garymac

Sherlock, I am only loading .45 on the Dillon, and I do all my rifle on the turret. Switching to RCBS cured the problem, and to see why just compare the stems. RCBS's edge of the curved part is very thin and the Dillon is very thick. I just came back from my local gun store and the manager told me he had the same problem. He cured it the same way as I did. It's not a big deal, and the problem has been corrected by switching dies.

Well, thanks for the input. There is no doubt I am using the correct end of the stem, as I said the other end works well for swc's. It sounds like others have the same problem also, so I'll just stick with the RCBS seating die, although I do like the design of the Dillon for cleaning purposes. As far as contacting Dillon, I was twice told this is normal, and no offer of replacement. All a replacement would do is to give me another paperweight because I believe the problem to be in the design. The way it is made, the edge of the stem is .52 wide and squared, instead of coming out to meet the die inside wall which would eliminate the contact point. I only use Hornady 230 lead rn and Berry's 230 gn plated so the shape shouldn't be a problem. Could it be possible that they included a stem for a lesser caliber? Looks like a .40 would fit in there just right.

I've been a reloader for 8 years on a Lee turret press and a Dillon 550 reloader for 2 weeks. Got it set up and running with no problem and am extremely happy with it. The only problem is the seating die leaves an imprinted circle in lead bullets. I called Dillon and he said that was normal. Now I knew better than that. Then I tried Berrys 230 rn today, and the circle is pressed into those also, although not as deep. I called back, hoping to get another customer service person but didn't. The same answer, "it's normal". Unless you all tell me the same thing I'm not believing it. Looking at the seating plug, it's easy to understand how it happens. The lip presses into the bullet. Simple. I wonder why they don't make them so they extend out to the inside wall of the die. The only answer I came up with was to take my RCBS die out of the turret and put in there. Presto !! No circle imprint. Now I have to buy another RCBS for the turret unless anyone knows a fix for this. Thanks in advance, Gary