which brand of dies for dillon

44vernon

besides dillon dies, which ones work good in rl550? just picked up my second 550 and going to be adding several dies, my lees that I started with years ago are fine for single stage not so much for the 550. thanks Vernon

mrbruce

Dies pretty much all have the same thread size, and it's only a personal preference as far as makers. Redding has always been a good choice, and Hornady has it's aspects too....
Why would you think that the Lee dies wont work that good in your 550 ?????

dcs shooters

Any make dies with 7/8X14 threads should work in the 550.

44vernon

thread size is not the issue the length of the dies are. I am running the locking nut all the way to the top of the dies almost off before it will size the cases. Vernon

jonk

I don't have a dillon but- if you are running the lock ring out ALMOST all the way before they size- what's the issue? If they DO size who cares where the lock ring is?

I like Lee dies' tapered expander over all other brands; great for rifles or bottleneck pistols. Their powder through expander is a nice option but not a must. On the other hand I don't like their lock rings so much so can appreciate that this may be the area you are having dissatisfaction with.

BHAVIN

Dillons are the best dies to use for their progressive. Other sets come with an expander which is not needed for the Dillon and you have to (or should) get a seperate crimp die that the other sets don't come with which usually makes them come out to be about the same price. The other main reason is that the dies are tapered more so that the cases don't get hung up. I use RCBS dies for most of my revolvers .38spl, 357, 41mag, 44mag & 45 Colt as the longer cases don't seem to have the hanging up problem as much as the shorter auto cases. I have slowly traded off my RCBS dies (for my autos) for Dillons and have been much happier. I am not a big LEE die fan, they have never impressed me much. I do however use some of their Factory crimp dies and have been happy with them.

If the only issue is that the die is almost all the way down you can use the Dillon lock rings as they are smaller and thinner and will give you a little more room. I use them on several of my RCBS dies that I wondered if I would have room with the factory rings. Dillon sells them individually or in five packs just for this purpose.

dcloco

quote:Originally posted by 44vernon
thread size is not the issue the length of the dies are. I am running the locking nut all the way to the top of the dies almost off before it will size the cases. Vernon


That is the same as my 550B. I use Hornady, RCBS, LEE, Redding, & Lyman dies....all the same.

Lock ring is made to the lock the die in place, no matter where the adjustment may be.

5mmgunguy

While other dies will work in the Dillion press, the Dillion dies seem to work the best.

Mort4570

I haven't tired it,but have heard that you can put the locking ring on the older Lee sets on the bottome of the tool head.

I've also heard that Lee dies have been made longer,for several years now,to overcome this problem.

e8gm

I've had good luck using the RCBS dies with my 550. I just recently started using the Lee Factory Crimp die with my pistol loads and it seems to work well. I haven't used the Dillon dies but understand they have a more chamfered mouth on the die so the case will enter the die easier.