Reloading die question?

[blaser.306]

Aside form the convenience of carbide pistol sizing dies, do steel dies do a "better" job of sizing pistol cases ? I ask from the point of the carbide ring in theory would be undersizing the brass to allow for springback to a point, and always leaves a larger base diameter as they do not reach all the way down to the web. Has anyone tried one of the Redding dual ring / diameter carbide sizers in .44 cal ? If so please share your opinions on them. Thanks in advance.

[MtGun44]

The issue usually comes up with .45 Long Colt. Many pistols, especially older ones, have substantial taper
in the chamber. Using a carbide die set give you a constant diameter - set so that the boolit is gripped properly.
For some guns this leaves the rear of the case rattling in the chamber a bit. I use old steel RCBS dies that have
a bit of taper built it, so they fit a touch better. If your gun has a cylindrical chamber (little or no taper) then the
carbide dies will be fine. If your chamber is significantly tapered (you have to be the one determining what is
significant), then you may find that old tapered steel dies (I think some of the cowboy dies may be tapered, too)
to your liking.

For .44 Mag it is usually a non-issue as this is a truly straight case and chamber.
Bill

[Recluse]

I started off reloading with RCBS steel dies back in the late 60's with my dad. I still have one of our RCBS lube-pads somewhere along with one I bought back in the early 80's. What I remember most is the PITA of rolling the cases on the lube pad, the mess it ultimately ended up making (compared to the shiny "like-new" brass that we run through a tumbler and then use in carbide dies where no lube is needed) and the additional time it took.

Still have a set of steel 44 Special (RCBS) dies and just for the heck of it several years ago, I compared steel and lubing versus carbide with the same exact load, primer, boolit, etc.

Zero difference except that the reloading with the carbide sizing die made things so much easier and reminded me why I'll never use steel sizing dies again so long as I have a choice.

:coffee:

[mdi]

I don't think steel dies would be any better than carbide, and the "spring back" will happen no matter what the die is made of.

On a "lark" I tried neck sizing some of my .44 Magnums. I only ran the sizer die down 1/2" or so just to resize the portion that fits/holds the bullet. Thinking some improvement in accuracy was possible with "fire formed" brass that fit the cylinder rather than standard resized, somewhat "sloppy" case/bullet fit. If there was improvement, it weren't 'nuf fer me to see (but it's fun trying!!).

[300winmag]

Blazer I started a thread on the Redding dual ring carbide sizer, asking if anyone had used 1 and what there thoughts were. With no replies, so I am going to get 1 and see if there is any advantage or not. Will update the results soon. The best price I have found is at Graf and Sons. PS steel are a PITA.
300

[Kevin Rohrer]

If carbide dies weren't better, most all of us wouldn't be using them.

Work smart, not hard. :popcorn:

[blaser.306]

I am currently casting and loading for 2 different .44 mags and a 445 supermag. My original question was simply refering to what type of die was going to work the brass less! I have to "baby" my 445 sm brass as when I am able to get it the us govt. throws a pretty hefty export tax on it coming into Canada ??? So the brass I do have I want to last as long as is reasonable. I load with Redding carbide dies right now and have suffered a few lost cases to lengthwise splits that run from the case mouth about 2/3 the way to the web. I would just like to work my brass less and have it last. Ps thanks 300 winmag I would be interested in your findings!!!

[Bullet Caster]

I would try annealing the case mouths for extended loadings. Someone else may chime in here and say you shouldn't do it. Annealing does soften up the brass somewhat. But you have to be careful not to heat up the web area. BC

[blaser.306]

I would try annealing the case mouths for extended loadings. Someone else may chime in here and say you shouldn't do it. Annealing does soften up the brass somewhat. But you have to be careful not to heat up the web area. BC

As far as annealing goes I talked to Starline and they had sugested standing the whole lot of brass on a cookie sheet and putting it into the oven at a measured 450 deg for an hour and a half to releive some of the work hrdness from the brass! ?

[r1kk1]

As far as annealing goes I talked to Starline and they had sugested standing the whole lot of brass on a cookie sheet and putting it into the oven at a measured 450 deg for an hour and a half to releive some of the work hrdness from the brass! ?

I wouldn't.

r1kk1

[ROGER4314]

I was loading 44 mag on a Dillon RL550 and stuck my first case. I removed the case and pulled the sizing die. I've had that die set for so many years that it slipped my mind that it was a standard steel sizing die. When I loaded .44 mag on the single stage Rock Chucker, the cases were lubed on a pad just by habit. Garbage collects on a progressive loader very quickly and I didn't want to lube the cases going onto the press. I ordered a carbide sizing die and that carbide made a world of difference! I use no lube with it, now.

Re: annealing
I use very little "Bell" on my case mouths. In fact, the most common fault with reload newbies is using too much bell. The brass doesn't need to look like the end of a trombone.....snicker!

I measure the case diameter and stop when I get .010" to .012" bell mouth over the case size. That's only .005" to .006" on a side. Because I don't work the brass a lot, the cases last a long time. When they start to crack, they hit the trash can. No annealing for me!

Flash