Which dies?

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Steve H

Steve H

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Yesterday I received the new 650 blue machine for 45 ACP. The set up went well except with one hickup. I was putting in my Redding dies and it seemed I had to screw the sizing/decaping die in as far as I could to get it adjusted properly. Also the Lee taper crimp die pretty much ran out of threads. I called the blue customer service folks and was told I should be using their dies for their press as their's are longer. Never ran into a "too short of a die" problem before. Which dies do you use in your blue machines?
 
I use a mixture of Dillon and RCBS. It's common to put the locking ring on the bottom side of the tool head if the dies are short. Lots of others have done it with no problems.
 
I have two Dillon 550B's and just put a 650 into use for 45 ACP's. I've been using all Dillon pistol dies for over 25 years now and find them to be the best dies for the job (on the Dillon machines). Other manufacturers dies will work, but I have found that extreme adjustments sometimes must be made to work properly. One example is the "green die box" company's 10 mm taper crimp die was to short to crimp 40 S&W cases. Other feature is most pistol dies are sold in 3 die sets and the 2nd die, the expander die, is not used on the Dillon presses....so what do you do with it. :confused:
 
Hornady Dies have a longer body/thread and large radius like Dillon. Design to work on Progressives. The large radius sizing die will make them start easier without hanging on the lip.
 
I have only used dillion dies in my 650 sence I bought it, so I can't speek to the advantages/disadvantages of using other brands. I like the fact that all the pistol calibers are carbide. I use seperate tool heads for each caliber, (380 auto, 9mm,357mag, 45acp and 223 rem. ) set-up goes quickly.
 
I have a mix of dies.
1 set each, of Redding, RCBS & Dillon.
But most of my dies, 8 sets, are Lee.

Yes, the lee dies are on the short side, but I can comfortably set them all in the 550 toolheads.

The biggest advantage of the more expensive dies, is that the sizing die's mouth is more tapered.
That way they almost never crush the lip of the case.
(which I've done too often with Lee dies.)


PS I also use the Dillon lock rings - they're MUCH thinner than Lee's.
 
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Almost all Lee dies in my Dillon. Never had a problem, and the lock rings fit top or bottom.
 
I guess that if I have to buy their dies to get their press to work then I just won't buy their press. I just bought some Lyman dies and I'm pretty happy with them, although I use them in a Hornady Classic Press not a Dillion.
 
People here including myself use all manner of dies in their Dillons. I use a 550 without having a die problem. Could it be that the 650 tool head is thicker than those on the 550, which is causing him to run out of threads?

Steve: what is the thickness of your tool head?

Could you post some pics showing the problem?
 
I guess that if I have to buy their dies to get their press to work then I just won't buy their press. I just bought some Lyman dies and I'm pretty happy with them, although I use them in a Hornady Classic Press not a Dillion.
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You'd be making an unwise decision based on an absurd assumption. I load on a 650; don't own ANY Dillon dies, except for their powder die. I use Lee dies, almost exclusively. This ain't rocket science! If the thread body is too short, put the lockring on the bottom!!! :cool:
 
I use Lee dies on my 650 but I use dillon locking rings. They're a little thinner and hold the die in place better than Lee locking rings. Putting the ring on the bottom the die works too.
 
From what I've read Lee and some other dies were too short to work easily in a Dillon Progressive press but Lee has lengthened their dies to work better with the Dillon setup. I don't remember what year they did the changeover. (I think over 10 years now)
 
Well, I can see already that this here dillion stuff is to complicated for me to use.
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That's a truly depressing thought. So, you're obviously not a real engineer, huh? You're making something complicated out of something really simple. :rolleyes:
 
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