Cracked Lee die carbide

[Tim357]

If you get another carbide ... go ahead and keep useing Lubricant when resizing ...
The lubricant realy helps re-sizing , it lessens the force and stress that is put on the carbide ring ...also makes resizing easier .
Use a Business card to set a small gap between the shell holder and die/carbide ring ...don't let the die bottom edge / carbide ring contact the shell holder ...that puts pressure on the brittle carbide .
the thicness of a business card will help with cracking .
It's not just Lee carbide rings being 1/4" thick ... they all are .
Good Luck with that Big Bore !

Gary

This! Never let the shell holder contact the carbide ring. If your brass isn't getting sized enough at the web, you may need a steel die.

[gwpercle]

This! Never let the shell holder contact the carbide ring. If your brass isn't getting sized enough at the web, you may need a steel die.

Truth is I have gone back to steel sizing dies in all my handguns except for an old Lyman Carbide set in 45 acp . The steel just seem to give more reloading life to a case . The 45 acp dies don't over-size the brass but they must be at least 45 years old ... maybe they were made different back then .
Gary