Crimping short 38-55 cases

[Steelbanger]

With 3 rifles chambered for the 38-55 I decided to use 30-30 brass for one of them to help identify which cases go with which rifle. Forming with Red Dot & Cream of Wheat went well but these cases are very short which brings the question . . . what is everyone using to crimp 30-30's formed to 38-55? My RCBS Cowboy dies bottom on the shellholder before the short brass reaches the roll crimp area in the die. Also they're too short to be crimped in my Lee 38-55 FCD. I have considered grinding the appropriate amount from the bottom of the RCBS seater die but decided against that alternative. I'm wondering if a Lee FCD in .375 Win would work or is there a simpler solution out here in cyberspace?

Thank you.

[Lead melter]

Steelbanger,
I use the standard Lee 38-55 die set with the fireformed 30-30 brass for my rifle and have run across a problem or two.

The die set I have has a seating die labeled "375 Winchester". My problem is that the throat of the die is just a tad too narrow for the .380" diameter boolits I use. When seating these, the boolit itself would sometimes hang in the die on the down-stroke of the ram. When I contacted Lee they said the 375 Winchester die was the correct one for the 38-55 set, but if I returned it to them they would open the throat to allow the larger boolit to set.

My boolit is the Lee 379-250-RN/FP shot as cast with LLA lube. My solution is to simply clean the lube from the nose of the boolit and then seat. This eliminates just about all my problem. Or, solution number 2 is to open the throat of a standard Lee die just a bit to allow the slug some free room.

I know this does not fully address your particular problem, but the standard Lee die does have enough room to roll crimp the fireformed 30-30 cases. You can order just the seater die from Lee, or maybe get the whole set for about the same money.

If you decide to open the throat of the die, do a search for opening a Lee sizer die and the process should be about the same. The split metal rod- sandpaper-drill press works really well for me.

Hope this helps.

[twotrees]

You could order this: From Lee

375 WINCHESTER 90905

CALIBER FACTORY CRIMP DIE $13.98

Since 30-30 is the same length as 375 Win. That would allow you to crip any boolit you want in those re-formed cases.

Also with a small adjustment it will work for both the short and long 38-55 cases.
Good Shooting,

Or get the 38-55 which will crimp a larger Boolit.

TwoTrees

[Jon K]

Steelbanger,

Yep, that's what I'm using- Lee 375 Win FC for 30-30 cases w/Lee & Magma 250 gr, and Lee 38-55 FC set up for Long brass & other boolits.

Jon

[Steelbanger]

Thanks for the input. I'm ordering a Lee 375 Factory Crimp Die today.