reloading die life cycle

[jstagn]

All .40, in 650 dillion.

I have an egw undersize decapper station 1,

have redding micrometer in station 3 for seating bullets and have and undersize lee in station 4 for crimp and once again making sure there is no 'glock' or any other sizing issues. How often (round count) should any of these dies need replacing? Thanks.

[Sarge]

Hundreds of thousands of rounds

[lefty o]

if you feed them clean brass, they will last a very very long time. dirt/grit/crud is what typically kills dies.

[beerman]

A major Swedish ammo maker changes dies on the Volume machine every 4 months, they make ammo by the truckloads on the 6,5x55, .308 & 30-06 machines.

I once read an article on the subject in Guns'n Ammo or any other American gun magazine, the Author, (fill in name) had worn out a .45 ACP carbide die.

it had taken 3 decades.

[Bamboo]

I never heard of anyone actually wearing out a carbide pistol size die (but 30 years would sound about right). Break them or have the carbide ring pop out, yes, but not wear it out.

It is good to clean them every so often to keep the crud out. Also, avoid loading dirty cases as that will build up gunk on the sizer that will scratch your cases. If you start seeing vertical scratches on your cases take some break cleaner or bore cleaner and clean your sizer die with a bore brush and mop.

Lastly, use a light case lube even on the pistol cases and your dies will most likely outlive you.

Edited January 4, 2016 by Bamboo

[Hi-Power Jack]

I never heard of anyone wearing out a carbide pistol size die). Break them or have the carbide ring pop out, yes, but not wear it out.

Dillon replaced my 9mm SDB carbide sizing die a few years ago - not sure, but

I think the cartridge case got stuck in it ....

[beerman]

I never heard of anyone actually wearing out a carbide pistol size die (but 30 years would sound about right). Break them or have the carbide ring pop out, yes, but not wear it out.

20 of those years he shot IDPA and/or IPSC matches weekly, the last 10 , he just shot a lot if i remember the article correctly.

[safeactionjackson]

I never heard of anyone actually wearing out a carbide pistol size die (but 30 years would sound about right). Break them or have the carbide ring pop out, yes, but not wear it out.

It is good to clean them every so often to keep the crud out. Also, avoid loading dirty cases as that will build up gunk on the sizer that will scratch your cases. If you start seeing vertical scratches on your cases take some break cleaner or bore cleaner and clean your sizer die with a bore brush and mop.

Lastly, use a light case lube even on the pistol cases and your dies will most likely outlive you.

A friend who reloads commercially on s1050's called me the other day to see if I had a spare Dillon 9mm carbide sizing die (I did), he explained that it was the second one he's worn out, that same weekend he loaded 34K worth of 9mm.

I don't see myself wearing out any carbide dies in my life time.

~g

[shooterclay]

(new to reloading) Looking at a Dillion 550, are dillion carbide dies as good as any?

[9x45]

Yes, Dillon dies are as good as Redding, RCBS, Hornady, Lyman, and in my experience, are easier to lock and go very well with Dillon machines. You will notice that all the good dies are about the same price. Dies are 7/8-14 thread, so if you already have a set of dies, they will fit the 550. If not, just buy the dies when you buy the machine. You can get Dillon product on this website. I run about 15,000-18,000 rounds a year, for the last 25 years, and still will not be able to wear out the dies in my lifetime. And if you use case lube, or dry mold release, they will last 3 lifetimes. Don't forget you will need a tumbler, wet or dry, calipers, scale to start. Use the powder makers website load data. Best if you can get a fellow competitive shooter to help you setup your press. Takes all the worry out of it.

Here is my old 550 from the beginning of time, before they had an ammo chute.

[AzShooter]

After 40 years of reloading I have never worn out a die set. But they do seem to be accumulating. I think it's about time I sell the ones I no longer use and empty a drawer in my reloading cabinet.

[jmorris]

I have never worn out one in 30 years using them but I always feed clean brass into them and for the last decade I lube all cases, not just rifle.

[farmland]

Not as old as some so I can say after 24 years of heavy use I have never worn out any die. However I somehow did get some dirt in a RCBS die that leave a nice mark on my 223 brass. It appears to be a build up of brass and not a ding. I have tried to clean it but got lazy and bought new dies. I know I could have sent the resizing die back but someday I really want to figure out how to fix it myself. but then again how do you know when hey are worn out? I suspect when the reloads will not chamber or fit or something bad happens, who know the answer.

[flyingrhino]

I just had a Dillon 45 ACP sizing die spit out the carbide insert ring. I had maybe in the area of 10,000 rounds through it, less than 2 years old. I sent them an email and picture and they sent me an RMA to send it back. So for the time being I had to pull a NIB Lee undersized die out of my spare parts drawer to keep me in business. I don't care for the undersized thing but I bought it on a whim long ago when I thought it might solve an issue I was having with a particular pistol.

Edited January 20, 2016 by flyingrhino

[safeactionjackson]

I just had a Dillon 45 ACP sizing die spit out the carbide insert ring. I had maybe in the area of 10,000 rounds through it, less than 2 years old. I sent them an email and picture and they sent me an RMA to send it back. So for the time being I had to pull a NIB Lee undersized die out of my spare parts drawer to keep me in business. I don't care for the undersized thing but I bought it on a whim long ago when I thought it might solve an issue I was having with a particular pistol.

Not the norm, I've got several Dillon sizing dies that have tens of thousands of rounds through them, 9mm might be have close to 100K thru it.

~g

[BeerBaron]

I'm not a big dillon die user but a fried has had a few 38 super dies break the sizing ring. It seems some just get bad ones as many others last a long time.

[Service Desk]

Dillon comes with a warranty that lasts as long as the dies - get some and stop worrying.

[Bob DuBois]

Had a Lee sizing die break the carbide ring, so that's why I recheck and set last using a small strip of paper as a go no go gauge.

Seems the first die to wear are crimp dies and they last quite a while.

Loading clean, lubed brass you'll get your money's worth.

[flyingrhino]

I just had a Dillon 45 ACP sizing die spit out the carbide insert ring. I had maybe in the area of 10,000 rounds through it, less than 2 years old. I sent them an email and picture and they sent me an RMA to send it back. So for the time being I had to pull a NIB Lee undersized die out of my spare parts drawer to keep me in business. I don't care for the undersized thing but I bought it on a whim long ago when I thought it might solve an issue I was having with a particular pistol.

Not the norm, I've got several Dillon sizing dies that have tens of thousands of rounds through them, 9mm might be have close to 100K thru it.

~g

I agree it's not the norm. I should let it be known that I've been reloading with Dillon equipment for 30 years and this is the first die I've broken. I reload on the order of 1000 rounds per month. Before switching most of my calibers over to my 650 I reloaded everything on my SDB. I can't begin to guess how many 10's of thousands of rounds I've run through that.