Pistol Reloaders: How many use a 3 die set, how many a 4?

I reload on a Dillon XL650, 4 die sets for me.

I will never voluntarily run a 3 die set again.

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Originally Posted by Coal Dragger

I reload on a Dillon XL650, 4 die sets for me.

I will never voluntarily run a 3 die set again.

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Whats the biggest issue you have with them? I'm still new to reloading but my crimps and seating with the single die where able to get the specs I wanted. Am I one of the lucky ones (mainly sticking to standard 9mm crimp/coal) or is there something I'm missing?

Crimping while bullet seating is more time consuming to set on the die, and will never render as nice and consistent a crimp as doing it separately. The biggest issue I have is that on bullets with no cannelure you end up shaving bullet material as the crimp is applied, because the bullet is still being pushed down at the same time.

You have better control running seating and crimping in separate steps. Fortunately the Dillon and other progressive presses allow this, and in fact cost no extra time at all. You get better ammo, and a lot more of it, in less time.

4 dies on a Dillon 550.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Coal Dragger

Crimping while bullet seating is more time consuming to set on the die, and will never render as nice and consistent a crimp as doing it separately. The biggest issue I have is that on bullets with no cannelure you end up shaving bullet material as the crimp is applied, because the bullet is still being pushed down at the same time.

You have better control running seating and crimping in separate steps. Fortunately the Dillon and other progressive presses allow this, and in fact cost no extra time at all. You get better ammo, and a lot more of it, in less time.

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Awesome, thanks for the insight!

I've never tried combining seat and crimp for the same reason I've never tried being gay. It's completely insane at face value. No need to even try it to figure out it's WRONG!

LOL.

Well now you’ve gone and done it markm, the LGBTQ community is going be protesting outside your house. Standby for a bunch of fabulously dressed men, and lumberjack looking women in Subaru’s to picket your driveway.

I load on my 650 using Dillon’s 4 die set. I used 4 dies when I loaded single stage too. I find it easier to adjust the dies when I separate seating & crimping into two steps.

I load on my single stage press and Dillon 650 using 4 die sets. A regular taper crimp die works perfectly. If you have to set the Lee FCD beyond just removing the remaining flare from the belling step, then you’re doing something wrong as it shouldn’t be necessary to post size the entire cartridge. Also, I never have to trim my cases to get the taper crimp die to work the same on all cartridges, but I do keep my brass sorted by lot and number of times fired. Keeping them sorted this way results in more consistently.

I load 9mm. Most of 124 Berry's RN and Hornady 115 XTPs. Both over TiteGroup. I use a 3 die set. No extra crimp die.