What dies would you recommend for 45 ACP?

Hi Group,

If you were buying new dies what would they be for 45 ACP?  I'm running them in my Dillon.  The Lee Crimp Die is a must, right?  Who makes different seating stems for round nose, SWC, and JHP?  Any input appreciated.

Thanks,

Tom D.

Dillon 100%.. The taper crimp is great and preferred by many. The seating die comes with both a flat and round nose insert. Start here then buy specialty dies as you need.

I seat with a Redding Competition die because it's very easy to dial in seating depth when going back and forth between bullets.  I do final crimp with a Lee Factory Crimp die.

Thanks guys

Tom

I personally use Redding Competition dies. However, if you are goign to use Dillon dies to load SWC, I would recommend purchasing a specialized stem that uses the shoulder rather than the nose or ogive to seat the bullet.

Here is a link: http://www.uniquetek.com/product/T1561

They work very well.

Dillon dies with and a shoulder seater like ruger suggests. Personally dont care for the Lee crimper with pistol rounds. I do use them on semi auto rifle rounds.

The dillon dies are Very easy to clean without removing the die base from the loader so you retain your settings.

I didn't like my Dillon taper crimp die and switched to a Lyman and it works much better.

So the consensus is that there is no consensus lol.

Ray, why don't you like the Dillon crimp? Works great for the 20k rounds I've loaded and super easy to clean.

It may be because I wet tumble (at least that was what Dillon told me) but there were a ton of brass shavings when crimping. I polished the inside of the die and it helped but I was still getting more brass than I thought was normal. After a lot of research in the Dillon forums I was not the only one with the problem and it was suggested that I try the Lyman taper crimp die. I get no shaving at all now and can easily crimp down to .463" smoothly.

I really like using the Lyman expander die! My bullets from the feeder sit straight Every time

I went with the Die from PhotoEscape for both 9mm and 45 and they work great. My bulletfeeder came with its own expander die and the PhotoEscape die works much better.