[charleym3]

I've got a Dillon 550. Just got a Blackhawk 45Colt. Do I need to get 45 Colt dies or just a new shell plate and back out the ACP seating and crimp dies?

This is my first .45 Colt as an adult. Long long ago in a galaxy far away I had a Jager 45. One chamber was so bad that brand new brass split in it. :what:

[Frohickey]

45 Colt (not Long) and 45ACP dies are different...

otherwise, die manufacturers would have only stocked and made only one.

[Johnny Guest]

Not necessarily so. I remember when I first started loading, I got .44 Mag dies and had to buy a separate .44 Special seat/crimp die, 'cause the mag die was too long to crimp the shorter care properly. I do notice that currently, the manufacturers sell dies marked ".44 Special/Mag" and ".38 Spl/.357 Mag," but 'twasn't always so.:p

charleym3, in answer to your question--- If you're going to shoot much .45 Colt at all, you should have proper dies for that cartridge. If for no other reason, .45 ACP dies are not set up to give you a good roll crimp on a revolver case mouth. Also, with the Dillon 550B, one of the great things is that you can just leave your dies set in the interchangeable tool heads, and it is only a matter of minutes to change calibers, especially if both use the same size primers.

If you just want to load up a few .45 Colt cartridges now and then, yes, it is POSSIBLE to load shootable .45 Colt ammo on ACP dies--that's how I began loading when I got my first Colt SAA. Naturally, you have to completely change adjustment on the case mouth expander and the seat/crimp die. Modern .45C guns use .451/.452 bullets, just like the ACP, so there is no problem with the expander. A taper crimp looks a little strange on .45C, though. And, since the Blackhawk is such a sweet revolver, I imagine you'll want to load for it a lot.

Best regards,
Johnny

[Johnny Guest]

Most people load a LOT more all-lead bullets than jacketed for .45 Colt. In my opinion, it is well worth the little extra money to order the Dillon dies. They are constructed so that you can get your die adjustments down just so, and leave them that way. When the inevitable build up of lubricant and lead shavings accumulates, the die inserts can be dropped out for easy cleaning. Your adjustments remain in place. The convenience of the carbide sizing die needs no comment.:D

Best,
Johnny

[cheygriz]

I guess that I'll havbe to go aslong with the majority opinion.

I loaded .45 Colt on a single stage Lyman Orange Crusher for several years. It's a PITA but it can be done if you're careful.

If you have a Dillon, get the right dies. My first choice would be Redding Pro.