Dillon SDB or 550b (9mm only)

[fireman1776]

Dillon makes great presses but only good dies in my opinion. I bought a full set when I bought my press but within 6 months had replaced them all with other brands. I run EGW, Redding and LEE. All are much better dies than Dillon for various reasons. 

If I were starting over I would just buy LEE and go from there.

Interesting! I already have lee 9mm dies so I will just use them to start off then.

[MemphisMechanic]

What Sage said. Every Lee die is generally superior to it's Dillon counterpart.

Eventually you'll end up with a mixture of dies (An EGW U-die and a Redding micrometer seater and a Lee Factory Crimp are a rather popular combination as just one example out of many possibilities)

I'm back to all-Lee at the moment. And it works great.

Edited November 24, 2016 by MemphisMechanic

[fireman1776]

However, I would like to add a better seating die. Something that excels at seating flat nosed coated bullets. Any advice? The Lee seems inconsistent.

[IHAVEGAS]

1 hour ago, fireman1776 said:

However, I would like to add a better seating die. Something that excels at seating flat nosed coated bullets. Any advice? The Lee seems inconsistent.

Excels ? I like this one with the spring removed for 147 tc coated bullets "Redding micrometer seater",  but my 1050 with a Dillon is more consistent on oal than my 550 with either the Dillon or the Redding. The 1050 is also more consistent on powder charge weight, but both loaders I think are plenty good for my uses. 

For what it is worth. I use the 100 round case gauge Stoeger sells on all my reloads. Rounds that do not pass go for practice & then the brass is trashed. Switching from a Dillon crimp die to a Lee FC crimp die cut the reject rate by about 50%. 

[Phlier]

On 11/22/2016 at 0:26 PM, Sarge said:

Except you can't add aftermarket dies such as a Udie which is very common. No FCD if you want it. No micrometer seating die. No case feeder. Add the cramped platform compared to the 550 and it becomes an easy choice.

 

550

Good points as always, Sarge.

[Sarge]

3 hours ago, fireman1776 said:

However, I would like to add a better seating die. Something that excels at seating flat nosed coated bullets. Any advice? The Lee seems inconsistent.

Actually if you send a bullet or a dummy to LEE they will make you a custom seating stem for a few bucks.

[9x45]

I run all Dillon dies, the only exception is a Lee floating crimp die for the .357SIG so you don't have to trim once, twice, thrice fired brass.