Dillon 650 And Egw Die

[S.C. Shooter]

I have a new Dillon 650 in .40S&W reloading for a Glock. Overall a great setup and have been quite satisfied with the system. I am currently using an EGW -sizing die and having problems with the case feeding into the die (it needs a little finger help to align properly). This happens once in every 8-10 cycles. While not a major issue it does slow things down considerably. I have re-aligned the EGW die several times without any luck on finding a "sweet" spot. I have not used a standard die with this setup so I don't have a baseline. Would this be considered normal for the "undersized" die? Is there something else I can do to help or is this just the "price to pay" for taking care of my glocked brass.

[Viggen]

If you want to use that die it's the price you have to pay.

We load a lot of Glocked brass and don't find anything special about it. We use Dillon dies.

We case gauge the ammo or case gauge with the barrel of the gun to be used. Out of every 100 reloads we get about 3 that don't gauge. The rest we shoot, and we shoot them by the thousands......

Will it gauge or not, that's the only issue with the ammo from what we have seen.

[TDean]

What Viggen is saying S.C., is that the "full-length" sizing die can only accomplish full-length-sizing because they (EGW) have removed the funnel that Lee (original manufacturer of EGW "U" dies) designed. I use them also, and frequently crush cases during sizing.

I'd rather have a malfunction at the press (watching football, drinking IPA) than a malfunction after the beep. You know what I'm saying.....dog.

I've found that removing the front pin that holds the die-plate in the press (550b), the die plate is allowed to move, thus compensate for the misalignment. With only the rear pin in place, it pivots back there, allowing the front (sizing die location) to move -/+.080" to "self align" (path of least resistance) whence I pull'ith thy handle.

Edited November 22, 2005 by TDean

[ChuckS]

SC,

I hear that the trick is to put the Dillon sizing die back into station 1, move the powder measure from station 2 to 3 and put the EGW die in station 2. You will have to modify the powder measure as in the "fart knocker" modification. See this thread. The Dillon die smooths out the top of the case and the EGW finishes the job.

Edited November 22, 2005 by ChuckS

[Viggen]

What Viggen is saying S.C., is that the "full-length" sizing die can only accomplish full-length-sizing because they (EGW) have removed the funnel that Lee (original manufacturer of EGW "U" dies) designed. I use them also, and frequently crush cases during sizing.

I'd rather have a malfunction at the press (watching football, drinking IPA) than a malfunction after the beep. You know what I'm saying.....dog.

I've found that removing the front pin that holds the die-plate in the press (550b), the die plate is allowed to move, thus compensate for the misalignment. With only the rear pin in place, it pivots back there, allowing the front (sizing die location) to move -/+.080" to "self align" (path of least resistance) whence I pull'ith thy handle.

I don't crush cases during sizing. There is no need to.

After making a batch, for general purposes let's say 100 bullets - at that point you take and put each round into a case gauge (Dillon also makes one) or remove the barrel from the gun and place each round into the chamber to case gauge that way.

There may be 3 or so rounds per 100 that do not case gauge.

And regardless of the maker of the die, every round should be case gauged. It's thge only way to be sure.

Some folks like EGW and such and if I had found a need I would have also. But so far this year we have loaded and shot some 16,000 rounds of 40 made the way I described.

If my guns had not liked the way we did things I would have gone the same way TDean has.

[ErikW]

You don't have to suffer! I use an EGW die in .40S&W on a 650 with 100% case insertion reliability at station one.

Adjust the cam so the case is fully inserted into station #1. Replace the cam slide spring, and maybe the cam slide itself, after cleaning the bearing surfaces. Do not lubricate these surfaces.

The strength of the spring and, to a lesser effect, the condition of the slide are huge factors in obtaining reliable case insertion.

Stupid question: You do have the cam turned around to the "short case" side bearing against the rod, right? (I think it's long side for short pistol cases, short side for long rifle cases.)

[S.C. Shooter]

You don't have to suffer! I use an EGW die in .40S&W on a 650 with 100% case insertion reliability at station one.

Adjust the cam so the case is fully inserted into station #1. Replace the cam slide spring, and maybe the cam slide itself, after cleaning the bearing surfaces. Do not lubricate these surfaces.

The strength of the spring and, to a lesser effect, the condition of the slide are huge factors in obtaining reliable case insertion.

Stupid question: You do have the cam turned around to the "short case" side bearing against the rod, right? (I think it's long side for short pistol cases, short side for long rifle cases.)

Good idea I have not checked but I will. I also like the Idea of putting a standard die in station one and moving the EGW die over. I have a little over 7K rounds through my current system and using a dillon case guage I have not had a single round that has not guaged. This has certainly provided some "peace of mind"