Need help choosing dies

[Mahlsan]

My wife gave me a check for Xmas for half of the price of a 650. so I am finally going to upgrade from the square deal. Need help choosing dies for it. I am planning on reloading 9mm for competition, any help would be appreciated. I am also thinking of getting the mini mr bullet feeder. The case feeder is already part if the equation.

[Dirty Rod]

Pretty much any name brand dies will work. Once you've loaded a bunch and you have some experience loading different brands of bullets you may develop some preferences. Dillon dies, for instance, have a nice radius on the bottom of the sizing die that helps when the case isn't exactly center. Hornady and Lee have a micro adjustment knob on the seating die that allows you to adjust without grabbing a wrench. Other brands have similar pros but they all work.

[A63111]

Dillon dies work great on Dillon machines. They are made for progressive preses like the 650. The only change I make is the Redding seating die.

[Steve RA]

I'd suggest a Lee sizing die as it will size a little lower on the case than the Dillon die. A lot of 9mm cases need to be sized as low as possible on the case.

[Mahlsan]

Thanks for all the help so far. What about a U die.

[Steve RA]

Thats fine also, Lee makes both of them - EGW and Lee.

[Dirty Rod]

U dies are OK but I've never needed them. Standard sizing dies work on all the calibers I load.

[KustomHolsters]

I would say hold off on the bullet feeder until you get pased the learning curve of the 650.

[Butterpuc]

As mentioned above most sets of dies will work fine but some are certainly better than others. If I were to just buy a set and not customize it I would buy Dillon or Hornady set. My personal custom setup is a variation of below depending on caliber.

de-prime and re-size - Dillon or Lee. I like the Dillon better but the Lee sizes further down the brass, which in my opinion probably only matters if you are running a lot of Glock brass in a finicky custom built 1911/2011/CZ/Tanfo... Any of the striker fire polymer guns shouldn't see any difference.

I actually like the Hornady case bell dies, I like to be able to control the amount of bell and you don't always get enough control from the powder drop inserts.

I like the very large mouth of Dillon seating dies and if you just have to have a more consistent seating depth for power factor or finicky guns, use a Redding competiton die or run it right after your Dillon seating die to complete the seating.

I like the Hornady and Redding taper dies, I think I like the Redding better. I have used Lee Factory Crimp Die which re-sizes again, it works but makes your press harder to stroke and again if your gun isn't finicky it probably isn't helpful.

That's my 2 cents take it with a grain of salt.

[KustomHolsters]

I would say hold off on the bullet feeder until you get pased the learning curve of the 650.

[Mahlsan]

The feeder will be a late spring addition. Looks like there is as much science to die selection to load development.

[Dirty Rod]

The feeder will be a late spring addition. Looks like there is as much science to die selection to load development.

Really no need to overthink it until you've played with a few brands. For my first dies, I bought whatever was on sale. It was 20-25k rounds later that I found that I preferred different brands in different stations. I'd just pick one and start rolling. When you set up for your next caliber, try another brand.

[Mahlsan]

Because I really only shoot 9mm. This press more than likely will be for 9mm. I have a square deal for my other calibers. Only reload small amount. Thanks for the so far. I will probably go with Dillon to start but get the lee as others have suggested for a sizing die.

[Butterpuc]

The feeder will be a late spring addition. Looks like there is as much science to die selection to load development.

Really no need to overthink it until you've played with a few brands. For my first dies, I bought whatever was on sale. It was 20-25k rounds later that I found that I preferred different brands in different stations. I'd just pick one and start rolling. When you set up for your next caliber, try another brand.

I agree with above. I started out a cheap set of Lee carbide dies and have added as I have changed calibers and "played" with the setup.

[mikeinctown]

I have used Lee Factory Crimp Die which re-sizes again, it works but makes your press harder to stroke

I noticed this is very very true. My Dillon crimp die was so smooth and once I put the FCD in there I noticed more resistance on the down stroke and significant resistance even on the up stroke. The bullets do have a more uniform factory appearance, but I may just go back to the Dillon die because of ease of use. This is with .45 ACP, so 9mm or 40 S&W may be different.

Honestly, I would just get a set of the Dillon dies to start and go from there if you find you don't like an aspect of the dies later on. The Dillon dies are also longer so the lock rings are on top of the tool head, vs LEE dies, which sometimes need to have the lock ring on the bottom.

[Ultimo-Hombre]

Have used both dillon and Lee. Prefer the Lee. On the sizing die I believe the die mouth has a better chamfer to it. When using the dillon if a case isint perfect in the shell holder the case strikes the edge of the die mouth. Have to back off and rotate the case in the shell holder. Force it and it just crushes the case. This didn't happen with the Lee. I use a 550.

[DudeRick]

Im a Dillon fan, but I don't like their dies. I just started using a case gauge and found out that my lee sizing die was leaving a bulge at the bottom of the case so I have ordered the hornady full length sizing die.

[rdinga]

Dillon dies are great. The redding competition seating die is a wonderful addition as well.

[mikamarj]

EGW U-die for sizing/de-crimping. Helps to get glocked brass to fit tighter pistols.

Redding Competition Seating Die for seating. Keep the OAL variance minimal, bullets straight -- and easy to adjust when playing around with different OALs/bullets.

Redding micro-meter taper crimp die for crimping... Easy to adjust when using different (sorted) brass.

[Foxbat]

Im a Dillon fan, but I don't like their dies.

I too dislike the Dillon dies for several reasons. I had many cases when their 357Sig sized did not push the primer out - the spring was too soft, so I had to watch for it.

Their sized also requires substantially higher force. Lyman and Lee don't have that issue. I used to be skeptical regarding the Lee, due to their low cost, but ended up using them a lot.

[Shmella]

my hornady custom grade die set for 9mm is good except for the sizing die. I was having problems with set back and would never consistently decap. went with a u-die from lee and have had no problems since.