38-55 boolit seating issue w Lee dies

[mdevlin53]

I have a 38-55 and the groove is at .380. when i try to seat a PP boolit the die strips the paper off of the boolit. so here are my choices. i could use the emery on a rod method to enlarge the die or find a die from one of the other manufactures that can seat a fat boolit without alteration. the die works fine for the two other rifles i use it to load for and i am wondering if making it larger would be a detriment to the one rifle that likes the boolits at .376. will a lyman or rcbs seat a .380-.381 boolit?
thanks
Michael

[JMtoolman]

I have found this to be in most of the Lee dies that I have tried. I have lapped out several, and then just gave up on the Lee dies. Most of the other manufacturing die makers have a bit bigger seating diameters. The toolman.

[Moondawg]

I have been using RCBS Cowboy dies for reloading both 38-55 and 45-70. Their seating and expander dies are made a few thousands larger, especially for cast boolits. Most convential dies are made for the smaller diameter J-word bullits. :castmine:

[Kraschenbirn]

Had a similar problem with Lee's .38-55 dies - seated .378/.379 boolits okay but .380/.381 would stick in the seater plug. Picked up a set of old (abused!) RCBS .375 Win. dies off a gunshow table for $12, cleaned/polished the seater die, and - SHAZAAM! - no more sticking boolits.

Bill

[mdevlin53]

Good information. I would hate to buy another set of dies and not have them work. I have custom adjusted a couple of Lee push through dies and that was easy enough to do. So now i just have to decide to open this one up or pick up a new set. I know if i buy a set someone will post them up in the swapping section the day after they arrive. And for half the price.
Michael

[462]

This is the exact reason why I got rid of all the Lee seating dies, and replaced them with Lyman, primarily, RCBS and Hornady.

[John Boy]

I have a 38-55 and the groove is at .380. when i try to seat a PP boolit the die strips the paper off of the boolit Let's think this though:
* The seating die only pushes the bullet from the nose into the case
* The bullet is not wrapped all the way up the bullet nose - only below the taper
* The paper is being stripped off when seated IN THE CASE, so ...
* A 380 GG bullet wrapped is going to put the wrapped bullet in the 384 range - the case is NOT EXPANDED ENOUGH AND THE BELL IS TOO SMALL

The seating die is innocent!

Next issue will be - the diameter of the PP wrapped bullet case will exceed the chamber diameter and the round will not chamber

So, you must have a naked bullet with a diameter less than 380 (say 355 or 356) so the final wrapped product is 379 or 380

[mdevlin53]

john boy
the boolit i started with is .375 the onion skin is.0015. two wraps is .006. .006+.375 is .381 if my math and calipres are correct. The paper is being pushed down and bunches up. Now i took the decapper out of the full size die and turned it over and used it to seat the boolits and it worked the boolits went into the case smoothly. I was not able to set it so i could keep a consistant depth without a lot of trouple. The rounds chambered fine when i got them all made. so the seating die is guilty,

[MT Chambers]

Do what most Lee users do and buy a "factory crimp die" and crimp the **** out of it.

[wgr]

just buy you a lyman or rcbs seater die. i had the same problem with my 45-70

[Buckshot]

...............Main issue is that die manufacturers KNOW you're loading a jacketed slug. Even for the 38-55 which does NOT use a .375" slug, that's basically what the die is set up for. When I was loading patched slugs at first for my 38-55 I used a 40-65 die to seat the slugs :-) I also patched 370gr boolits to use in my .444 Marlin chambered Martini .................

http://www.fototime.com/C9730B459E8C514/standard.jpg

I had to use .43 Spanish dies. Luckily I have a .43 Spanish so I had the dies on hand. I've loaded quite a few paper patched 38-55's ................

http://www.fototime.com/881261E4534FC9E/standard.jpg

..............and finally broke down and bought a set of the RCBS "Cowboy" dies for that cartridge. They're designed a bit more realistically as they're aimed at reloading lead slugs. In addition they also know the 38-55 pretty commonly will take a .380" slug, although my patched slugs go .381".

Something you also might try if the seater stem won't go down far enough is to make up an "Intermediary" punch. I load for the .577 Snider and have a set of the Lee dies. Once again even though they understand the slug for that cartridge IS a cast lead Mine', not living in this world their dies will not handle a .600" OD slug. They KNOW it's supposed to be .577"/.580". If you try to load a Minie' of that size, it (the slug) will hang up in the die.

http://www.fototime.com/81B27EA5C8B88C9/standard.jpg

When I went to loading a .600" RB the seater plug wouldn't go down far enough. So I made an intermediary punch which went into the die under the factory seater. It will now seat the RB AND crimp the casemouth. Quite often in some dies there is a ring above the chamber portion of the die and the upper threaded part the seater stem uses. It is just at, or a few thousandths larger in OD then what they assume your slug will be. If this ring is too small in OD it is very possible that some carbide paper on a split wooden dowel chucked up in a drill motor can open it up in not too much time, as the seater die is seldom hardened.

If your seater die is tight around the caseneck and will not allow the desired boolit OD (patched or otherwise) to enter you can hone it out by using some old/junked cases. Drill through the base and tap it 1/4-28 then use bit of 1/4-28 allthread with a nut tightened against the base of the case to keep the case from wanting to walk down the thread. Apply valve lapping abbrasive to the top 1/2" or so of the case. With a drill motor on the other end of the rod you can do a creditable job of opening it up the few thousandths you might need,

...............Buckshot

[mdevlin53]

I just had the same problem with my 30-06 dies. I have a 1909 argentine mauser that likes the boolit at. 313 and the Lee die swages the first driving band down to. 311 when seating. I am probably going yo get a second seating die and hone it out for this particular rifle. I am finding that i need to be able to adapt and make some special equipment in order to load cast but thats part of the reason i like this hobby.