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Who keeps a spare set of dies?

Knob Creek

Knob Creek

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I ended up getting a case stuck pretty good in my 9mm Crimp Die. So I ordered a new one (Actually I ordered two of them). This led me to thinking. I have redundancy in Firearms, gun parts, loading components, food, tools and so on. But for the most part I only have one set of dies per caliber. So shit gets real and you mess up a die and now you’re sitting there with pounds of powder, stacks of primers and brass and bullets but no way to put them all together. So I’m going to look at getting a second set of dies for the calibers I load the most. Two is one and one is none.
 
Wow that's a good point. Most of the time I started out with some Lee dies to get started on the cheap and have tried to convert all of them over to Dillon Dies. I usually keep the old Lee set bet I've sold a few of them off. I guess I should re think that.
Especially considering the environment we are in now, you might not be able to find one on the shelf or even afford one with the prices out there :(
 
I have a spare set of dies, shell plate, etc - everything I need to load 9mm.

I don't have spares for the other calibers, but I don't shoot them anywhere near as much as 9mm.
 
things get redundant with close to 50 years reloading under my belt. i never get rid of any piece of equipment if i've upgraded of replaced something. i have multiple die sets for most of my calibers, and scales and powder measures and funnels and tricklers. people give you stuff too. yeah, it's worth it to have extras...one never knows.
 
BTSDOG said:
Id just like to know how you get a case stuck in a crimp die ??
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Well I loaned my 550 tool head setup to someone and he got the case stuck. Near as I can tell he didn’t like the crimp he was getting so he readjusted the crimp die and put the cartridge back in the crimp station but must not have had the case in the shell holder correctly. I got the shell out but it got me to thinking what would I do if I couldn’t have.
 
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Knob Creek said:
Well I loaned my 550 tool head setup to someone and he got the case stuck. Near as I can tell he didn’t like the crimp he was getting so he readjusted the crimp die and put the cartridge back in the crimp station but must not have had the case in the shell holder correctly. I got the shell out but it got me to thinking what would I do if I couldn’t have.
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Probably a lot easier to get out of a crimp die than out of a sizing die.....Been there done that.....It sucks......
 
Uzi2 said:
I keep spare dies of all my common caliber reloading dies, 9, 45, .223, ,.308, 30.06. also spare decapping pins and other related hardware.
Click to expand...

Plus 7 on the de-capping pins. I've got at least half a dozen of them. Plus E-Clips and Dillon's spare parts kit. That saved me a couple of weeks ago when I broke a spring. Replaced it with the one from the spare parts kit, and then filled out Dillons warranty form - they sent me a replacement.
 
I do, but didn't plan to. Over time I have landed some great deals and in turn have ended up with a lot of multiple sets of dies. Instead of flipping them, I just set them up. So with most handgun cartridges I have heads setup for dillon 650s and 550s and keep a loose set for single stage press. But it's out of laziness to bot want to setup dies if I want to run round on another press vs having them for spare parts as you mentioned.
 
I have a spare set of 9mm and 223 TC dies.

Yes, I have a stuck case remover but its nice to be able to have the ability to simply pull a stuck die and put in a spare and keep "doing what your are doing".... and deal with removing the stuck case later.

I had to use the spare 223 TC die once for the above. But haven't had to use the spare 9mm die for anything yet.
 
I just grabbed reloading equipment last summer. Got it all in one shot off the classifieds. Primers, powder, bullets, cases, tumblers, single and multi stage press, even a bench, everything.
ive been able to grab some stuff here and there, but you guys are on another level. Extra dies? I’m still looking for a number 2 shell plate so I can load 45s on the multi stage instead of the single.
 
Medicine Man said:
I just grabbed reloading equipment last summer. Got it all in one shot off the classifieds. Primers, powder, bullets, cases, tumblers, single and multi stage press, even a bench, everything.
ive been able to grab some stuff here and there, but you guys are on another level. Extra dies? I’m still looking for a number 2 shell plate so I can load 45s on the multi stage instead of the single.
Click to expand...
You’ll get there. We all do

What press is the shell plate for?
 
You guys need a hobby.

oh, nevermind.

seriously though...I’d go broke if I had to double up on all my dies right now (I’m another Redding/Dillon ho...except for my old Pacific Durachrome sets in 30-06 and 6.5 Jap). Every damn die out there is on back order, but I’m one of the lucky ones that has everything they need...literally everything...except maybe a couple more bullet mould...maybe a few.

I was recently thinking about selling all my Dillon pistol dies for the 550b because I mainly use the square deal B for pistol calibers...but now I’m thinking I might hang onto them that you got the hamsters running on the wheel again upstairs.

what if a time comes sooner than later when literally nothing is available anymore? At the speed they’re moving in DC, that time could be fast approaching. With the proprietary dies on the SDB, I’ll be fuddled if something breaks that I can’t fix...maybe I SHOULD keep a backup instead of trading them for paper currency on the open market. I mean...they’ll never be worth nothing as long as there’s components to be had...

...oh, wait.
 
Just saw on Reddit r/reloading that Dillon said all backorders of carbide dies are currently out another 36 weeks (even orders from months ago) due to supply chain issues getting the carbide inserts. Apparently, other inserts they've looked at aren't making the cut.
 
That’s nuts. I’m sitting on 45acp, 9mm, 44 and 357 magnum Dillon Carbide die sets that I’ve never set up due to using the SDB as mentioned above.

Might reconsider selling them if I can clear a grand on eBay for them...errr uhh, I mean help out a new reloader.

This thread is making the decision very difficult though because I’ve also been considering getting a 750 for 9mm/.223/+ and would definitely need some of those dies.
 
Medicine Man said:
I just grabbed reloading equipment last summer. Got it all in one shot off the classifieds. Primers, powder, bullets, cases, tumblers, single and multi stage press, even a bench, everything.
ive been able to grab some stuff here and there, but you guys are on another level. Extra dies? I’m still looking for a number 2 shell plate so I can load 45s on the multi stage instead of the single.
Click to expand...
Have you tried Shooting Supply in Westport? They have a lot of Lee reloading supplies in stock. If you aren't local, they have an ebay store.
 
ProGun said:
Just saw on Reddit r/reloading that Dillon said all backorders of carbide dies are currently out another 36 weeks (even orders from months ago) due to supply chain issues getting the carbide inserts. Apparently, other inserts they've looked at aren't making the cut.
Click to expand...
I sell a ton of used reloading equipment on eBay. I just sold a dillon set of 9mm dies for $200. Absolutely insane.
 
ProGun said:
Just saw on Reddit r/reloading that Dillon said all backorders of carbide dies are currently out another 36 weeks (even orders from months ago) due to supply chain issues getting the carbide inserts. Apparently, other inserts they've looked at aren't making the cut.
Click to expand...

I ordered a set of .45 dies from DIllon on 1/12/21. At that time, they had a backorder ETA of 14 weeks. That 14 weeks has passed, so I emailed support at Dillon. I was told that their backorder is now 36 weeks.

My press is in Georgia, and I'm in Connecticut until September/October - so I'm kinda "meh" at this point. If the dies don't show up September, I suspect my attitude will change.

In which case I'll start looking to see if anyone has a set of .45 dies and conversion kit that they want to trade for a 9mm setup. (Yeah - that's plan "B").
 
P.S. I‘ve got three sets of 38/357/357max dies..,I set them in the 650 heads so I don’t have to adjust each time I change calibers..
greencobra said:
is there a shortage of decapping pins too? [shocked]
Click to expand...
Not sure but I didnt have to wait for new ones to arrive...reloading was better than a therapist in the past year....I even have a reloading callous! running short on brass to reload at the present time...I need to get to the range more...
 

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