Dillon Carbide Die Set Lead Times

BBarn

BBarn

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Just a head's up for those looking to purchase Dillon Carbide Die Sets. Lead times are quite long, so be prepared. I placed an order with Dillon for a set of Carbide dies last summer that are late for arrival. The lead time window for my purchase was given as 16-20 weeks.

Twenty weeks have come and gone with no word from Dillon on delivery. If you order, you many need to wait longer than their quoted lead-time to receive your dies, and you can also expect your credit card to be charged immediately for the full purchase amount.
 
Is there an advantage to using Dillon dies....over say...Lee carbide dies? If so, and you must have them, 9mm at least are available on ebay. You won't like the price. (About $180 per set).
 
I have dies from many different (RCBS, Forster, Redding, Lyman Lee, Dillon) maybe others. Those mentioned are off the top my head. Dillon dies are very nice to use. Every convenience. They are easy to clean, as well as, other tasks without removing from press. Very high quality. They all do the job. Fortunately I bought mine many years ago when they were not so expensive. I think they are great. Are they worth the added cost? That is up to you.
 
Howa 9700 said:
Is there an advantage to using Dillon. . .
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The OP didn't specify, but typically when we say 'Dillon carbide dies', we're referring to a (complete) carbide sizing die. . . the whole die body! Not a carbide ring in a pistol die, but a complete carbide die, available for a couple common bottleneck cartridges.

Wicked expensive, and only worth it if you're going to wear out a steel die. . . with hundreds of thousands of sizing ops.
 
It’ll be interesting to see how many pages can be generated on this thread with the usual “…are they worth it”… or “…my XYZ dies are much better and cost less…”.

I’ve no complaint about the Dillon dies I’ve purchased, so for they are for 9/40/45/223. It’s nice to have their features in a progressive press. I too have other dies that have graced the tool heads.

BBarn said:
Twenty weeks have come and gone with no word from Dillon on delivery.
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And you won’t. My .40 dies were ordered pre pandemic and took about 1 1/2 years. About the only thing I can offer is if you can use other dies in their place until they arrive. And, there’s a tab on the dies page that lists the lead times, but it wasn’t anywhere close to being accurate for my 9 40 or 45 dies. I still do some smaller quantity single stage work so having two sets of dies for the same caliber doesn’t bother me.
 
Do you not have any local Dillon dealers? Mine is stocked with all the common calibers. And as always with dealers same pricing as Dillon online.
 
As far as steel versus carbide. The carbide does take less force in the operation and even one misses a case with lube they likely won’t stick a case in a carbide die like one would in steel dies. I’m talking bottleneck cartridges here. In regards to pistol, I would never buy a steel pistol die set.

To me they are worth it but understand financially why one would go with steel.
 
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The main suppliers of Tungsten are China, Russia, and Viet Nam. It shouldn't be too surprising that tungsten-carbide supplies are limited considering the present world situation.
 
Howa 9700 said:
Is there an advantage to using Dillon dies....over say...Lee carbide dies?
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Well, there has long been the belief that Lee makes the dies for Dillon, but I've never seen it confirmed...it think it's just because they look so much like each other. The major advantage that the Dillon Sizing die has over the Lee is that you can disassemble and clean them without removing them from the tool head. Also the Dillon depriming pin is spring loaded to "kick" primers off the end of the pin.

I had a Dillon 750 on my bench for a while that a friend bought with a Dillon 9mm die set. We used them to get the press set up and tuned in. He became unhappy with them after a couple of months and we first replaced the Sizer with one from Mighty Armory which also had the spring loaded decapping pin...a much nicer die. The we replaced the PTX with an M-profile one from DAA. Then the Seating die with the Redding Competition Seating die. I think he sold the Dillon die set for more than he paid for it...to someone who really wanted it
 
So if you are loading a tapered case, having a completely carbide die means you are sizing the entire case to the correct taper. Redding tries to do this with a dual ring die. That might be a more appropriate comparison in pistol at least.
 
AJC1 said:
So if you are loading a tapered case, having a completely carbide die means you are sizing the entire case to the correct taper. Redding tries to do this with a dual ring die. That might be a more appropriate comparison in pistol at least.
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I have run Redding duel ring 38 special and 357 magnum dies since they first come out and have saved many hours of wear on the brass and me. :)
 
AJC1 said:
So if you are loading a tapered case, having a completely carbide die means you are sizing the entire case to the correct taper. Redding tries to do this with a dual ring die. That might be a more appropriate comparison in pistol at least.
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dannyd said:
I have run Redding duel ring 38 special and 357 magnum dies since they first come out and have saved many hours of wear on the brass and me. :)
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FWIW, MidwayUSA and Opticsplanet say the dual ring dies have been discontinued and I found no reference to them on Redding's website.
 
higgite said:
FWIW, MidwayUSA and Opticsplanet say the dual ring dies have been discontinued and I found no reference to them on Redding's website.
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Yes, that is what I discovered also.

I only have one for my .38Spl cartridges. Meant to get one for my .45ACP also, but kept putting it off.

Mighty Armory makes a very nice 9mm die which sizes the cases so you don't end up with the wasp waist/coke bottle final shape...but it is a steel die and you need to lube your cases
 
9mmepiphany said:
Yes, that is what I discovered also.

I only have one for my .38Spl cartridges. Meant to get one for my .45ACP also, but kept putting it off.

Mighty Armory makes a very nice 9mm die which sizes the cases so you don't end up with the wasp waist/coke bottle final shape...but it is a steel die and you need to lube your cases
Click to expand...

There was a recent quote mentioning RCBS carbide dies having a proper, tapered carbide insert for 9mm Luger.
 
Dillon makes some really spectacular reloading dies. They are the only dies that I have (vs Lee, Hornady, RCBS, Redding in order of least to most preferred) that haven't rusted in the last 3 years in my workshop.

However my 10mm carbide sizer that arrived early this year was 15 months delayed. I've ordered separately other dies for various cartridges and been fine from Dillon, but the carbide sizers at least 2021-2022 have seemed a big issue.

If they're in stock they will come quickly, and I don't think there's a debate on quality vs others.
 
higgite said:
FWIW, MidwayUSA and Opticsplanet say the dual ring dies have been discontinued and I found no reference to them on Redding's website.
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Yep, they were 100.00 each and most reloader didn't want to pay, but I like mine got about 100,000 rounds on them.

AC90B13C-8012-4BFE-9D75-8716F3BBA874.jpeg
 
SingleActionAndrew said:
Dillon makes some really spectacular reloading dies. They are the only dies that I have (vs Lee, Hornady, RCBS, Redding in order of least to most preferred) that haven't rusted in the last 3 years in my workshop.
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Is your workshop air conditioned or humidity controlled? I have all the brands that you mentioned except Dillon, ages from 3 to 12 years, and none have rusted. My reloading area is in my house with conditioned air.
 
Not sure if you live near one, but Scheels seems to randomly have different Dillon dies in stock whenever I visit. A month back they had 9mm and 45acp in stock. This past weekend was 40/10mm and 223 carbide dies in stock.
 
SingleActionAndrew said:
Dillon makes some really spectacular reloading dies
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I have to ask, what, in your opinion, makes them spectacular?

It's certainly not the finish, as it rivals that on Lee dies (very functional) and not really on par new Lyman stainless dies

While Dillon's spring loaded decapping pin is nice, but it is not the only one available on the market (RCBS and MA)

The ability to take apart a die while it is installed in the toolhead is nice, and goes hand-in-hand with the lack of a set screw in the lock rings to maintain settings if the die is removed.

Dillon's wider mouths allow for not less precise alignment between the shellplates and the tool heads, but Redding Pro Die Sets offer the same feature. It was never an issue with the Hornady's progressive press had more adjustments available to insure correct alignment
 
higgite said:
Is your workshop air conditioned or humidity controlled? I have all the brands that you mentioned except Dillon, ages from 3 to 12 years, and none have rusted. My reloading area is in my house with conditioned air.
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Mine is in the air conditioned space as well. I started in the garage, got a couple of rust spots on my first die set, then figured out how to get it all indoors (a Lee press stand was the solution for me - I even made the Hornady LNL AP work on it). The summer air con and winter heat is good for the dies, the presses, and me.
 
This Dillon die backorder has been going on for at least 2 years. Can someone explain how the other carbide die manufacturers have resources to continue production without a hitch?
 
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