Are reloading dies interchangeable via manufacturer?

[john18]

I have a dillion 550B progressive reloader and need to know if I can use RCBS 45acp dies in it.

[ohsmily]

yes, they are. Most of the dillons take the standard size.

[Cazach]

The Dillon Square Deal B presses are the only ones that take propretary dies, all others are standard and you can swap away.

[Turbinator]

The Dillon Square Deal B presses are the only ones that take propretary dies, all others are standard and you can swap away.

Correct. The Square Deal B takes reverse threaded dies.

Turby

[bu-bye]

I never understood why Dillion did that

I understand the point about making people buy thier dies but why just do it for one press?

[TonyM]

Man,

Now that this has reminded me, I'm going to go out and fire up the RF-100 primer filler, fill up some tubes and get to work.

Thanks.

[EBWhite]

I am in the market for a reloader. Never reloaded myself before...

I am looking at the RL550B...Should i buy a new one or wait for a deal to come along with a reloader and dies as a set?

the die sets seem to cost about 75 bucks per caliber

[bu-bye]

I am in the market for a reloader. Never reloaded myself before...

I am looking at the RL550B...Should i buy a new one or wait for a deal to come along with a reloader and dies as a set?

the die sets seem to cost about 75 bucks per caliber

I would just look for a nice deal on a new one but that is just me. I like new stuff.

A lot of people knock on Lee but the truth is they make just as nice of dies as any other mfg and for less then half the price. I have used just about every mfg of dies and I have never said to myself "Gee this sure is worth double then the Lee's." Lee's have worked 100% for me and that all I buy at this point. No more spending extra money for a popular name. If it works and I save money, I like it!

[TonyM]

The benefit of Dillon and RCBS products is that they have a great warranty and customer service.

A buddy of mine received an incomplete Dillon 550B set up from his father (IIRC his dad found it at a garage sale). One call to Dillon and they sent him the parts to make it work. No charge.

A couple of weeks ago I noticed that I was getting scratched cases from my RCBS .223 Rem die followed by a stuck case which eventually resulted in a damaged spindle. One call to RCBS and they told me to ship it back to them for replacement. No charge. I was back up and running in a few days (RCBS is in California, so shipping times are short).

Yep, Dillon and RCBS are great like that. Dillon's warranty is for life, no matter who bought it, or how many people owned it before you.

If buying a Dillon I recommend getting it from Brian Enos, he gives you free shipping direct from Dillon, and it usually takes 2-3 days to receive (they are in Arizona).

About the 550: Personally I would pay the little more and get a 650 and a case feeder. the casefeeder makes it nice, and the one for the 550 is an afterthought that makes the unit too expensive, great for people that already had a 550 though.

[1911jerry]

Buying a reloader 101 - class is now in session... take notes

If you decide to purchase a Dillon reloading press....Brian Enos is the way to go. Most of the time your reloader/supplies will top the $400 mark, so you will get free shipping, and if you live outside of AZ, it will be tax free. If you think to yourself... I can save a bundle by buying a used Dillon press on Ebay... reality check number 1....Used Dillons go for about 80% or more of retail value on Ebay - for that, I would buy a new press. There are other good reloaders on the market, but for pride of ownership, Dillon rules. Hornady makes some good machines also. I loaded for years on a Rock Chucker. Loved it. Only had one squib load.

Depending on what you want to reload, Dillon dies are good enough. The XL650 is more press than most of us will ever need. I can rip off 900 rounds legit in an hour. If you buy an XL650, get 10 primer tubes. Fill them up before you start to reload. It will save you mucho time. I usually reload in 1000 round batches.

One trick is to load all 10 tubes, then dump one in the filler tube, then fill that 10th tube again. Why? Because you will be stopped by miss feeds, jamming probelms with your case feeder and other misc problems and you will waste a few primers. This way you have more than enough to crank out the full 1K by having your 10 tubes already loaded up and ready to go, with 100 primers already in the machine.

The reloader is only one portion of the expense of reloading. The accessories, like extra parts kit, spare parts, caliber conversion kits for all your favorite ammo, die sets, tool heads, extra small/large primer set up, larger and small pistol/rifle case feed plates, spare powder measurers, digital scale, which you will buy, after you get tired of the grain-slider style of scale, the digital calipers, which you will also buy, after you buy a dial type caliper, because you get so danged confused trying to read it, a quality metal primer flipper tray, a metal one, because you will crack your plastic cheap tray when you drop it and splill 100 primers on the garage floor, case gages - one per caliber, primer tubes at $17 per 4, ammo boxes, order 10 at a time to get discount at Dillon, Rotory handle to be more ergo on your limp wrist, Bullet tray, extra Acro bins for storage of primers, bullet heads, a can of case lube if you want, a quality case cleaner that doesn't sound like a gosh darn washing machine and vibrates off the table everytime you use it, a media separator so you can spill a few ounces of corn cob on the floor each time you use it, because you SHOULD clean the brass before you reload, and the 5,000 other things that suck your lunch money away from you. If you do it right, you will have about $1000 into a quality set up. Not bad for a $479 top of the line machine.....

Getting started:

Just fill up the primer tubes(10 of them) before you start. After every tube runs out, throw in more cases in the case feeder, dump another primer tube in the filler tube, and grab another handful of bullets and dump them in the bullet tray. Fast , efficient, and fun. Just keep you eyes on the powder and double, triple, quadruple check the powder.... did I mention to watch the powder? Better double check the powder again....I use a flashlight straped to my reloader to give me a clear picture and make sure powder goes in each case. I stand when I reload, to make sure I got an eyeball on each case. If you stop the process, clear all stations and start clean. Unique Tech makes a flashlight that fits very neatly into the center hole of your XL650. Shines the light right on the loading caseplate. Cool.

Case gage every round you want to fire without probelms if you compete. I only case gage match ammo. most other practice ammo is fine. I don't want to lose a match because of FTF. Who am I kidding.... I finished dead last last week at Chabot. But I had fun....

If you do get a XL650, and you will, trust me on this, think about the die sets = If you compete, the hot set up is the EGW undersizing die in the #1 position, the Dillon powerdie/measurer in #2, the powder check system in #3, the Redding comp seating die in #4 and the Lee Factory crimp die in the #5 position. Yopu are set to go, you are also out a bunch of money.... but hey, you could give it to your kids for allowance, or to your wife for groceries... right? If you want quality ammo, and do not compete, the stock Dillon dies work just fine. Most other die sets should fit the 7/8th x 14 thread pitch. If you are upgrading from another brand, your used dies should work. You might have compatibilty problems with the powder measure if you are using a Dillon, so check to see if you need an adapter for your RBCS, Redding or other brand.

Reloading adds a new dimention to your shooting pleasure. I like to shoot alot and feeding my babies is time consuming and actually does not save money, it only allows you to shoot more often and have better quality ammo for the same price. I reload .45 ACP for about 9.7cents per quality round, with the brass I have on hand. You are saving your WWB brass, right? WWB at Wallyworld cost about about 21 cents per round. I can shoot 2 to 1. But I have to put in the time to reload. So think about how valuable your time is.... is this a hobby you want to grow into... or grow out of?

Next class.... How do I get the stuck case out of the case feeder without taking the machine apart... till then, enjoy your reloading and remember... check the powder....

PM me if you have any questions.

Jerry Snyder

[wookie1976]

Wow, thanks for the great write-up on the subject. I have been thinking about getting into reloading for a while but didnt really know where to start. That post gave me a place to start thiking from. Ill definately tune into the next installment!

[1911jerry]

Steve over at Glock Talk has put together some good info....

http://glocktalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=491879

Hope this helps.

JS

[30Cal]

I like the Dillon dies, but have had great experiences with RCBS, Redding, Hornady, etc. The Dillon pistol dies have a 2-way seating plug which is nice and are a breeze to clean. They are significantly more resistant to corrosion in my damp garage than all my other brands of dies.

I'm batting about 90% with Lee--I've got a set of 30-06 dies with an oversized expander plug which gives me zero neck tension (I think their crimp dies are just a scheme to get a greater yield with lower tolerances). Fortunately, I got a case stuck in it which gave me an excuse to toss the thing.

[50ae]

I love my XL650 and dillon dies are very good. That said, Lee makes some outstanding die sets and their collet crimpers are some of the best I've seen.