[BAGS from NC]

Bags from NC just getting into reloading and have purchased a Dillion 550B. does Lee dies work well in the 550b? right know we are doing 9mm & 45. What seems to be the best power & primers?

[Boxerglocker]

Lees work fine... primers are pretty much all the same unless you have a light trigger job... powder depends on your intended load purpose.

[ron59]

Lee dies work fine (I prefer Lee sizing dies to Dillon), but you do need the Dillon powder drop stuff and the caliber specific funnel for station 2.

[fredj338]

Lee will work, but you may need to change the lock rings, not much room on top for the larger Lee rings. As noted, powder is load specific, but W231/HP38 will do for both as will Unique, WSF, Universal & a couple others in that burn range.

[ustate]

As everyone has said so far I use Lee dies but the Dillon lock rings. Dillon's lock rings leave more room and having the Dillon lock wrench makes it convienent.

[RustyFN]

Yes, Lee dies are all I use in my 550.

[TonyT]

Lee dies will work although I replace their lock ring with one from Dillon. I also prefer the Dillon dies for relaoding lead bullets as one can readilly clean out the seating plug without disturbning the dies aliognment.

[SonnyCrockett]

i tried Lee dies in my 550 and ended up selling them
I prefer Dillon,the wider mouth and the c-clip make for a better die.....About the only thing I do like about the lee die is the micrometer knob on top of the seating and crimp die,now that id like to see on Dillon....I do use Lee Auto Disc often on my dillon because of the recipe tracking I can do with the numbered disc holes....I pretty much dont even use my dillon powder hopper anymore

[Colorado4Wheel]

You have to be sure to square up the dies in to the shellplate.

[Samned2003]

The lee dies work fine, but if you go ahead and buy a set of Dillon 9mm dies, you will surprised how much better they work. The Dillon dies seem to work smoother, and I really like the spring loaded decamper pin. The throat of the dies seem to be flared a little more than the Lee Dies.

I used Lee dies until a bought the Dillon Dies, and I would not go back.

The biggest thing is to find the recipe for the cartridge you are going to reload and follow it exactly.

I primarily use either CCI or Winchester primers for all of my reloading.

For 9mm- Winchester 231, Accurate #7 and Vhiatavouri 320 are great powders.

[ron59]

The flared Dillon resizing die doesn't size the base of tye cases as well as the Lee.

I use:
Lee sizing die
Redding micrometer seating die (SO easy to adjust! )
Dillon crimp.

[F106 Fan]

Originally Posted by ron59

The flared Dillon resizing die doesn't size the base of tye cases as well as the Lee.

I use:
Lee sizing die
Redding micrometer seating die (SO easy to adjust! )
Dillon crimp.

Whether the Lee sizing die is required depends on where the brass comes from. I pick up range brass in 9mm and most of it comes from a Glock. The Lee die is useful for sizing this stuff.

OTOH, my .45 ACP brass is usually my own so the Dillon dies work fine. That seems to be true whether I shoot the Colt 1911s, Sig 1911, Sig P220 or Glock G21SF.

I also use the Redding micrometer die when I am setting up a load but once I start making production batches, I want the simple clean-up of the Dillon seating die. The lube on lead bullets makes a mess out of the seating die and eventually your bullets will be getting seated too deep.

Richard