do Carbide dies wear out

[mikeyr]

I am setting up my 650 with a Mr. BulletFeeder and I have been reloading for 20+ years with a Redding set of dies on my 650. I got a used set of Dillon 9mm dies when I bought a second 650 but never used those dies. I figured I would keep my toolhead ready to go with the Redding dies and use my Dillon dies.

I used the Mr. BulletFeeder powder drop and had issues with the bullet falling into the case, I got a Alpha powder drop funnel and same issue. The bullet falls in deep. If I back it out then I get no belling and bullet wont stay while rotating to seating station.

I went back to my Redding resizing die and it works fine, my Dillon sizing die is 0.3795 inside diameter and my Redding is 0.3710, that makes the difference, never heard of this before, is my Dillon die worn out ? or ? Just thought I would ask before talking to Dillon, I know they are busy. I didn't think Carbide dies ever wore out.

[pacrat]

I am setting up my 650 with a Mr. BulletFeeder and I have been reloading for 20+ years with a Redding set of dies on my 650. I got a used set of Dillon 9mm dies when I bought a second 650 but never used those dies. I figured I would keep my toolhead ready to go with the Redding dies and use my Dillon dies.

I used the Mr. BulletFeeder powder drop and had issues with the bullet falling into the case, I got a Alpha powder drop funnel and same issue. The bullet falls in deep. If I back it out then I get no belling and bullet wont stay while rotating to seating station.

I went back to my Redding resizing die and it works fine, my Dillon sizing die is 0.3795 inside diameter and my Redding is 0.3710, that makes the difference, never heard of this before, is my Dillon die worn out ? or ? Just thought I would ask before talking to Dillon, I know they are busy. I didn't think Carbide dies ever wore out.

Have you measure and compared the expanders?

[pennstater]

Damn! I've been using RCBS carbide dies for, not sure , 30+ years. Haven't had one fail yet. Sorry to hear that. Do they have a lifetime warranty?

[vhuang168]

Are you using cast or plated/fmj bullets?


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[J-cat]

How are you measuring the ID of the die?

[eaglemike]

They can be worn out, but not by most people. Takes a lot of reloading to wear one out. If someone runs a huge bunch of dirty/dusty brass there'll be wear.

.008 difference is a LOT. As noted above, how are you measuring? Expander size (also noted above)? What do the bullets measure?
Dillon dies have been known to have a fairly large radius at the bottom of the die. The 9mm case is tapered a fair bit. The sizing ring will be tapered too. If you are measuring farther up the taper, that can affect your measurement comparison.
If you don't have one, a reloading manual with actual case and bullet dimensions can be pretty handy. Good luck!

[mikeyr]

Bullets are both plated and FMJ. I am measuring using dial calipers, I am being very careful and sticking the calipers in the same distance, I know that 9mm is tapered so when I put the calipers in, I put them in the same distance. I know its not accurate, but I feel that is giving me a good comparison. I loaded up 300 rounds since I first posted and all worked out good, this morning before I posted I had 18 out of 100 bullets that went in too deep when they dropped from the bullet feeder. So even if I am measuring inaccurately, it is the Dillon sizing die that is oversize (yes, I checked and made sure it was just barely touching the case plate on the 650 so sizing as deep as possible).

The Dillon die looks good inside but it was a used die that I got when I purchased a second 650. I have proper bore gages at work, I will check it all out more accurately in the morning .

[J-cat]

Measure the outside diameter of a sized case instead.

[Cheep]

If the bullet won't stay upright BEFORE the powder drop, the case isn't oversize. Looks like something might be wrong when dropping powder.

[protohyp]

the alpha powder drop die bells the case perfectly depending on the type of projectile you're loading. Its going to be different for FMJ and plated and even among some FMJ profiles.

You can also dial in the weight of the MR. Bulletfeeder drop so that when it drops the projectiles above the one being dropped sort of act like a hammer locking it into the case. It takes adjustment each and every time you change projectiles even if its all 9mm. It gets frustrating sometime because some profiles are really resistant to the belling of the cases.

[mikeyr]

Well just to close this thread...Dillon is sending me a new die, old one was oversized. They of course didn't say I wore it out or why but I have a new die coming.

[protohyp]

Well just to close this thread...Dillon is sending me a new die, old one was oversized. They of course didn't say I wore it out or why but I have a new die coming.

my post above last post still applies. it will require fine tuning depending on the projectile you use.