Lee dies in a Dillon 550B

not quite clear

I have a 650, both the Lee and Dillon used industry standard dies. You can buy Lee dies and use them in your Dillon. as for caliber conversion, the
Lee obvioulsy will not work in the Dillon.

Does this help.

wood

If you got the Lee three die set it is setup to seat the bullet AND crimp the case mouth at the same time and also includes a belling die which you won't need as that will be done by the powder funnel from the conversion kit. The Dillon die set includes a separate crimp die and it is better to do the crimping separate from the seating step. You can get a separate crimp die from any of the die manufacturers including Lee.

Yes and no.

The first station sizing die will work ok.
The expander die is unique on the 550B so the Lee won't work to feed powder.
The seating/crimping die will technically work but is not as good a system as the Dillon die set. The Dillon set uses station 3 die to seat the bullet to depth and the station 4 tapered crimp die crimps the bell-mouth back to proper diameter. The Lee die, like most other seating dies, seats the bullet and crimps in the same die. Not ideal since you're seating a bullet into a casing as the neck is crimped and may therefore score or shave off a little metal off the side of the bullet.

If you're going to use the Lee dies, don't you have to use a Lee powder system? The Dillon powder measure won't mount up to the Lee die right?

Sheldon you said you wouldn't use the expander die from Lee, but use the powder funnel from the Dillon conversion kit? So then the powder funnel has to have something to sit in doesn't it? Meaning you have to have a Dillon powder die right?

The expander die found in most die sets is normally not used on dillon presses. A dillon powder die and a caliber specific funnel (part of the conversion kit) are used with the dillon powder measure to expand the case neck and drop powder in station #2 of the press.

You could use the Lee powder-thru expander die on a dillon 550 or 650, but you would also need a Lee auto-disk powder measure. Unless you already have the Lee dies and Lee powder measure, I would recommend sticking with the dillon powder system.

I would suggest having a dedicated toolhead and powder die for each caliber you plan to reload. That eliminates die adjustments when changing calibers.

Cool, thanks for the great info 1911. That's what I'd found in my other research tonight. I've got a .40SW Lee Carbide die set that I just got for a steal on ebay, so I think I'll keep that and throw a Lee Auto Disk powder system on there. I can get one of those AutoDisks for $28 from Midway and since I've got a dedicated toolhead for the .40 caliber, I think that'll be the best way to go.

Then I can just get a Dillon powder system for my other Dillon dies. BTW, I just bought this 550B and it didn't have any dies or powder systems, so I'm piece milling it together.

Sorry to the OP, didn't mean to hijack the thread. I would think you would/should stick with Dillon dies to go with your Dillon conversion kits. Or if you want to save a few bucks, try going with a Lee setup for dies and a powder system. And like 1911 said, I'd plan on getting separate toolheads for each caliber. I know I am.

Also, the Lee dies seat AND crimp on one die, which I've heard is different than the Dillon dies which have a separate crimp die. YMMV on this issue.

ETA: Found out Lee Deluxe Pistol Dies do separate the crimping and seating actions. The $22 Lee dies from Midway are the normal 3 Pistol die carbide set.

I've been using all Lee dies (except expander powder) since I started with the 550b. No problems at all. Set 'em up and enjoy.

Either one of your setups listed is fine; either all dillon or dillon/lee mix. Dillon dies work fine. Lee dies work fine. I used mostly Lee in the past, but now mostly use hornady dies in the 550 press. I like the hornady seating die design and few other minor features.

If you buy 3 toolheads or 3 powder dies, you get a price break ($15 toolheads and $7.50 powder dies)..

If you order as stated you will have one spare die . You won't use the Lee powder/expander die. Enjoy....