Lee dies w Dillon press

[Bob DuBois]

If you send the bullet your loading to Lee they will make an insert to fit the bullet for a small fee, used to be eight bucks. OAL will still vary because of brass rim thickness, pressure on the handle etc.

I had a friend with a lathe turn a flat insert so I would be pushing on the nose of the bullet instead of the sides which can also vary. You might try opening the bell a little more to make it esier to push the bullet to deapth. I still have a varance in OAL, slight amount is acceptical.

Buy bullets instead of Dillon dies while they have a good seater you can do more with the Lee set up. Using different bullets you an adjust the knob then mark it for the bullet. As red sharpie-147, blue sharpie 124. Makes it easier when changing bullet weights.

[Linear Thinker]

Here are the pictures of Lee dies on some of my 1050s.

You can see where I had to re-machine the lock ring for an old FCD, so the ring would fit from below the toolhead. Otherwise, the dies are too short, and don't have enough of the thread to lock them in.

You can also see the new-style FCDs with a dual-knurl adjustment knob on top. These fit fine on the Dillon presses.

[TerryYu]

I have been using Lee dies including the FCD and Lee presses for over 25 years. I bought a 650 from Brian in December. I tried my proven Lee 9 mm dies first in the 650 but the Lee dies seemed to slow my production down. The cartridges needed extra attention to insure that they entered the opening of the Lee dies precisely. I also bought extra Dillon die nuts so that I could use the Lee dies. After a few tries with the Lee dies I got the Dillon dies out of the box, set them up and the cartridges did not need the extra attention entering the opening of the Dillon dies. I could just crank away. No problems. I put my 9 mm. Lee dies back in my Lee turret for short runs or working up loads.

I like the Lee dies in the Lee presses and the Dillon dies in the 650. The Dillon dies with the pull pins are easier to clean than the Lee dies. Both brands have their strong points.

Just my opinion.

Bobby H.

I've found that to be the same for me. The Dillon expander die for 9mm tends to really "bell" the case and that makes it hard to fit into the Lee seating die's mouth. I've gotten much better results by swapping the Dillon powder measure out for a a Lee autodisk, their expander die pushes the case mouth open by increasing the diameter of the case rather than putting a trumpet on the end.

[Baer45]

Lee does work but slows down my 1050's too much..not smooth function..I only use a Lee die in the first station of my 550 for .40... Dillion Dies are excellent unless there is a special need...for me....

Marine Corp

Colonial Shooting Academy

[PinoyShooter06]

I use Lee U-Die sizer/decapping (open gun) , Dillon seater and Leecrimp die.. I dont use u-die if it is shorter than 1.145 OAL