mcracco Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 I happened to mention in another thread that I was thinking about picking up a non-Dillon shell plate on eBay and the universal feedback was they are junk, don’t do it. Apparently there was a report of Dillon finding an aftermarket shell plate on a 1050 which was causing problems due to it being out of spec. I took the advice as a challenge so I bought one. I have an existing 223 setup which is running fine but since I am running high volumes of brass I thought having a backup shell plate would be a good idea. I purchased a GS Custom #3 shell plate for $67.55 which puts it on par with Dillon price wise. The shell plate is very well machined and if there is a difference in dimensions between the GS and Dillon, I can’t tell. I installed it on the 1050 and ran 1,000 rounds through it without an issue. The only physical difference I see is the GS has a slightly more defined bevel on the leading edge of each shell position. I was hoping this would reduce the number of station 1 misfeeds but I still had a few, same as with the Dillon plate. It might be better but certainly no worse. Granted I am running once fired military brass and there are occasional burrs around the rim. GS is claiming their product is 10x harder than the Dillon shell plate. Could be, no way for me to test. The product surely is manufactured from high quality steel. Suffice to say I am happy with the purchase and would not hesitate to buy another GS Custom product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roxfo Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 I was hoping this would reduce the number of station 1 misfeeds but I still had a few, same as with the Dillon plate. It might be better but certainly no worse.Thanks for posting this - I was thinking about getting one, but was then put off by some bad reviews.On the subject of the station 1 misfeeds, do you have the Casefeed fix cam? It solved my station 1 issues completely on my .308 press; maybe it will help yours too. It is discussed here in this thread: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=162927 They can usually be found on eBay by searching for: "Dillon Super 1050 case feed fix plate". .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmorris Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 I took the advice as a challenge so I bought one. I would advise you to not load a compresses charge of N310 in .223... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
razorfish Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 I took the advice as a challenge so I bought one. I would advise you to not load a compressed charge of N310 in .223... I'd watch that video... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcracco Posted October 9, 2014 Author Share Posted October 9, 2014 (edited) Sure, I have the modified cam on all my tool heads. In fact, Dillon changed the profile of the profile of their stock part which seems to work as well as the aftermarket one. BTW, this is just case prep and I get that crank going at a pretty good clip. The misfeeds are not that frequent and I don't consider it a major obstacle. Edited October 9, 2014 by mcracco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken_Bird Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 Actually, it was my press that Dillon talked about using a non Dillon plate. I sent the entire 10150 to them as I was having hell. There service guys found the shell plate I was using G&S was out of spec. Instead of a center hole, it was a enter egg. It also would not lay totally flat. They put my Dillon plate on and a couple of other things and its worked ever since. Made a believer out of me. Yes, I was also impressed at the good looking machining on this plate, but good looking and it works are not always in harmony. No I still own that G&S plate, less the 200 rounds. I will take 1/2 price for it from believers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcracco Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 Ken, did you talk to GS? Pretty obvious you have a bad part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmorris Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Bad parts happen. QC should catch them before they are shipped but that does not always happen. Always going aginst good advise is not a good idea either but doesn't always lead to bad results. If your happy, so am I. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellow13 Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Here's my experience with one of their plates. http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=202001 After opening up a case on ebay, he let me return the plate. He said that someone changed the settings on the cutter and a few batches were out of spec. I liked the build quality of the plates. Maybe I'll give them another go if the Dillon plates ever crap out on me. Glad to hear your experience is going well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrb06 Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Nothing against GS but if the part price is on par with Dillon why would you not purchase from Dillon? I understand saving some dollars but it is similar to installing non OEM body panels on a car, while they work the amount of time, materials and effort needed to make it work end up costing you more in the long run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjacobs Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Nothing against GS but if the part price is on par with Dillon why would you not purchase from Dillon? I understand saving some dollars but it is similar to installing non OEM body panels on a car, while they work the amount of time, materials and effort needed to make it work end up costing you more in the long run. I believe GS makes a few plates for the 1050 that Dillon doesnt make. That would be the ONLY reason I think I would go with one of their plates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcracco Posted October 11, 2014 Author Share Posted October 11, 2014 Nothing against GS but if the part price is on par with Dillon why would you not purchase from Dillon? I understand saving some dollars but it is similar to installing non OEM body panels on a car, while they work the amount of time, materials and effort needed to make it work end up costing you more in the long run. I have quite a few non-Dillon parts on my 1050 and I suspect most users here do too. As for the GS part; nothing ventured, nothing gained. If it turned out to be a POS $70 won't break me and it won't stop my operation. If GS's claims are true I have a shell plate that is stronger and feeds better. On the other hand if GS was selling an equal to the Dillon part for $20 less I would buy the Dillon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck s Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 My last dillon 1050 plate lasted 3 months and around 1800 rounds before it broke, no give on a warranty for it ( I am fully aware of the 1050 warranty). I bought another one from dillon, but if it proves to be crap, I will try the after market one(it has an excellent warranty ). My first 1050 plate lasted a few years,and that seemed reasonable. The bottom metal bowed out in every station until one finally broke clean off on the second one. Commercial machine or not, 1800 rounds is not enough to justify 80 bucks for a new one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiggerJJ Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 My last dillon 1050 plate lasted 3 months and around 1800 rounds before it broke, no give on a warranty for it ( I am fully aware of the 1050 warranty). I bought another one from dillon, but if it proves to be crap, I will try the after market one(it has an excellent warranty ). My first 1050 plate lasted a few years,and that seemed reasonable. The bottom metal bowed out in every station until one finally broke clean off on the second one. Commercial machine or not, 1800 rounds is not enough to justify 80 bucks for a new one.Sounds like you are way over-camed and peening the shellplate with one of your dies, maybe the sizer? You should not be destroying shellplates like that...jmho jj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brassaholic13 Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 I broke two of the Dillon shell plates. Now, I will admit, I do have a Forcht autodrive with 3-phase motor that I control the speed on the VFD. If a index pawl breaks, or ovals the index pawl pin, and the shell plate does not fully rotate, you're going to dork a Dillon shell plate. They are NOT that rugged. I purchased a pair of the GS Tool shell plates, which are more robust than the Dillon plates by far, but I had an issue with them. The cases were wobbling in the plate way too much due to bad tolerances. After talking to the owner at GS Tools, he admitted there was human error involved, but had transitioned to CNC machining. He sent me two new plates, and a return shipping label to send the old ones back. Excellent customer service. On par with any I've experienced with Dillon, Hornady, or Lee, and significantly better than CH4D's customer service. The replacement plates worked as well or better than Dillons, and in the event of an issue, did not bend, break or dent. I've held off posting here, because I know this will eventually turn into a dick waving thread of who has the better shell plate. Now, you know my experience, for whatever little that is worth. I would suggest, if you're in question, to try one. If you're not happy, or it doesn't work as advertised, you're covered by Ebay's buyer protection and the good experience of customer service that I had (which may or may not have changed in the past 3 months since I bought mine). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 I lost count of how many hundreds of thousands for rounds I loaded on a 1050 in 40 S&W, with the same Shellplate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmorris Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 I broke two of the Dillon shell plates. Now, I will admit, I do have a Forcht autodrive with 3-phase motor that I control the speed on the VFD. If a index pawl breaks, or ovals the index pawl pin, and the shell plate does not fully rotate, you're going to dork a Dillon shell plate. They are NOT that rugged. I have been loading on Dillons for about 30 years and never had to replace a shell plate. I do have the clutches on my autodrives set so they will just do there job with lubed brass. They won't even put out near as much force as I can with my arm. Better to have it timeout if something jams than break parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brassaholic13 Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Well of course. If you guys are doing it, then NOBODY, and I mean NOBODY, should ever have an issue, right? This is why I didn't want to post in this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDA Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Well of course. If you guys are doing it, then NOBODY, and I mean NOBODY, should ever have an issue, right? This is why I didn't want to post in this thread. I think you need to be a little less sensitive, you posted your experience and they posted theirs, I didn't see any issue with any of the last three posts in how they were written or the information they conveyed. I don't have a dog in this fight but I do have a question. If the GS shell plate is stronger and less resistant to bending/breaking, could this cause an issue with another part of the machine breaking that is more difficult and/or more costly to fix? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmorris Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Well of course. If you guys are doing it, then NOBODY, and I mean NOBODY, should ever have an issue, right? This is why I didn't want to post in this thread. Don't get bent out of shape, mistakes happen and things can get damaged, we all know that. They can get damaged, anything can get damaged; however, they can also work for what seems like forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datguy Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 In order to get the Dillon trim die to correctly size 223 brass, I'm caming over a bit. It doesn't feel excessive or anything of the sort. I've watched the various parts moving and it looks ok. But in the back of my mind I've wondered if it would hurt the shell plate.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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