The Arms Guide
  • Home
  • AR-15
  • Rifles
  • Handguns
  • Reloading Gear
  • Gun Safes
  • Gun News

Reloading Equipment – Dies

Calibers OAL 012

July 4, 2016 by AussieWombat 16 Comments

In my last article I started looking at basic reloading equipment, including a number of the types of reloading dies/tools that are used. In this article I want to complete the discussion on reloading dies and their associated equipment.

Replacing the Projectile 

Replacing the projectile is a simple matter of placing the new projectile on top of the case mouth, which should have already been slightly expanded, or “belled,” and pressing it down into the case with a seating die.

For pistols, seating dies generally come with two types of projectile masks, often referred to as seating “stems”— usually one for round nose projectiles and one for wadcutter projectiles. These stems form fit over the top of the projectile so as to cradle the projectile during seating, thereby minimizing damage to the head of the projectile. The exact means of changing between the seating stems varies between manufacturers, and should be covered with the notes provided with the die. Figure 1 shows a Dillon Precision pistol seating die and their method of implementing the seating stem changeover, in this case a quick changeover circlip system.

Dillon_Seating _Die_2
Figure 1
Image courtesy of Dillon Precision – The Blue Press

If you use non-typical projectiles (in my case round-nose wadcutters) which have a non-standard head shape, you may need to have the seating steam machined to fit your projectiles. This can be done on a lathe if you have access to one, or by your local gun shop or machine shop. For pistols, if you stick to round nose or wadcutter projectiles, the standard dies will work just fine. Rifle projectiles tend to be rather more standard than pistol projectiles, so standard rifle dies should work in most cases.

The important lesson, if you have a choice, make sure you have the correct seating stem installed for your specific projectiles, otherwise you risk damaging the projectile during the seating process. This may have an adverse affect on the aerodynamics of the projectile, and hence reduce accuracy.

The exact depth that a projectile needs to be seated will vary depending on the specific caliber and projectile type. The critical measurement is the Over All Length (OAL). This value is found in reloading tables and is best checked with a set of calipers. These can be simple direct reading calipers (Figure 2) costing $20-50, or more sophisticated digital instruments (Figure 3) costing $40-100. The digital ones are far easier to use, and well worth the extra few dollars.

Lyman Calipers Clipped
Figure 2                                                                                           Figure 3
Images courtesy of LymanProducts.com

Figure 4 illustrates the measurement of OAL, in this case for a .44 magnum pistol round with a specified OAL of 1.60”.

Calibers OAL Small
Figure 4

The implications of varying the OAL will be covered later when I address load development. In the meantime, the best advice is to stick to the maximum OAL and you shouldn’t go far wrong. 

Re-crimping the Projectile 

After 10 years of reloading I thought I understood the crimp process in reloading. After doing a bit of additional research, I’ve discovered crimping is more contentious than Obamacare. There are so many experts out there who can’t agree, so let’s stick to a quick equipment overview at this point, and address the issue in detail in a separate article later on.

The crimp process is the final action required to reload an ammunition round, and can be of two basic types; a roll crimp or a taper crimp. There are variations to the two basic types, but let’s leave it at that for now. The type of crimp you use is largely a function of the specific projectile type and the firearm type. Roll crimps are often favored for revolvers, with taper crimps favored for semi-auto pistols and rifles. Most likely the type of crimp you use will be dependant on the dies you buy, especially if you buy a complete set. If you don’t like the type of crimp die supplied in your die set, you can always buy an individual crimp die with your favored crimp type; cost about $25. 

Special Purpose Dies/Tools 

In the first equipment article, I briefly mentioned a number of special purpose dies which may or may not be applicable to your reloading activities. I use the term die here in a very broad sense because the actual die may be no more than a mounting bracket for a special purpose tool. However, these dies still commonly comply to the industry standard 7/8”-14 screw thread.

If you have a progressive press, one of the more useful dies (tools) is a powder level checker. The powder level checker is a die with a small plunger which is inserted into the case after the power is added, but before a projectile is inserted. A basic mechanical version supplied by RCBS for about $25 is shown in Figure 5. The white dot moves up and down on the plunger and is compared against the fixed scale on which a second white dot marks the desired powder level. The Dillon Precision powder level checker (cost about $70) is shown in Figure 6.   In the Dillon checker, the plunger is attached to a simple switch mechanism and buzzer which sounds if there is no powder in the case, or an excessive amount of powder. The system is only designed to detect large discrepancies in powder charge not small errors. These are great tools for detecting no powder and avoiding “squib” loads. These powder level checkers are relatively cheap and, in my mind, are cheap insurance against the cost of replacing a barrel if you miss a squib load, not to mention the potential for personal injury. Of course, you need a press suitable to accept these powder level checkers, and a spare station to install it.

Powder Checker Dies
Figure 5                                                                  Figure 6               Image courtesy of RCBS.com                               Image courtesy of DillonPrecision.com

If you use, or reuse military brass, it is often necessary to remove the primer crimp using a swage tool. This may be a stand-alone tool costing around $100 (Figure 7), or a built in die installed on a press. The swage tool can be a simple conical shaped pin which pushes the primer crimp out of the way or a cutting tool designed to remove the crimp completely. Either way, the object is to enable a new primer to be inserted without damaging it. Some military brass may also have a sealing compound (glue) in the primer pocket. This will also need to be removed using a primer pocket cleaner. These are simple hand held tools costing around $3 (Figure 8).

Swage and Cleaner
Figure 7                                                                                    Figure 8
Image courtesy of RCBS.com                                Image courtesy of LeePrecision.com

The next special tool I want to mention here are case trimmers. These are mainly of importance to rifle reloading, and are simple grinding tools which reduce the overall case length. As these are generally more applicable to low volume rifle reloading, they are most often found as manual stand alone tools costing $100-150 (Figure 9). However, there are motorized versions available (cost about $270) (Figure 10) which will fit onto reloading presses, and form part of a more automated process. If you trim a case, this may leave a bur on the case mouth, which is removed with a de-burring tool, costing less than $10.

Trimmers
Figure 9                                                                                                       Figure 10
Image courtesy of                                                                                    Image courtesy of
LymanProducts.com                                                                               DillonPrecision.com

The final special die/tool I want to mention are “bullet pullers“. These are special purpose dies which essentially reverse the seating process,  i.e. they pull the projectile out from a loaded round. This may be necessary to re-check that the correct powder charge has been added, or to recover a projectile if the case has been damaged during seating or crimping. For competition shooters, the weight of the projectile is one component of the ammunition’s “power factor,” which may need to be checked by the match officials. This is accomplished by pulling the projectile out of one (or more) of the competitors rounds of ammunition—more on “power factor” later. Bullet pullers come in a variety of formats, the two most common being the kinetic bullet puller, which I’ll cover in my next article, and the bullet puller die. Figure 11 is a bullet puller die, which is commonly used in a single stage reloading press. These dies cost around $25, and are usually caliber specific.  The caliber specific collets vary in price from $15-65.

RCBS Bullet Puller Die
Figure 11
Image courtesy of RCBS.com

 

 

Filed Under: Reloading Tagged With: ammo, ammunition, analog, basic equipment, brass, bullet, bullet puller, bur, caliber, calipers, case trimmer, cost, crimp, crimping, de-burring tool, die, dies, digital, Dillon, Dillon Precision, DIY, do-it-yourself, equipment, gear, Hornady, how to, instrument, Lee, military, OAL, overall length, pistol, powder level checker, power factor, press, price, primer, primer pocket cleaner, process, progressive, projectile, RCBS, reloading, rifle, roll crimp, round, round nose, seating, seating stem, semi-auto, single stage, stems, taper crimp, tools, wadcutter

Related Posts

  • Best Gun Cleaning Kit Featured
    The 6 Best Gun Cleaning Kits of 2021
  • Best Revolver Speedloader Featured
    Best Revolver Speedloader on The Market Today
  • Die Adjusting Featured Image
    Reloading 101 – Adjusting Reloading Dies

About the Author

Avatar for AussieWombat

AussieWombat A former military officer, now a retired civilian pilot and electronics engineer with a passion for target shooting. When not travelling, I keep busy instructing at the local pistol club and enjoy bringing new shooters into competitive pistol shooting.

See All AussieWombat Articles

Comments

  1. Avatar for AussieWombatAussieWombat1 says

    April 13, 2014 at 8:44 am

    Hi JFZ,
    There sure is a lot of gear out there and I’m trying to give a broad view of the options available, but in 1000 words or so it’s pretty hard to cover everything. 
    As hartcreek has also pointed out, you can get other case trimmers that use your own electric drill.
    I certainly rely on you guys to supplement my articles by highlighting your favorite gear.  If it inspires you to go the extra mile and do a video, then all the better.
    Hopefully between all of us, the other readers will get inspired to do there own Internet research and identify the best options for them.
    Thanks for the extra input.

    Reply
  2. Avatar for AussieWombatAussieWombat1 says

    April 13, 2014 at 8:53 am

    Yes, I use a kinetic puller exclusively, but mentioned the collet puller style for completeness. 
    I haven’t come across the “bump buster” die before.  Thanks for the additional information.

    Reply
  3. Avatar for AussieWombatAlessioBaldi says

    April 13, 2014 at 2:51 pm

    JunkfoodZombie  AussieWombat1 I don’t know much about crimping and crimping dies. I reload for the most rifle ammo, and they don’t need crimping. I’m asking about the LFCD because I’ve always red a lot of conflicting opinions about it, so I’d like to hear yours as well.

    Reply
  4. Avatar for AussieWombatAussieWombat1 says

    April 13, 2014 at 5:34 pm

    No problems Alessio.  I’ll add that to my list of topics to research more thoroughly before I write the article on crimping.

    Reply
  5. Avatar for AussieWombatquintrent13 says

    March 18, 2015 at 6:05 pm

    Having all the proper equipment to reload bullets is very important. That way you can make sure that you have everything properly measured out and you are safe with things as well. You want to do all that you can to make sure that you do every step the right way. That will ensure that you have done everything correctly and so the bullets will work the way that they are suppose to.
     http://locksgunshop.com/Ammo-Accessories/

    Reply
  6. Avatar for AussieWombatRandy Knapp says

    July 5, 2016 at 4:23 pm

    If you have not used a bulge buster die then you are not much of a reloader. You do not have to have a bullet seating stem machined for every contour of bullet. Reloaders have been using parafin wax for deckades to make up the difference in a seating die.

    I crimp everything that I load. Yes some say that crimping is not needed for rifle cases and some pistol cases but they are WRONG. The crimp adds just enough extra hold for proper burning of many powders. I even crimp .40 and 9mm it can take just .002 crimp to make all the difference.

    Reply
« Older Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

In Case You Missed It

Best .357 Revolvers Featured
Handguns

The 8 Best .357 Revolvers in 2021

March 2, 2021

Best Grendel Barrels Featured
AR-15

6 Best 6.5 Grendel Barrels – 2021 Review

March 2, 2021

Best Beginner Revolvers Featured
Handguns

5 Best Beginner Revolvers – 2021 Review

March 2, 2021

Best 6.5 Grendel Uppers For Your Next Build Featured
AR-15

5 Best 6.5 Grendel Uppers For Your Next Build

March 2, 2021

© Copyright 2021 Thearmsguide · All Rights Reserved.

  • Contact Us
  • Comms Check
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Affiliate disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases from Amazon.com.