower the ram. I did on 9mm. Polishing the expander tip solved that problem for me. You've got a great degree of adjustment. You can get the powder to dump with no flare, or you can put enough flare to split the case mouth. Somewhere in between should work for for you.

As for the brass swaging the boolit, that's not a function of the expander. Shaving yes; swaging no. If you're shaving lead off the boolit, you need to flare a bit more.

If you are intent on using the M-die, you can. Use the Dillon expander set to dump powder with no case expansion in station 2. Set the M-die in station 3 to get your desired flare, then seat/crimp in station 4. Personally, I like to seat and crimp in two separate operations, you'd need a 5 station unit if you wanted to keep the M-die and seat/crimp in two operations.

[Old Caster]

Since 9mm guns are all over the place in bore diameter, some guns need a bullet that is larger and if the cast bullet is soft, the brass might need to be swaged out so it doesn't swage the soft bullet down (don't confuse swaging brass larger with flaring). 9mm brass can swage one down much smaller than .357. I make my own and have quite a few for this reason but am not in the business and don't want to be. I understand that Fc60 does do it. Search for Dave Wilson if you can't find anyone from the list already given.

[WILDEBILL308]

Please tell me what your bore is on that 9mm. You need plenty of neck tension on all autos to prevent the bullet from being pushed back during feeding. This will produce higher pressure possibly damaging your pistol. I wonder if loading a .359 bullet in a 9mm will even fit the chamber.
Personally I would find a new barrel if I had one that loose.
Bill

[fredj338]

With the Dillon dies on a Dillon press, you do NOT need a "m" die, the powder thru expander functions much the same as the 'M' die for handguns. For rifles, you could adapt a powder thru if you know a machinist, probably limited to 30cal & larger.