Petrol & Powder
03-18-2018, 05:56 PM
I've got an assortment of dies on several Dillon 550 toolheads. Some have the 1" Dillon lock nuts. Some have knurled rings and set screws that come with RCBS or Redding dies. Some have the split rings like Hornady, etc.
On some toolheads it just does not matter; the dies are locked down where I want them and I don't need to fool with them.
However, on some other toolheads, I need to make adjustments frequently. (Usually to the seating die)
My first thought was to lock two of the Dillon style nuts together at the deepest setting needed and make a set of spacers to accommodate the different shallower seating depths needed. The problem with that approach is some of the adjustments are rather large (the difference between a SWC and full WC) and some are very small (the difference between two types of SWC's). So that started to look like more work than it was worth.
Then I started to think (always dangerous :-o ) that it would be easier to just find a good style of lock rings that were easy to adjust and use a set of dummy cartridges to set the dies up as needed. The problem there is none of the rings really lend themselves to tool-less adjustment. They all require an Allen wrench or a regular spanner. So there's nothing to be gained there. It's the same amount of time to set the die(s) and powder measure; so I might as well just deal with it.
My last approach was the most expensive but quickest. I could just set up another toolhead specifically for wadcutters with the power measure and all of the dies adjusted properly. This is attractive because I could also install a special powder funnel/expander for the WC bullets. However the expense is a bit daunting and my reloading volume is large but not large enough to justify that expense.
Am I just chasing my tail or is there some trick out there that I'm missing?
On some toolheads it just does not matter; the dies are locked down where I want them and I don't need to fool with them.
However, on some other toolheads, I need to make adjustments frequently. (Usually to the seating die)
My first thought was to lock two of the Dillon style nuts together at the deepest setting needed and make a set of spacers to accommodate the different shallower seating depths needed. The problem with that approach is some of the adjustments are rather large (the difference between a SWC and full WC) and some are very small (the difference between two types of SWC's). So that started to look like more work than it was worth.
Then I started to think (always dangerous :-o ) that it would be easier to just find a good style of lock rings that were easy to adjust and use a set of dummy cartridges to set the dies up as needed. The problem there is none of the rings really lend themselves to tool-less adjustment. They all require an Allen wrench or a regular spanner. So there's nothing to be gained there. It's the same amount of time to set the die(s) and powder measure; so I might as well just deal with it.
My last approach was the most expensive but quickest. I could just set up another toolhead specifically for wadcutters with the power measure and all of the dies adjusted properly. This is attractive because I could also install a special powder funnel/expander for the WC bullets. However the expense is a bit daunting and my reloading volume is large but not large enough to justify that expense.
Am I just chasing my tail or is there some trick out there that I'm missing?