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Thread: Dillon vs Lee dies in a 550

  1. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Pistol Pete 10 View Post
    Dillon lock rings are no better than Lee's. If you like Lee dies use them.
    You remind me about something with the Lee dies, sometimes I need to put the luck ring under the tool head. I buy the 1" Dillon nuts and use one of these:
    https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-1-in...Wrench/3388704

  2. #12
    Member 10mmfanboy's Avatar
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    Dillon claims their dies have more of an opening so it is less chance of the brass not seating in the die correctly. I have never used Dillon dies in my 550 so I can't claim that they do either way. I have used Hornady and Lee dies with no problems. I greatly prefer the Lee dies and use the factory crimp die on all my pistol calibers, it is amazeballs.

    I use a universal decapping die by lee and knock out all my primers before I clean them on my rcbs turret press. When I start reloading I do everything else on the 550 other than decapping primers.

    I have had to realign my 550 already and it was off by quite a bit. They will send you a gauge if you ask them to for free.

  3. #13
    Site Supporter Hambo's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 10mmfanboy View Post
    I have had to realign my 550 already and it was off by quite a bit. They will send you a gauge if you ask them to for free.
    Realign what part of the 550?
    "Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA

  4. #14
    Member 10mmfanboy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hambo View Post
    Realign what part of the 550?
    I had to re-align my platform assembly to line up with my tool head, you would also probably have to re-align it if you replace the ram. Basically the shell plate is out of alignment with your dies.

  5. #15
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    I was told that realignment is facilitated if the individual had four size dies in same caliber, say for example .38 Spl. Then 4 cases are run into dies and position is set. Some guys such as I have many extra dies from having bought or been gifted them over decades.

  6. #16
    Member Sal Picante's Avatar
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    I generally feel like reloading is a waste of time, but, if I want to shoot, I need to reload.
    So, that said, the less I have to fuss with bullshit on the press, the more time I can spend actually printing ammo.
    Lee dies help me accomplish that:

    1.) Less moving parts to break (that f'n "C"-clip on the resizing/decapping pin of the Dillon die... Ugh...)
    2.) Lee decapping pin is such a great solution, especially when you hit some Berdan primed brass...
    3.) Lee FCD smooths out your sins when in a hurry...

    I do like my Redding seating die, tho... I've been known to swap a few different profiles and that makes it a snap.

  7. #17
    Member Greg's Avatar
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    If you cast your own bullets and size them to match the chamber throats (as you should) in a revolver you will want to rip the head off the mofo that designed the Factory Crimp Die.

    I like the FCD for rifle use. Otherwise, I hates it.
    Don’t blame me. I didn’t vote for that dumb bastard.

  8. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Greg View Post
    If you cast your own bullets and size them to match the chamber throats (as you should) in a revolver you will want to rip the head off the mofo that designed the Factory Crimp Die.

    I like the FCD for rifle use. Otherwise, I hates it.
    I cast my own. However, now that I don't have a Ruger with oversized chambers (.432 per my pin gauges), I don't need anything particularly "fat".

    Back when I did, in order to see how much of an impact the FCD had on my bullets (boolits?), I ran some tests. I found that tight brass resized my bullets far more than the FCD did. The only time the FCD had any impact at all was with a fat bullet and thick wall brass. Even then, the effect was less than the brass itself.

    I've heard you can use a hardened punch to shatter the carbide sizing ring in the FCD. I've also heard you can use the guts of one FCD in a larger FCD to crimp the caliber listed on the die the guts came from. I've tried neither trick.

    Chris

  9. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by mtnbkr View Post
    I've heard you can use a hardened punch to shatter the carbide sizing ring in the FCD.
    You might also be able to just cut it off shorter. I have been expanding in a subsequent station (partially to simplify extraction of a potentially stuck case, partially to deburr the case mouth) using the Squirrel Daddy expanders in a Lee decap die. The decap die pins are longer than the expanders, so that makes the decap die too short for the decap die body, so I cut a couple of them off. I thought it would take my pneumatic cutoff wheel, but my battery reciprocating saw walked right through it. With a good blade I am sure you could do it with a sabre saw.

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