i thought i could use 357mag and 44mag dies to load 38 spec and 44 spec respectively. i cannot bell the case mouth in the shorter brass. could it be that the opposite is true, 44spec will load 44mag and 38spec will load 357mag. can any of you guys confirm this for me? at the very least i'll need to buy new case expander dies in both calibers or try to trade the "magnum" die sets for the "special" dies. these are all lee dies, btw.

Sir, what kind of dies are you using? Recent RCBS carbide dies work for both. You add a spacer (included) for the longer magnum cases, no spacer for specials.

Hope this helps, and Semper Fi.

Ron H.

__________________
Wishin' don't make it so.

i use rcbs equipment...the 38/357 and 44mag/44sp interchange with no problem at all

I use Hornady dies and the 38sp/357mag & 44sp/44mag also work fine for both cartridges.

The Lee dies also work for both as far as I know. What kind of press are you using?

MWAG, You had that reversed, as you supposed. The .38 and .44 spl dies will work for the magnums but not the other way around.

Properly adjusted the magnum dies would be too long to expand or crimp their special versions and could not be adjusted to work. While properly adjusted special dies would be too short for the magnums, they can be easily backed out of the press to work just fine.

38/357 and 44/44 mag dies work for both because they are made for both.

I just remembered.

With Lees dies you might get your .357 dies to expand your .38 mouths. Their expanders free float to operate powder dispensers on progressive presses. If you remove the threaded knob on top of your die and block the expander button so it doesn't move upward you might get it to work. I did this with .32 S&W Long dies on .32 S&W Short brass, but I still had to buy a seat/crimp die to finish them.

It probably depends on the type/brand of dies.
Usually with Lee dies I buy for the small length case and use it for both, for example I purchased a .38 and use for both .38 and 357. But had a hard time finding .44 specail dies and had to settle for .44 mag dies and just figured I'd only load .44 mag cases, but just recently got some empty .44 specail cases I wanted to experiment with. I discovered that the Lee .44 mag dies worked except for the flaring die did not work on .44 specials. I ended up having to add a spacer to get the part that does the flaring inside the die die down far enough to flare .44 cases. I ended up adding a short 1/4-20 round head screw as a spacer and it pushes the flaring part down just enough to flare .44 specials without making any adjustments to the die.

I also have a set of RCBS .44 magnum dies and am able to use for for 44 mag and 44 special. Go figure....????

My RCBS dies (with carbide sizer) work fine in both 38 Special / 357 Magnum, and 44 Special / 44 Magnum. When loading the 357 MAXimum, I have to adjust my expander die up in the press, and the expander plug up in the die to accomodate the extra .300". If your expander die is adjusted down to where it nearly contacts the shell holder, you should be able to run the expander plug down in the die until it starts to bell the case. If your crimping die can be adjusted down far enough to crimp a Special case, then one would think that the expander die would also have enough adjustment to bell both cases.