Thoughts on combined seat/taper crimp die and undersized Sizing die?

[ZenOhSix]

As I have the credit card out, I have began looking at various accessories for the XL 650 I purchased. One of the items that I keep coming back to is the Mr. Bullet Feeder. As with many of the reloading choices, I have been conflicted; I want a powder checking mechanism as I will be shooting full auto. The compromise seems to be the combination of the Seating Die and Crimping Die on the XL 650. Currently, these are seperate stations within the XL650. My thought would be to use it as the following:

1) Sizing / Decapping

2) Primed / Belled / Powedered

3) RCBS Lock Out Die

4) Mr. Bullet Feeder

5) Hornady seat/taper crimp die

I have read that people have commented that the seperation of the Dillon Seater and Taper Crimp is to provide "more consistancy" for better groupings. Yet, "user experts" from forums all over have also sworn they have had no issues and great success with the combo die. For my shooting - I am not looking for extreme accuracy; I am looking for a consistant bullet hose for my Mac 11/9, Full Auto 9mm AR15 or .223.

Is there anything I am overlooking by combining these dies?

Question #2:

Undersized EGW die vs. Dillon die? If I go with the proposed setup above, I was thinking about not ordering the Dillon dies alltogether as I would not be using the Seating / Crimping die and the benefits of the EGW Undersized die sounds worth while. I have read that this will clear our casings with bulges fired from glocks, ensuring appropriate sizing. In addition, it can make it fit a little bit better in tight tolerance guns (was thinking this might be useful in high cycling rates). The downside being that it works the brass a little more than the normal die would.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Mike

[DWFAN]

I use the Hornady combo die and have ZERO problems with my ammo related to seat/crimp in the same station. I also use the U-die. Unless the brass is really bulged, and the bulge is really down low.. It works quite well.

[cguy1177]

I run my 650 in precisely this configuration except I use the dillon powder check in station 3.

works perfectly for me.

[wgj3]

Seat/crimp dies only pose inconsistency issues with inconsistent length brass. Using it "successfully" depends in personal definition of success and starting components.

[Steve RA]

Agree with the preceding !

[Jaxshooter]

I use EGW U dies for all my 9mm and .40 loading. I have no problem with bulged cases. If I have two rounds out of 1M that don't fit the case guage it is alot.

[stiles]

I don't see the point of the u-die in 9 mm. It's a tapered case and the carbide sizing dies are just sizing rings which means your already sizing the base a ton. Even with the larger radius of the dillion I have never had an issue in 9mm. The dillion die with the belling/expander stills provides .002" neck tension for the depth of the expander and something like .0035" deeper, depending on the brass.

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

[Sarge]

Do a search for set back. You will not be the first guy who thought he had no problems with his current die set up.

The Udie is cheap insurance against set back. It may work the brass a tad more but I have reloaded some 9MAJOR brass many times with no ill effects.

As for the OP. Why not just flood the press with more light and skip a powder check? Even with a bullet feeder you still can't help but look right into the case before a bullet is dropped. I mean, it's right there in front of you!

[Desmo412]

I have a hornady LNL press with a Mr. Bulletfeeder that I just added recently. I use a U-Die in station 1, powder measure with PTX in station 2, bullet feeder in station 3, Redding comp seater in 4, and Hornady taper crimp in station 5. I honestly believe a powder check die is a waste of a station. Get enough light on the press so you can see the powder in the case and just pay attention. I can load 700-900 rounds an hour with the bullet feeder.

DEFINITELY buy the Mr. Bulletfeeder if you can swing it. It is hands down the best gadget I have ever purchased. Even without a case feeder, my output doubled the day I installed it.

I had set back issues with FC brass and MG 115 JHPs ONLY using a Hornady sizing die. All other brass worked fine, but I switched to the U-die and my problems went away. I have never had a round fail to chamber.