Those Pacific Durachrome dies are my personal favorite type of rifle dies. Good score.
I found a set of Bair dies in a pawn shop in Salina with an original hand written receipt from a sporting goods shop in Hutchinson in the early '60s which I honestly believe were unused. They're out there, sometimes a guy gets lucky. I doubt they're any better or worse than modern production, but I like old tools.
I got in neighborhood of 125 die sets, not including several doubles. The old dies seem better to
me. The popular brands have gotten cut in quality since the 70s. I wouldn't own Lees or Hornady
dies, been there done that. The Pacific DC dies were quality tools. If I had to buy a new set of dies
it would be Redding, a bit more money but worth it. I have C&H, Texan, Bonanza, Lyman, RCBS
Redding all older dies except for Reddings I have bought for cartridges that came out in last 25yrs.
Never Sell Dies, it never fails that you will end up with another gun in that cartridge.
Also I found that the bullet seating die will only work on the 32-40 case! My Lee die will do the 32WS and the 32-40 !!!
Ol Deuce
Do the Best with What you have !
I use old CH dies I found along the way to load .250 Savage and .358 Win. They are fully the equal of the Reddings and RCBS sets that I own. I 've not had any problems from Lee dies; perhaps I'm lucky.
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Do the Best with What you have !
I've had that happen with numerous Lee dies when sizing, even with original cases! I've gone to applying Loctite to the shaft of the decapping rod before tightening the nut, so it will help grip it. They still come out if I want to remove them, just holds better when I don't want it to move.
Only time I ever buy Lee dies is if I need to cut up or grind up a die for a specific purpose.
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I'm using a very old set of RCBS dies which seem to be a much better product the current new ones. I resize 38/55 brass to 32/40 in one pass. These dies will load any of three different projectiles.
Hold Still Varmint; while I plugs Yer!
I also use my Lee dies to make 32/40 out of 30/30's: I have a strong preference for the shape of the Lee expanding/decapping pin when doing any case forming that requires neck expansion. I haven't had mine pull out, but I do lube the inside of the case mouths before the operation. If I do have the problem sometime I'll remember Marlinman's strategy for keeping the pin in place.
I do think you made a nice score with those Pacific dies, but I'd bet the Lee's will do the superior job of making 32/40's from 30/30's, purely because of the better shape of the expander on the Lee.
The rounds on the left are 0.325" Saeco 190gn for a 1906 Winchester '94, 0.323" 185gn for a custom lowall, and 0.321" 170gn Lyman for a 1927 Win '94.Those look fantastic ! a one push WoW what sizing do you use???
Hold Still Varmint; while I plugs Yer!
I've found that .32 Win. Spl. brass is the easiest to make .32-40 out of, plus I have tons of it and no gun. One pass after a quick spray with sizing lube and it's there. Just knocks the shoulder off, and case mouth is already the right size.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |