45 Long Colt vs 45acp Reloading ?

[chiltech500]

Howdy,

I use a Dillon 550 and am wondering what dies would be different for the Long Colt vs acp other than the re-sizing die.

The case being much longer I wonder if the powder fill, bullet seating and crimp dies would be acceptable from the 45 acp?

I know "call Dillon" I just wanted to hear y'alls opinions

 

[whughett]

The powder drop tube/expanding/mouth belling tube is different but come with the caliber conversion set,. The 45ACP requires a taper crimp die and the 45C a roll crimp, so why not just buy a set made for the 45C

 

[Jim Watson]

I don't have an opinion, if I wanted to know what was needed, I would look at the chart.

 

[rcmodel]

No.

The .45 ACP seating die does a taper crimp for use in auto pistols.

The .45 Colt being a revolver cartridge uses a roll crimp.

I have no idea about the powder fill die.
But can't imagine it being the same either.

A good general rule to follow is, buy a die set for each caliber you intend to reload.
Then set them and forget them once and be done with it.

rc

 

[*Kemosabe*]

A long while back I had a question about using dies on an RL550.
I called Dillon and Mike Dillon fielded the question and told me the error of my ways. He was patient, answered the question methodically and was never condescending.

Call Dillon.

 

[chiltech500]

Yep. Gotta do it. Thanks

 

[ClickClickD'oh]

The only thing .45 ACP and .45 Colt have in common is the .45 in their names.

 

[BCRider]

While the diameters are the same the depth of the dies is all different. I did set up a buddy with a Lee press that uses a .45acp powder/flare die in his .45Colt set. The die just sits higher than the rest to work right. But that's a specific case of the one die.

The seating dies are too different to work. And even the sizing dies are slightly different with the .45acp having a smaller and very slightly tapered outer size compared to the straight walled .45Colt.

 

[243winxb]

Interchangeable dies-Lee

From Lee link below

Interchangeable dies
Posted by on 19 October 2011 02:01 PM
Frequently, dies from one caliber may be used to load other calibers. Due to the locations of crimping shoulders, the operation may only work for dies of the shorter caliber to the longer. You may notice a label depicting the shorter die in your set for the longer version of the cartridge, we do this to reduce costs.

Even though some dies are interchangable, in many cases, different shellholders are necessary. You can see a complete list of shellholders under "Case Preparation" then "Shellholders and Calibers".



32 H&R Mag - 327 Federal Mag
45 Colt - 454 Casull *
44 Special - 44 Magnum
38 Special - 357 Magnum
30-30 Winchester - 30 Remington
357 Magnum - 357 Maximum
38 Super - 9mm Largo
44 Russian - 44 Special
40 Smith & Wesson - 10mm - 41 Action Express
32 Smith & Wesson - 32 S&W Long - 32 H&R Magnum **

*The 45 Colt expander die will also work for the 454 Casull by backing the die out approximately two turns to compensate for the difference in case length.

**Our dies allow the use of .308 bullets in the 32 H&R Magnum. The other bullet diameter commonly used is .311 and that is the expander that comes with the set. To use .308 bullets, it is necessary to purchase an additional expander and turn it down to .308. This can be done using a drill press and emery cloth or if you buy the additional expander from the factory, we will do it for $10.00.

 

[Bud0505]

Brian Enos' forum has a conversion chart that shows common items for conversion kits. The .45 ACP and .45 colt use the same powder funnel. Shell plate and locator buttons are unique to their respective calibers. I recommend you download the chart for future reference.

 

[Sport45]

For the 550b I believe you'd need a new shell plate, sizing die, and seat/crimp die. They both use the same powder funnel/expander.

I forgot about the locator buttons until I read Bud's post above. He's spot on.

 

[PO2Hammer]

I use my .45acp competition seating die and taper crimp dies for both calibers, but I shoot a single shot carbine in .45 Colt, so I don't need a roll crimp.