Do Lee dies work with Dillon presses?

Thegman · April 16, 2001, 10:45 AM

I was told by a Hornady rep that Lee dies were too short for their presses, and Dillon presses also. Is it true that Lee dies are too short for the Dillon press? I've not heard that before.

muzzletalk · April 16, 2001, 11:24 AM

Not that I have ever experienced. I have used Lee, Dillon, and RCBS dies in my Dillon press without complications. I stooped using LEE because of the quality. I'm not a big fan of LEE that's all but I haven't had any issues with them not fitting.

WalterGAII · April 16, 2001, 11:29 AM

Lee dies work fine with Dillon presses; you just have to put lockring on the bottom of the toolhead.

Joe Gulish · April 16, 2001, 06:53 PM

I don't use LEE dies in my 550. When I found that they
are to short to put the lock ring on top of the tool
head. So I just use the dillon dies.

BTW, RCBS dies are long enough.

Bogie · April 18, 2001, 03:20 PM

I've used them on a friend's Dillon 550 with no problems - In particular, I like using my Lee crimp die on .223...

IMHO Lee's dies are equal in quality to the other manufacturers, and are superior in some aspects, i.e., the decappers don't croak if you accidentally resize a heavily primer crimped or berdan case...

They're just ugly.

And the Lee collet dies are superior to most "normal" dies when it comes to loading for bolt action rifles... For my accuracy rifles, I use either Harrell (bushing), Redding (bushing) or Lee (collet)...

jthuang · April 19, 2001, 12:06 PM

I have Lee factory crimp dies for .40 S&W, 9mm Luger and .223 Remington. Yes they are a bit short but as mentioned, they will work in the Dillon 550B toolhead.

However, instead of using the lock ring on the bottom of the toolhead, I remove the rubber o-ring and invert the ring on the top of the toolhead. Either way will work, YMMV.

I like the Lee factory crimp die, haven't found one better. The remainder of my dies are all RCBS.

Justin

Hutch · April 19, 2001, 01:11 PM

I'm a HUGE Dillon fan. I have an RL650, which I think is a great machine. My only Dillon dies were the 9mmP I bought with the press. Almost 10% of my finished 9mm rounds won't chamber in my Glocks, due to case bulges near the web. I bought a Lee finish crimp and ran all the culled ammo thru it on a single-stage press. Voila, problem solved. Lee stuff is cheap, and sometimes cheaply made, but this little gadget was a real lifesaver (or ammosaver, anyway). There's one in .45ACP in my future.

Patrick Graham · April 20, 2001, 12:53 PM

I use a lot of lee dies on my 550, most recently the pistol lee factory crimp.
Just flip the nut over on the die and you'll catch the last 2 0r 3 turns on the die threads. Works great.

April 19, 2001, 12:06 PM	#6
jthuang Senior Member Join Date: January 21, 2000 Posts: 823	I have Lee factory crimp dies for .40 S&W, 9mm Luger and .223 Remington. Yes they are a bit short but as mentioned, they will work in the Dillon 550B toolhead. However, instead of using the lock ring on the bottom of the toolhead, I remove the rubber o-ring and invert the ring on the top of the toolhead. Either way will work, YMMV. I like the Lee factory crimp die, haven't found one better. The remainder of my dies are all RCBS. Justin __________________ Justin T. Huang late of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania

April 16, 2001, 10:45 AM	#1
Thegman Member Join Date: November 5, 2000 Posts: 22	I was told by a Hornady rep that Lee dies were too short for their presses, and Dillon presses also. Is it true that Lee dies are too short for the Dillon press? I've not heard that before.

April 16, 2001, 11:24 AM	#2
muzzletalk Member Join Date: January 3, 2001 Posts: 85	Not that I have ever experienced. I have used Lee, Dillon, and RCBS dies in my Dillon press without complications. I stooped using LEE because of the quality. I'm not a big fan of LEE that's all but I haven't had any issues with them not fitting.

April 16, 2001, 11:29 AM	#3
WalterGAII Junior member Join Date: November 7, 1999 Posts: 1,516	Lee dies work fine with Dillon presses; you just have to put lockring on the bottom of the toolhead.

April 16, 2001, 06:53 PM	#4
Joe Gulish Member Join Date: March 15, 2001 Location: Cleveland, Ohio Posts: 49	I don't use LEE dies in my 550. When I found that they are to short to put the lock ring on top of the tool head. So I just use the dillon dies. BTW, RCBS dies are long enough.

April 18, 2001, 03:20 PM	#5
Bogie Senior Member Join Date: June 5, 2000 Location: Job hunting on the road... Posts: 3,827	I've used them on a friend's Dillon 550 with no problems - In particular, I like using my Lee crimp die on .223... IMHO Lee's dies are equal in quality to the other manufacturers, and are superior in some aspects, i.e., the decappers don't croak if you accidentally resize a heavily primer crimped or berdan case... They're just ugly. And the Lee collet dies are superior to most "normal" dies when it comes to loading for bolt action rifles... For my accuracy rifles, I use either Harrell (bushing), Redding (bushing) or Lee (collet)...

April 19, 2001, 01:11 PM	#7
Hutch Senior Member Join Date: February 12, 2000 Location: Birmingham, AL Posts: 1,124	I'm a HUGE Dillon fan. I have an RL650, which I think is a great machine. My only Dillon dies were the 9mmP I bought with the press. Almost 10% of my finished 9mm rounds won't chamber in my Glocks, due to case bulges near the web. I bought a Lee finish crimp and ran all the culled ammo thru it on a single-stage press. Voila, problem solved. Lee stuff is cheap, and sometimes cheaply made, but this little gadget was a real lifesaver (or ammosaver, anyway). There's one in .45ACP in my future.

April 20, 2001, 12:53 PM	#8
Patrick Graham Junior member Join Date: January 18, 1999 Location: Kokomo, Indiana USA Posts: 674	I use a lot of lee dies on my 550, most recently the pistol lee factory crimp. Just flip the nut over on the die and you'll catch the last 2 0r 3 turns on the die threads. Works great.