9mm non-Coke bottle carbide sizing die

[BC38]

Some of you dudes need to work on your reading comprehension skills!

As stated earlier, I wanted a carbide die that would not give the cases a "Coke bottle" shape. This wasn't for cosmetic reasons, but because the carbide Hornady and Lee sizing dies do not size close enough to the case heads to re-size them to original specs. My plain steel Redding sizer does. I want to get a sizer die like that in carbide, or similar, that does not need cases to be lubed. The reason for not wanting to lubricate the cases should be self-explanatory for even the dullest among us (maybe I'm wrong). My P.08 is finicky about ammo, and ammo made from these slightly wider cases drags on the (single column) magazine body enough to produce sluggish operation of the magazine, creating frequent feeding stoppages. I don't get these when I use the plain steel Redding sizing die.

Get it now?

it has NOTHING to do with aesthetics.

I for one fully understood your issue - including the fact that the wasp-waisted reloads from the carbide die don't feed well in your P08. Though you didn't mention that issue until after several of us had replied to your original post.

My comments were basically to say that i haven't experienced that problem with any of my guns - even with my vintage Luger (pictured below).

As I recall, it seems that I have read that some die makers (possibly Lee) make a carbide die commonly referred to as a "bulge buster" die (for resizing cases that have bulged due to an unsuppported <cough> GLOCK <cough> chamber), that resizes the brass right down to the base.

That may be one solution to the problem you're trying to solve. Just a thought...

 

[Warren Sear]

Thanks, BC38. I will look into that.

My byf 41. A post with a gun picture would not be complete without a finger on the trigger...

PS My P.38, even with is single column magazine, feeds everything without flaw.

 

[BC38]

Thanks, BC38. I will look into that.

My byf 41. A post with a gun picture would not be complete without a finger on the trigger...

PS My P.38, even with is single column magazine, feeds everything without flaw.

Nice looking old Luger. Sorry, but I don't have the depth of knowledge about them to know what "byf 41" means. What vintage and manufacturer is it? All numbers matching? 100% original finish? I see the extractor is in the original "straw" but can't tell if the same is true for the trigger and safety lever in the attached photo.

How about that wood-button mag? Does it also number to the gun? Mine came with an aluminum-button mag with a different SN, but at least it is still period-correct for the gun. Obviously mine has been refinished (nickel plated), so the mis-matched SN on the mag is less of an issue. But, FWIW, other than the mag, mine is an all SN matching gun.

AFAIK, the Mec-gar mags - like the one on the right in your picture - are about as good as it gets for aftermarket magazines. I have 3 of them and they have always performed flawlessly for me.

Do you have the same feeding problem shooting your reloads through the aftermarket mags? Or is that problem unique to the original mag?

I've always thought the P08 was just about the sexiest pistol ever made. I was positively THRILLED when I got a chance to purchase mine at a reasonable price a few years ago (due to the non-original finish). I got one of my grail guns at a price I could live with.

That is absolutely, 100%, a WIN in my book.

 

[Timothy2700]

Some of you dudes need to work on your reading comprehension skills!

As stated earlier, I wanted a carbide die that would not give the cases a "Coke bottle" shape. This wasn't for cosmetic reasons, but because the carbide Hornady and Lee sizing dies do not size close enough to the case heads to re-size them to original specs. My plain steel Redding sizer does. I want to get a sizer die like that in carbide, or similar, that does not need cases to be lubed. The reason for not wanting to lubricate the cases should be self-explanatory for even the dullest among us (maybe I'm wrong). My P.08 is finicky about ammo, and ammo made from these slightly wider cases drags on the (single column) magazine body enough to produce sluggish operation of the magazine, creating frequent feeding stoppages. I don't get these when I use the plain steel Redding sizing die.

Get it now?

it has NOTHING to do with aesthetics.

Yes this dull boy gets it now and I would have kept quiet had your original post had the details that the quote above contains. Cant read your mind about your P.08 feeding issue that are not mentioned in the original post.
Good day sir.

 

[Warren Sear]

Nice looking old Luger. Sorry, but I don't have the depth of knowledge about them to know what "byf 41" means. What vintage and manufacturer is it? All numbers matching? 100% original finish? I see the extractor is in the original "straw" but can't tell if the same is true for the trigger and safety lever in the attached photo.

How about that wood-button mag? Does it also number to the gun? Mine came with an aluminum-button mag with a different SN, but at least it is still period-correct for the gun. Obviously mine has been refinished (nickel plated), so the mis-matched SN on the mag is less of an issue. But, FWIW, other than the mag, mine is an all SN matching gun.

AFAIK, the Mec-gar mags - like the one on the right in your picture - are about as good as it gets for aftermarket magazines. I have 3 of them and they have always performed flawlessly for me.

Do you have the same feeding problem shooting your reloads through the aftermarket mags? Or is that problem unique to the original mag?

I've always thought the P08 was just about the sexiest pistol ever made. I was positively THRILLED when I got a chance to purchase mine at a reasonable price a few years ago (due to the non-original finish). I got one of my grail guns at a price I could live with.

That is absolutely, 100%, a WIN in my book.

BC38, regarding my P.08, byf was a wartime production code for the Mauser factory. 41 indicates the year of production (1941). 48 are the last two digits of the four-digit serial number, not considering the letter block, written in cursive near the serial number. The finish is original, but worn in a few areas.

Germany invented the hot-dip oxide caustic blueing process in the 1930s. Around 1938, P.08 pistols were no longer rust blued, but caustic blued. At this time, "straw color" was dropped as unnecessary and a waste of time, so from then on, all P.08 parts were blued. You noted the straw coloring on my pistol's ejector, but it is actually just discolored blue and strange lighting in my garage. All numbered parts on my pistol are matching. All of the magazines are aftermarket, one marketed by Stoeger (unknown maker, wooden bottom), and two MEC-GAR; one blue and one stainless. I replaced the black plastic magazine bottom on the blued one with a reproduction aluminum one that I found on Ebay. All three of these magazines feed very well with the right ammo (when cases are sized using the plain steel Redding die). Once I started using the plain steel sizing die, my feeding problems went away. I let two young friends of mine shoot it last Friday at my gun club. They were both familiar with the pistol type, but had never seen one or fired one. One of them commented, "Wow! That is an icon!"

I had a very similar pistol years ago with an original magazine. It fed very poorly. I had two aftermarket magazines that worked no better.

My P.38 is marked byf 43, which means it was manufactured by Mauser in 1943. I bought this pistol from the GI who brought it back from WWII. It has all matching parts.

I had the extremely good fortune of touring the Mauser factory in 1988! They happened to be building P.08 pistols at the moment! I was allowed to wander around the factory floor on my own. Of course, I was not allowed into the current military arms production area.

Both my P.08 and P.38 function extremely well with my hand loaded ammo using my home-cast 120 grain truncated cone bullets.

What are the stamps on the top of your P.08? Maybe I can answer a few questions about it.

 

[zeke]

Some of you dudes need to work on your reading comprehension skills!

As stated earlier, I wanted a carbide die that would not give the cases a "Coke bottle" shape. This wasn't for cosmetic reasons, but because the carbide Hornady and Lee sizing dies do not size close enough to the case heads to re-size them to original specs. My plain steel Redding sizer does. I want to get a sizer die like that in carbide, or similar, that does not need cases to be lubed. The reason for not wanting to lubricate the cases should be self-explanatory for even the dullest among us (maybe I'm wrong). My P.08 is finicky about ammo, and ammo made from these slightly wider cases drags on the (single column) magazine body enough to produce sluggish operation of the magazine, creating frequent feeding stoppages. I don't get these when I use the plain steel Redding sizing die.

Get it now?

it has NOTHING to do with aesthetics.

One of the things i like about the LFC is the carbide ring sizes slightly lower down on the case than the Redding carbide sizer am using. That burnished area nearer to base is from the LFC