500 S&W in progressive

[pjh421]

I need the advice of someone knowledgeable with RCBS carbide dies as used in a Dillon XL-650.

Dillon doesn't offer their excellent decap/resize die for the .500 S&W. I notice they recommend the RCBS die set (sell it in their catalog).

I've been down this road before. Some time ago I wanted to use my existing RCBS carbide die set in this press for loading the .44 Magnum instead of spending $50 on a set of Dillon dies. I crushed numerous cases while ascending the learning curve as they frequently needed to be aligned by finger pressure to enter the sizer die at station one.

A toolmaker friend of mine mercifully chucked the die in a lathe and attempted to increase the funnel effect at the mouth of the die through the careful application of a pencil die grinder. It worked much better after that but not nearly as well as my other caliber Dillon dies specifically made to work with this machine. I eventually broke down and ordered the correct Dillon carbide resizer die and all was well.

That is until my wife heard about the income tax rebate to be paid out this year. It seems that we are now getting a .500 Magnum revolver and you know what that means...

Like I said, Dillon doesn't offer a sizer die for this caliber. I don't want to buy the RCBS set and find out it crushes cases.

I was thinking that maybe the solution would be (and I don't want to use a plain steel die for obvious reasons) to buy a plain steel die, turn it in a lathe to create a nice, big funneled mouth and then send it to CH4D to be titanium nitride coated. I see they also sell TiN coated expander plugs so I thought I might send in the Dillon expander/powder dispenser piece as well.

Bottom line is, I want progressive speed and no case mangling.

Paul

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Paul,

I've had a couple RCBS die sets in progressives and had the same experience you are having. Lee makes the 500 S & W magnum caliber and based on my very positive experience with them in 9MM, .45ACP and .30 carbine, I recommend you try out one of their resizing dies before you buy the RCBS and spend money on a machinist trying to get it to work.

I've replaced many of my RCBS dies with the Lee dies and got good results in progressives. They seem to have the correct mouth taper and seemed to be designed for progressive operation. They're also very easy to adjust and I've been pleased with the results.

They're also fairly simple to take apart and clean. While not the ease of the Dillon "remove a pin to disassmble" dies, you can remove the decapping pin by removing a single collet nut and the die can be cleaned.

Here's a link to the dies, they come well rated by midwayusa customers:

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=326474&t=11082005

I think you'll be pleased with their performance in your progressive after wrestling with the RCBS dies.

As an aside, buddy of mine owns a 650. I own a Hornady LnL AP. He picked up Lee dies after my experience with them in some straight wall cases he's added lately to save some money. Both of us have been pleased with how they run in our progressives.

Regards,

Dave

[dmftoy1]

FWIW I was loading .50 S&W on my RL550 and it worked ok but I had to be careful about alignment going into the sizer die. (exactly as you describe and I was using RCBS dies) When I upgraded to a 650 I sold my conversion kit and now do all my .50 S&W loading on a single stage. I don't shoot enough of it that it's a major imposition. (about 800 rounds over the last two years)

Good Luck!

Regards,
Dave

[pjh421]

Thanks a lot, Dave and Dave. I will take your suggestions into consideration. There's just something satisfying about slamming a big chunk of Pb into anything. I plan to do quite a bit of shooting with this gun and will need to set up the Dillon press for it. I've even got a brass rod turned to the correct dimensions so I can heat it and anneal the expensive casings between loadings. I'm still going to have the powder measure neck expander piece TiN coated regardless of what I get for dies. That should make a big difference with new brass. I don't see anything wrong with using Lee dies. It seems to be their progressive press and electric furnace that give people fits. I still use single stage presses but it seems like only for rifle rounds for which I lack the Dillon conversion kit.

Paul

edit: Checked the Lee die set from your link. I see I'll have to make provisions to crimp separately in station 5 by adding another seating die (body only).

[yarro]

I have had the same experience with RCBS dies, but not in all calibers on my Dillons. The Lee dies work fine, but I had issues with some of them having the ring on the last die body thread so i ended up replacing the ring on those with ones that had a set screw to ensure it stayed on.

-Yarro

[pjh421]

Yarro,

I've read of people putting the lock ring on the underside of the toolhead when using Lee dies in a Dillon toolhead.

Paul

[quasi]

Try Reddings dies, they have a series made for progressives.

[mike in co]

Try Reddings dies, they have a series made for progressives.

i think quasi has it right.

even if they dont make a pro(gresive) set in 500, they know how to make them...

give them a call( as i recall the original dillon dies were made by redding, then later redding marketed thier pro series, and dillon went elsewhere with thier current die design)

mike

[HotGuns]

The reason that the Dillon dies work so well is because they have a radius at the bottom of the die that allows the case to feed into the die smoothly.

If they die has the typical square base, then it will have to be aligned using the fingers, otherwise the case will hit the square shoulder and the result will be a crushed case.

Using a lathe, I have radius-ed several various dies to work for progressive presses. Sometimes it works well, other times it does not,depending on the taper of the case. In some dies, cutting a radius on the bottom results in the case not be sized all the way to the base because you are cutting away some of the sizing. Dillon dies take this into account and are built accordingly.

The next best thing, as qausi has already stated, is to use the Redding "Progressive" dies. These dies are built with the needed radius to allow the cases to enter into the die without the danger of hanging up and being smashed.

Personally, I think its a better solution than cutting or grinding dies that aren't made for that.

[pjh421]

Redding it is. Midway has the 4 dies for about $153. Love that seater! Thanks all.

Paul

[Just Duke]

I will have to try that trick with the Lee dies I just bought. Just a note on the redding though. They do seem to unnessisarily squeeze the case at the web. I have experinced this in 9 mm and been told this about the 40 S&W.

[happy7]

Just remove the o ring and turn the lock nut upside down and you can mount lee dies on dillon 550 tool heads no problem. I had a set of RCBS dies in 500 S&W for my 550. I replaced them with Lee and am much happier. However, I still lube my cases. It does work without lubing, but is much easier lubed.