Dillon 1" lock rings are nice

[1911user]

I bought a bunch of the dillon 1" lock rings last summer. This weekend I finally had a chance to use/test them. In other words, I was running low on several calibers and did a reloading weekend to rebuild the plinking ammo reserves (3K+ rounds). I put together toolheads of several calibers that hadn't been loaded in awhile (and didn't have enough toolheads at the time to leave them setup). I stocked up on toolheads to prevent that issue again.

The purpose of these lockrings is they are small enough to get a wrench on to tighten them while in a toolhead. They are 1" across the flats and normal dies are 7/8"-14 threaded so they aren't much bigger than the die bodies. Normal lock rings are larger and hard to tighten; it's not impossible, just inconvenient. Dillon sells a wrench that fits and also has a 7/16 box end for adjusting dillon powder bars. It's a nice combo and $15 well spent.

 

[caz223]

I like the 1" rings, but not a fan of the wrench.
I got a 1/2 drive rachet and 1" deep socket hanging on the end of my bench.

 

[1911user]

It'd have to a really deep well socket to get over a few of my dies.

 

[Bronson7]

Caz, are you talking about the bicycle wrench or the new I" wrench?
Bronson7

 

[Rico567]

The new 1" rings and wrench are such a vast improvement over the "bicycle" or what I call the "Swiss Army Knife" wrench that they shouldn't be mentioned in the same message. I find the new wrench perfectly satisfactory for snugging down the lock rings. Since all you're doing is preventing the die from changing adjustment, not torquing down head bolts, heavy-duty tools are hardly needed....

 

[YellowLab]

Actually what you are doing is removing the backlash from the die threads.

magazines have done test and Lee's lock nuts with the o-ring gave the best performance.

If you are using a wrench of any sort you are swatting flies with a sledgehammer. Finger tight, remove the backlash.... thats all you need to do.

 

[caz223]

I got the 1" bench wrench, paid like $8.00 for it somewhere.
I got the POS multiwrench in a box of stuff that I got for free, and I was bitter about the effort I had to expend throwing it in the trash can.
The 1" bench wrench is made exactly like the wrenches used to tighten die grinder collets down.
Therefore, it tends to wear out over time. Not made of very good steel.
I wore mine out in 2 years, and I have 10 deluxe quick change kits.
Yeah, it's pretty soft.
The 1/2" drive deep socket is either a mac or a matco (Can't remember right now.), it's an industrial tool made to be extra deep for just such applications.

The 1" lock rings should be mandatory for any other than dillon dies you may want to use in a progressive. Old dillon rings are of a larger size that must go, as well.