UpYoursPal Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 (edited) Hey all. For the past few months I've been loading 38 super and other calibers on a plain jane Dillon 550. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done. However, I decided to take the plunge and upgrade to a 1050 with some extras: Mr. Bulletfeeder Pro, autodrive (not Ammobot or Mark 7), upgraded bearings, and a spare toolhead. Cool stuff, right? Well, now I need to outfit it with some dies. I'm taking suggestions for you - the experienced reloading heads of BEnos! Having only used regular Dillon carbide dies in the past, I wasn't very impressed with them, so I want to splurge a bit and get the very best dies for each individual station. Essentially, I'm looking for the best dies if cost is not a consideration. I will be reloading 9mm major for an open gun, so please keep that in mind. I'll also take suggestions for other station tools to make life easier, like better decapping pins, or swaging rods, or anything you can think of! I'm going all out so let's hear your thoughts! Edited June 3, 2019 by UpYoursPal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
echotango Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 (edited) You will get a ton of different "the best" responses. I personally will not use Dillon dies. I have tried several and am currently using a Lee U Die, Lyman M Die, Dillon Powder(not MBF die), Redding Micrometer Die and Lee FCD. I only load 9mm and it is on a 1050 w/ a Mark 7. Edited June 3, 2019 by echotango Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSEMARTIN Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 I'm not 100% on what the best sizing die is for 9mm because I am currently struggling with my Dillon sizing die, but I am certain the Redding Competition seating die and the LFCD are the way to go. I have been reading here that others are happy with their Mighty Armory dies. https://www.mightyarmory.com/ In addition to your setup, I'd highly recommend a case gauge if you don't have one already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 3 hours ago, UpYoursPal said: Hey all. For the past few months I've been loading 38 super and other calibers on a plain jane Dillon 550. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done. However, I decided to take the plunge and upgrade to a 1050 with some extras: Mr. Bulletfeeder Pro, autodrive (not Ammobot or Mark 7), upgraded bearings, and a spare toolhead. Cool stuff, right? Well, now I need to outfit it with some dies. I'm taking suggestions for you - the experienced reloading heads of BEnos! Having only used regular Dillon carbide dies in the past, I wasn't very impressed with them, so I want to splurge a bit and get the very best dies for each individual station. Essentially, I'm looking for the best dies if cost is not a consideration. I will be reloading 9mm major for an open gun, so please keep that in mind. I'll also take suggestions for other station tools to make life easier, like better decapping pins, or swaging rods, or anything you can think of! I'm going all out so let's hear your thoughts! LEE/EGW Udie, MBF funnel, Redding NON micrometer seater and LEE FCD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSEMARTIN Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 1 hour ago, Sarge said: LEE/EGW Udie, MBF funnel, Redding NON micrometer seater and LEE FCD Sarge, I was unaware that Redding sold a die without the micrometer. Just curious.....why not use the micrometer? I love mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 It’s a redding pro seater I got at midway for about $30. It has very fine threads but no micrometer. I wanted it for ease of adjustment but had bad luck with the micrometer die when I tried it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
78Staff Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 I've got mostly Dillon dies on the 1050, but have been making changes here and there. Redding Comp Seaters, Lee's Universal Decap die when I'm processing brass, and have been toying with the ideal of trying a Lee or MA 9mm Size/Decap die. But I haven't really had any issues with the Dillon one yet, but according to many it's only a matter of time lol. I also use the Lyman M die as well processing 223. I've not tried the Lee Factory Crimp Die - a lot of folks recommend it for Semi-Auto ammo, but I've also read it's more of a band-aid and it's better to adjust your other dies correctly, then it's not needed anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moparnut88 Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 It’s a redding pro seater I got at midway for about $30. It has very fine threads but no micrometer. I wanted it for ease of adjustment but had bad luck with the micrometer die when I tried it. I've got the micrometer now on a dillon 1000 and had to machine the seater part of the die to better contour my bullets and I chamfered the die opening a touch and way better now! No issues for several 10k rounds now.Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yondering Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 A comment on the seater die - regardless of brand, in my experience the best results come from having the seater plug cut to match the nose of your bullet. In most cases that means some custom alteration of the plug (or machining a new one), so it'll cost a bit of money and/or time but results are worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moparnut88 Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 A comment on the seater die - regardless of brand, in my experience the best results come from having the seater plug cut to match the nose of your bullet. In most cases that means some custom alteration of the plug (or machining a new one), so it'll cost a bit of money and/or time but results are worth it. Yes I agree 100%Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlapid216 Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 I'm using the RCBS carbide die for 9mm for decap/sizing. It occasionally fails to decap a primer. My seating die is part of my GSI bullet feeding head. It's been consistent with no complaints. The RCBS crimp die has been working without any issues. I've been eyeing the MA decap/sizing die for 9mm. I have the MA universal decap die for my .223 prep head and have had no problems with LC brass. I may match the MA die with the Dillon 9mm crimp die and get rid of the RCBS set all together. This is for manual operation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMoneyGrip Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 I'm using RCBS dies with the carbide sizer on my 650. The only change I made was machining the seater to better fit the profile of my bullet. I don't think"best" or "unlimited budget" has any effect on the quality of ammo. I'm sure it helps to a degree, but money doesn't make everything better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UpYoursPal Posted June 4, 2019 Author Share Posted June 4, 2019 5 hours ago, Yondering said: A comment on the seater die - regardless of brand, in my experience the best results come from having the seater plug cut to match the nose of your bullet. In most cases that means some custom alteration of the plug (or machining a new one), so it'll cost a bit of money and/or time but results are worth it. Do you know of any services that’ll do this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moparnut88 Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 Do you know of any services that’ll do this?Any local machine shop with a lathe can do it I used my own lathe and did it at home it 15 min.Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yondering Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, UpYoursPal said: Do you know of any services that’ll do this? I don't, since I machine my own. If I were looking for someone to do it, I'd probably start with taking the seater plug and a bullet to the local machine shops and asking them to do it. The small "mom and pop" shops will be your best bet. Another option instead of machining the plug is to bed the bullet to it with some sort of strong epoxy like JB Weld. Use release agent on the bullet, and if possible figure out a way to hold the bullet straight with the plug outside of the die; JB Weld inside your seating die won't be any fun even with lots of release agent. That method can work pretty well and gives a perfect match to your bullet. Edited June 4, 2019 by Yondering Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted June 5, 2019 Share Posted June 5, 2019 4 hours ago, UpYoursPal said: Do you know of any services that’ll do this? LEE offers this service for their dies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGA Posted June 5, 2019 Share Posted June 5, 2019 Yondering +1 My setup: 1) After testing a number of sizers over the years (RCBS, Dillon, Lyman, LEE, Redding) I settled on the LEE (U) die. Recently I recieved a Mighty Armory 9mm sizer but it was a lemon! Now I'm waiting for the replacement and I can't wait to see if it is as good as advertized! 2) Lyman M die (expander) 3) Redding Comp seater 4) LEE FCD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oddjob Posted June 5, 2019 Share Posted June 5, 2019 I use an EGW sizing die, Redding Comp seating die and an unknown taper crimp die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultimase Posted June 5, 2019 Share Posted June 5, 2019 It is refreshing to see in this post that lots of people are not using a specific set. I thought I was going insane when I was using one die from one manufacturer and another from another manufacturer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shakin_bakin Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 I have more consistent case gauges with the Dillon sizing die versus the Lee U die. About 10 out of 100 Cases using the U did don’t size well. Seems like it won’t get rid of glock bulge as my cases have a small bulge at the bottom. Where as my Dillon die removes that bulge. Maybe I’ve somehow managed to set it up wrong. But the Dillon die does have an issue punching primers. I have no issues with any other die. I’ve been thinking about trying the MA sizing die for a while though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yondering Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 8 hours ago, shakin_bakin said: But the Dillon die does have an issue punching primers. Can you clarify this? What is the issue? If it's the problem where sometimes the primer seems to stick to the decapping pin and gets pulled back partly into the primer pocket - one thing that helps is to grind a bevel on the end of the decapping pin. The point is to make the tip non-symmetrical so if it tries to pull a primer back into the pocket, it'll be lopsided and will just get knocked off. I've ended up doing this to all the dies I use on my Dillon 550. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shakin_bakin Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 4 minutes ago, Yondering said: Can you clarify this? What is the issue? If it's the problem where sometimes the primer seems to stick to the decapping pin and gets pulled back partly into the primer pocket - one thing that helps is to grind a bevel on the end of the decapping pin. The point is to make the tip non-symmetrical so if it tries to pull a primer back into the pocket, it'll be lopsided and will just get knocked off. I've ended up doing this to all the dies I use on my Dillon 550. Hmm I’ll give that a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yondering Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 Shakin - another thing to consider is the newer spring loaded Dillon die. Mine are all older (I haven't bought a Dillon die in ~15 years) and have solidly mounted decapping pins, but a buddy recently bought a 9mm Dillon die set and the sizer die has the decapping rod spring loaded, so it snaps down after pushing out the primer and knocks the primer free. I don't know when they made that change, but it seems pretty slick and I am considering upgrading my dies to that setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted June 8, 2019 Share Posted June 8, 2019 17 hours ago, Yondering said: Shakin - another thing to consider is the newer spring loaded Dillon die. Mine are all older (I haven't bought a Dillon die in ~15 years) and have solidly mounted decapping pins, but a buddy recently bought a 9mm Dillon die set and the sizer die has the decapping rod spring loaded, so it snaps down after pushing out the primer and knocks the primer free. I don't know when they made that change, but it seems pretty slick and I am considering upgrading my dies to that setup. I had primers stick to these as well. Bevel the tip for best results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooke Posted June 9, 2019 Share Posted June 9, 2019 This is for 40 cal. I had gauging problems until I got here and now no problems. Lee/EGW U die for sizing /decapping Dillon dies for loading (MBF funnel) and seating Lee FCD for crimp RL 1050 automated with Mark 7 running 1500 and 1800 per hour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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