45 Colt, Casull, 460 reloading die selection

440turner · #1 12-04-2010, 05:45 PM

I have bought my used 460 XVR and shot if a few times, acquired some brass for reloading in 45 Colt, 454 Casull, and 460S&W and now wish to purchase the dies to reload for these calibers. I was wondering about the amount of dies needed to do the calibers above, all being 45 caliber bullets, If I bought the dies for the 460 S&W, will the dies be able to size the Colt and the Casull brass along with de-capping them? I also was wondering about the seating and roll crimping, will they also be achieved with the 460 dies? On the same line of thought would my 45 ACP dies seat bullets for these calibers?

Gun 4 Fun · #2 12-04-2010, 06:05 PM

I could be wrong (won't be the first time), but I belive that the current crop of 460 dies are designed to do all three of the calibers above. I believe too, that some sets come with spacers that are placed between the base of the die and the top of the press to allow switching from one case length to another without having to radically alter die adjustments.

As far as seating with your ACP dies, I have never tried it, but I can't see why it wouldn't work as long as all you use them for is seating without crimping at the same time.

505Gibbs · #3 12-04-2010, 06:05 PM

A die set for a 45 Colt or the 454 Casull would handle all three. Its a matter of adjusting the dies for the longer case length when going from a 45 Colt to the longer 454 or 460.

440turner · #4 12-04-2010, 08:21 PM

I wouldnt think that a 45 Colt sizing die could full length size the 460 case with it being .515 longer.

Gun 4 Fun · #5 12-04-2010, 08:30 PM

Depends on the die brand. Some are a lot deeper inside than necessary, but regardless, you only need to resize the front half anyway, especially if the rounds will only be used in one gun. That works the brass less and will set the important front half back to spec so that the brass will hold your bullets properly, and also the crimp.

440turner · #6 12-05-2010, 05:25 AM

Does anyone have any input on brand of dies, I have several brands currently Lee, RCBS, etc..Is there any real world need to have a micrometer style adjusting seating die? I believe that Lee is still running the 100 free bullet deal when you purchase a set of dies, but are there any votes for the Redding, Lyman or Huntington dies?