randy01 Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 I'm a beginning pistol reloader and was wondering which dies to get in .45ACP Randy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin Orr Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 Just use the ones that come with your Dillion Press. They work great with a .45. Welcome to the Forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gun Geek Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 I know this is a religious argument on this board - you find people either strongly agree or disagree with my perspective, but here goes. Spend the $10 or $12 for a Lee Factory Crimp Die (FCD). It will save you untold amounts of grief. It is very easy to set up and produces ammo that will reliably chamber. The counter argument is that if everything is set up correctly the FCD is not needed. I would agree with that poistion IF you use single headstamp brass all trimmed to the same length (regular crimp dies can be sensitive to case length). However, I only occasionally see the need for this level of care required for pistol cartridges. I don't really have a strong opinion on sizing and seating dies. The Dillons work great, and I really like the easy removal of the seater plug for cleaning w/o changing the set-up. Try to stay away from the combo seating/crimping die. A PITA to adjust correctly especially for a newbie. I hope you are planning on using a progressive press. There are a few folks who will tell you to start with a single stage so you can learn the fundamentals (don't hear that too much around here!). Well that takes about 2 hours, then you'll be tired of handling each piece of brass 4 or 5 times. Geek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSEMARTIN Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 Dillon dies with a Lee FCD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRG65 Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 Everything thing I care about gets loaded using Redding dies, and seated w/ their competition seater. Redding makes a progressive set, which I use in my 1050, and of course the competition seater. I bought my 1050 used and it came set up for 38 super and I load 9mm, so I never had to make the decision between dillon and redding dies. This setup is more expensive than the just a set of dillon dies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFD Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 I like using the FCD. As for the rest of the dies, I really don't care too much. I've used them all and have few complaints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Snyder Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 Randy... as the others have stated, the .45 is not very hard to reload, and pretty much any good die set will work... the Reddings are very good... when you reload brass that has been shot in autoloaders ... some may have generous chamber dimensions or you may have high pressure cartridges that have started to extract while there was still high pressure in the chamber ... the back end of the case may get bulged a little near the web (base area)...you need a sizing die then that will go all the way to the bottom of the case... the Lee dies typically have the carbide ring cemented in closer to the mouth of the die, and with less radius, which translates to the sizing die working the brass closer to the web area... the .40SW fired in a Glock is the prime offender of the common cartridges....regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmitz Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 Randy, Welcome to the forum, Dillon dies, with a Redding Competition Seater Enjoy, Henny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasag93 Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 RCBS carbide pistol dies, back the seating/crimping die back to just seat and use a Lee factory crimp die. LFC die works great and makes reliable ammo. People will say don't get it, but figure it out for yourself. Cheap investment and if you don't like it, would be easy to sell. Welcome to the forum. TXAG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBF Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 Randy, Welcome. It would be hard to screw up with about any CARBIDE dies. I have used Lee, RCBS and Dillon, all good. Get the Lee FCD. Try your CARBIDE dies without lube at first, then try them with a little Hornady One Shot, you will never go back. Travis F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobabygo Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 I think the absolute best combination is a Dillon resizing die, Redding Competition Seating Die and a Lee Factory Crimp Die (FCD). For .45 I use the Dillon resizing and seating dies and a Lee FCD. For .40 I use the EGW U resize, Redding Comp Seater and Lee FCD. I really like the Dillon resizer because it has a bigger mouth opening so that even if you don't place your brass into the first station quite right, it will still guide it in there. With the EGW (which is really a Lee ground down I think) sometimes I pull on the handle and only get about half way . Also, I don't think the Redding Comp Seating die is mandatory. It's expensive, but I got it just because I wanted to check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.40AET Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 In case you havn't gotten enough votes for the Lee FCD, here's another. In the last 5000 rounds, I can't remember one failing the drop check. It's good insurance for consistant ammo. http://www.midwayusa.com/rewriteaproduct/716704 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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