I bought a 2nd hand one, little used, that came with 5 shell plates & powder dispensers. Came with Dillon dies I don't need presently including 9mm, 10mm, 45.

I do want to buy dies for the rifles I have on hand: .223, .204, 308. All are fired in bolt guns, no semi autos.

Which brand dies should I buy in these cals that would be a good fit for the Dillon? 2 die or 3 die sets? If 2 die sets are the RCBS X-dies compatible with use in a progressive?

Also, suggestions for powders that might meter consistently in Dillon's dispenser while offering good velocity and accuracy would be much apprecaited.

Thx

Mike

no need for anything special, just your old run of the mill rifle dies. ball powder will work far better than stick, but if you are really going to get into it replace the dillion with a hornady or rcbs measure with their kit to make it work in the dillon

you can use any currantly made dies in your dillion. choose what ones you like and enjoy it.
personnaly i have never had any problems with my dillion powder measurer and they are far more accurate than any other powder system made. of the 1000's of rounds i have put through my 550 and now my 650, my dillion powder measurers never have dropped a powder charge that was off.

in the 223,204 and 308 i would sujest aa2230. i have used it in 308 and 223 with great accuracy and it meters great through my dillions powder measurer. i wouldnt be afraid to use the aa2230 in a 204 if there is loadings for it

Mike are dillon's powder dispensers the same for rifle and pistol or are some internal parts different?
The guy I bought this from had one shell plate set up for rifle and the rest for pistol. I'm wondering if I need to buy bits for the dispensers I have to load rifle.

Thx

Mike

they make a small large and magnum powder bar for their dispenser the small is for pistol stuff [up to about 20 grs]and the rifle [large] one does up to round 70 or so.
you can easily tell them apart because the large one is just thicker.

quote:

Originally posted by Nomo4me:
Mike are dillon's powder dispensers the same for rifle and pistol or are some internal parts different?
The guy I bought this from had one shell plate set up for rifle and the rest for pistol. I'm wondering if I need to buy bits for the dispensers I have to load rifle.

Thx

Mike

The large bar will be ok for the 223 & 204, but you'll need the magnum bar for the 308 w/ most pwoders.

I mainly use redding die (bolt action) and Dillion die (pistol/223 AR) on my 550B.

I usally get the 3 die set for the neck die for the bolt action guns.

I have used in the past, lee, lyman, and rcbs with no issues. I have a RCBS X die for the my 220 swift, but have not tried it yet.

Mgoodrich I'll ask you a question since you mentioned the 3 die set: is it better to use a dedicated neck sizer die for that function rather than just not bumping the full length sizer die against the shoulder?

I'd like to work the brass as little as possible so am interested if that's a factor.

thx

Mike

I like Dillon and RCBS dies.I've loaded close to 1/2m rds through my used 550.Best loader out there.And to tell the truth auto-indexing sucks,glad I don't have it..

I just prefer not to touch the shoulder if I don't have to, that is why I always get the neck sizing die.

This works the best on the swift (I have 5 of them). I had a problem with head seperations when I was full length sizing and not keeping track of what brass was shot in each gun. I went to neck sizing then and kept track and haven't had any issues since then.

The RCBS X sizer die came out then, I bought one but havn't used it.

I've had inconsistency problems with the long grained stick powders in my 550, when loading small capacity cartridges. Ball and short cut powders are very consistent.