how well do rcbs dies work in a dillon 550c

I have used RCBS dies in my Dillon 550 with no problems.

• No problem with RCBS, Hornady, Redding or any other die you want to use.

• A few brands are a little too short (Lee comes to mind), so you need to place the Lock Nut on the underside of the Tool Head.

• The only issue you need to be aware of is that the 550 dies are so tightly spaced that you may wish to fit them with the Dillon 1" Lock Nuts. Often times, standard size hex nuts cannot be used. The purchase of a 10-pack would be prudent.
https://www.dillonprecision.com/1-steel-die-lock-ring-10-pack_8_4_26723.html

Hope this helps.

I bought the Dillon dies when I first started but run RCBS now because they're just as good and a bit cheaper in price. If you reload a cartridge that Dillon doesn't have dies for, RCBS would be an adequate replacement. I use them for 32 auto, 32-20, 260 rem, 9mm luger, 7.62x54r, and 480. I use the lock nuts that come with the RCBS sets. They are a bit thicker so sometimes I have to remove the toolhead pins to slide the toolhead out a bit to secure the allen screws.

Scroll down about 8 or 9 threads and there is one running titled "Dillon dies vs Hornady and RCBS ". There is a lot of good opinions on your topic that you should see.

RCBS dies do NOT work in Dillon presses... but I will take them off your hands for you so you can get the Dillon press!

In all seriousness all the Dillon presses (except the Square D presses) are reloading die agnostic. I have a couple very short dies (I think they are very ancient Pacific dies) that I had to put the die retaining ring underneath the reloading head (instead of the usual retaining ring on the top side of the reloading head) to be able to get them down far enough to function properly. I must have close to at least one die from every die manufacture and have never had a problem.

I prefer the Hornady or Lyman split locking retaining rings because they clamp onto the die without driving a set screw into the side of the thread portion of the die. The Lyman split locking rings give a little more clearance but the Hornady are cheaper when you buy several, they just make the top side of the reloading head a bit tighter fit between each die. The Lee locking rings with the rubber seal in the bottom and no way to clamp the rings to the dies are worthless and should be thrown away. I love the Lee collet crimp dies though and pretty much have one for every caliber I reload (the 5th station on the 650 is nice for using separate seating and crimping dies). The RCBS locking rings seem more prone to rusting over MANY years of use... just replace them with Hornady when needed.

https://www.amazon.com/Hornady-0446...ing+locking+rings&qid=1576818627&sr=8-1-fkmr1

https://www.amazon.com/Lyman-763130...ing+locking+rings&qid=1576818686&sr=8-1-fkmr0



The only Dillon specific dies that I feel are worth buying Dillon over another brand are the .223 and .308 carbide resizing dies. For pistol caliber dies there is no advantage to Dillon dies over RCBS dies or any other manufactures dies that I have ever noticed. I have bent a few depriming pins in my day... RCBS dies are nice in that I can buy a package of replacement pins locally without having to wait for mail order when I bend my last depriming pin.


I love my 650xl press and never regretted what I spent on it for a minute! The 550xl is an excellent press that will serve you very well though!

JO JO said:

I was wondering about smooth feeding into the dies the dillon dies I have seen are flared a bit at the mouth for smooth operation of the press. I did not know if by using rcbs dies I would create a rough or alignment issue on upstroke sounds like that is not the case good tip on the dillon lock nuts.

Click to expand...

No. That's for when the same dies are used in the 650 and 1050 machines. Those presses are typically used with case feeders, which may or may not precisely locate the cartridge case in the shell plate.

Since the 550 is best manually fed, each case will be located precisely by YOU. The 550 also has a spring to help hold that location at Position #1, and you can increase the pressure exerted by that spring to help insure a good fit and location.

You'll also be using the Dillon Powder Funnel at Position #2, which has generous lead-in. And Positions #3 & #4 will have a bullet to guide the case. So you'll be good.

Hope this helps.

Ive used RCBS in my 550b with no issues. Both 40Cal and 9mm. May have been a 270 rifle in the mix too, can't remember.

works very good. so does other brands.

I don't know that a change in press would change anything.
If the dies are setup exactly the same, the results should be the same.

Just my 2¢ worth.
Of course YMMV

While Dillon dies are excellent dies, I separate sizing from loading so I need a mouth expansion die. I do not have Dillon die sets because Dillon uses the powder drop die for case mouth expansion with straight walled hand gun cases.

I use mostly Redding and RCBS die sets. They work great on my Dillon BL550 press.

Also, my Hornady L-N-L press and RCBS Pro2000 press.