45 Colt dies part 2

[hunter966]

Hi everyone, this is my 1st post here as I have been a looky loo for a while.

My question piggy backs on a post below by Schreck5, I didn't want to hijack his.

Ya'll recommended to use steel dies instead of carbide and my question is do the current steel dies that RCBS makes work as do the older models, say 1960's or 70' production dies do as relating to the taper on a 45 Colt casing?

Thanks in advance, hunter966

[hot wheels]

My question piggy backs on a post below by Schreck5, I didn't want to hijack his.

Link to the thread?

[rintinglen]

I ordered a set of RCBS Cowboy dies which pretty much took care of my needs. Some of the die sets have carbide rings that excessively size the brass. The older steel dies are allegedly made more true to spec, resulting in ammo that better fits the gun and hence is more accurate.
I cannot say if modern steel dies are better or not in this regard. I do think that the RCBS Cowboy dies work better.

[Outpost75]

+1 on the RCBS Cowboy dies, and then get a .45 AP roll-crimp seater for Cowboy Specials

[hunter966]

Here's the link for the other thread, http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?343206-45-colt-dies, it's on the next page.

[M-Tecs]

I have older RCBS steel, several carbide and now the Redding two step carbide but I have not used the Redding yet. Just got them last week. What works the best depends on the chamber. The SAAMI specs for the 45 Colt case is straight but the SAMMI chamber is tapered. All the Colts I have seen have tapered chambers lots of others don't.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?236521-45-Colt-case-taper

I have no idea how the new 45 Colt RCBS dies compare to my mid-70 dies.

[scattershot]

Anybody use the Dillon dies? They claim to be tapered, but I don't know if that refers to the lead in portion, or the whole die body.

[Larry Gibson]

Anybody use the Dillon dies? They claim to be tapered, but I don't know if that refers to the lead in portion, or the whole die body.

I use the Dillon SDB dies.....they are not tapered but are typical carbide sizers. I swapped out the 45 Colt sizer to use with the 45 ACP as it doesn't size the ACP cases down as much. I bought an RCBS set of 45 Colt dies last year and now FL the 45 Colt cases with the steel FL die before finish loading the 45 Colt cartridges on the Dillon SDB.

Not really any noticeable difference in between the two different methods of sizing in my SAA Uberti's but I no long get any blow back hitting the top of my fore head when the RCBS steel FL sized cases are used in the Rossi M92 or now in my Uberti M1873 lever guns.

[Char-Gar]

I can't speak to new 45 Colt steel die issue as I have never used them. But I do have several sets of older RCBS steel dies and they suit my needs very well.

The RCBS Cowboy dies get good reviews, but they cost over $50.00 bucks per set. I have bought three old RCBS sizer dies for less than $10.00 each on Ebay and last month bought a NIB 3 dies set from 1956 for $15.00, though they usually run about $20.00 to $25.00 per set. Bottom line is I use the older steel dies, because they cost half or less than the Cowboy dies and money does matter to me.

I also use older RCBS steel sizing dies for the 38 Special, 357 Magnum, 44 Special and 44 Magnum. The steel and carbide dies in 45 ACP produce cases of the same dimension so I go with the carbide.

[Harter66]

The oversizing of the over sized Rossi chamber drove me to seek out a set of steel dies in the interim I "neck sized" all the Colts brass and when it needed a body sizing I ran it through a gutted Lee 45 ACP FCD .

I have a set of steel dies now but haven't had a chance to run a batch yet .

As a rule the most recent made RCBS dies are every bit as good as the 60-70's cousins . Not quite as slick and maybe a little tighter but 30-50 yr of wear and lube impaction may have something to do with that .

[wrench man]

I use the Dillon SDB dies.....they are not tapered but are typical carbide sizers. I swapped out the 45 Colt sizer to use with the 45 ACP as it doesn't size the ACP cases down as much. I bought an RCBS set of 45 Colt dies last year and now FL the 45 Colt cases with the steel FL die before finish loading the 45 Colt cartridges on the Dillon SDB.

Not really any noticeable difference in between the two different methods of sizing in my SAA Uberti's but I no long get any blow back hitting the top of my fore head when the RCBS steel FL sized cases are used in the Rossi M92 or now in my Uberti M1873 lever guns.

I've been sizing my 45 Colt brass with RCBS 454 Casull dies and found that my Marlin 1894's had the "fat" chambers?, but maybe I've just been over sizing my brass??, I have stepped up the load to get the chamber to seal and stop the spitting back.

[straphanger]

I have a half dozen 45 Colts, 1 SAA (1899) and the rest Colt New Services that are pre 1920. Since they are all .454 barrels and throats around .456, I have migrated to a set of older RCBS steel dies. The carbide dies I had sized the case for a .452 bullet and over worked the lower portion of the case. The result was that my reloads had an hour glass figure of sorts, desirable in some contexts, but not this one! As these are all collectible guns, my loads are mild and low pressure: 8.5 gr Unique, 7.0 W231 w 454190 and 454424, and 6.5 W231 for 454309. As such, the cases resize very easily in the steel dies with minimal lubrication.

Although I haven't tried it, if de-capping were done w a universal die, my intuition is that a carbide sizer could be used only on the length of the case directly in contact w the bullet, eg neck sized, and the cartridge would chamber without difficulty for pressure ranges associated w the loads above.