reloading 357 with 38 dies

[Jackcpat]

Lee dies

Kornax,
I use the same dies you are using. Even though you don't need to lube with carbide dies I do anyway. Read your instructions carefully, tighten your de-primer stem down as tight as you can and you should be good. I also use the factory crimp die that's included instead of crimping with the bullet seater die. I've added Hornady lock and load adapters to all my dies so not to have to reset everytime. Good luck.

 

[Mike0251]

As mentioned in the post above, lube those cases first! Makes all the difference in the world in the decap/resize operation. Other than cleaning and tightening the decap it is as simple as that. The only pistol cases I do not lube are 9, 40, 45 (run thru big blue). All my revolver cases are done on a Lee single stage and get lubed. After decap and resize then I clean.

 

[gwpercle]

A little lube and two wrenches will help. Put one wrench on the die body ( it has flats for this ) and the other wrench on the top nut holding the rod , and tighten that rascal until it no longer slips.
In theory carbide dies don 't need lube....in practice , it helps big time.
Dissolve Lee case lube in alcohol , put in spray bottle and spritz cases , roll around , let dry and size.
Don't forget to adjust dies for 357's longer case.
Gary

 

[Kiwi cop]

Lee decapping Dies are made to slip to prevent breaking the pin.
I think You would be hard pressed to break it tho because I am guilty of helping mine along with a hammer if the Pin wont remove the primer without slipping up.

I use Lee dies almost exclusively and have done so for over 25 years now.

The only problem I have ever had is with 9mm in a progressive press. I am constantly breaking the decapping pin. No other calibre in either my turret or progressive presses does this. Not sure why but sets of 3 replacement pins only cost a few dollars.

 

[DWalt]

"... slightly off subject but I bought a separate set of Lee dies for 357. A small investment to not have to readjust from 38 to 357. And yes, the decapping pin needs a gorilla touch to keep from slipping. "

For MANY years I have used a set of RCBS .38/.357 carbide dies. The die set came with a thick washer spacer that allows the expanding and bullet seating dies to always remain set for the .38 Special, and it works just fine. No reason whatsoever to have two die sets in the same caliber.

 

[smithrjd]

My Lee dies in 38/357 work fine, I have reloaded literately 10's of thousands of rounds. Do you tumble your brass in walnut media? Or something similar? Often a piece of media gets stuck in the flash hole deflecting the de-capping pin. As others have said tighten the lock nut up hard.

 

[LostintheOzone]

Lots of different ways to go about this. Some people decap first and then clean their brass. Once the brass is clean they resize. The theory being that you get a cleaner primer pocket if you use fine walnut shell as a medium. Of course if you use a power pocket cleaning tool it doesn't matter. I have and use a Lee universal decapper. A berdan primer won't break it. They will break a std. decapping/sizer die pin. Ask me how I know this. I load a lot of military brass from outer space.

Lee Universal Depriming Decapping Die

This is an extra step but so is seating and crimping with different dies.

I got tired of adjusting my seater die for 38 to 357 and back so bought another set of dies. Yeah, I've got money to burn.

One thing about dies, you can always sell them here for half of what you paid for them.

 

[LostintheOzone]

As mentioned in the post above, lube those cases first! Makes all the difference in the world in the decap/resize operation. Other than cleaning and tightening the decap it is as simple as that. The only pistol cases I do not lube are 9, 40, 45 (run thru big blue). All my revolver cases are done on a Lee single stage and get lubed. After decap and resize then I clean.

If you resize before you clean a case you run the risk of putting grime into your dies from dirty cases. Everything I have read recommends that you clean your cases first before you resize. Maybe you aren't using carbide dies, don't know, but if you do I would recommend cleaning your cases first.

I'm not sure how lubing a case will make punching a cap out any easier. The lube only interacts with the surface of the case and the surface of the die wall. The pin freely goes thru the case until it hits the spent primer, no friction involved there. I lube tapered cases but it isn't to help the decapping pin do it's job.

I'm not saying it doesn't help, just don't see how it can.

 

[carpriver]

When I started reloading 38 and 357 I decided to spent the money to get both sets of dies, they are set up for each caliber, the only adjustment I need to made is seating depth.

 

[kornax]

Wow, i didn't have time to check back in a few days. Thanks all for the comments and suggestions!

I went with the tighten down hard method and all worked well. Went through all the rest of the cases just fine knocking out all the primers without issue.

A couple of comments to respond to others:

So far I have only used Lee dies. No issues at all save this issue, and it was just an experience issue. I have read many reviews and most say lee are the same quality as any of the other brands. That being said, when i buy my next set of dies, i will try another brand of the heck of it!

I clean with with primers in because I had read many different articles looking at both points of view, before decapping and after. Ultimately, I chose to clean with primers so that I don't have to worry about media getting stuck in the primer hole, and I know the cases won't gum up my dies. Honestly I think its 6 to one, 1/2 dozen to the other there.

As for cleaning the primer hole... I inspect every casing after they are clean. I do so after cleaning so I know I can see all cracks, bulges, or other things that would make me toss that brass out. After decapping, i typically do a once over on them with a hand cleaning tool (i put it in a drill) and only clean any that look to be excessively dirty. Most look fine.

I don't load enough to warrant the purchase of all the extra dies. And I go through the set process each time to make sure its correct. I look at it as a safety issue. I am loading explosive powder and caps into a casing with a bullet that would certainly hurt if something went wrong. Might as well take the extra minute or two to make sure everything is correct. Some might poke fun at that, but... this process so far has worked for me!

Again, thanks for all the responses. I don't post here much, but whenever I do, there are plenty of people around who offer help. Great community!

 

[rotor1]

Lee dies you really need to tighten the decap pin down tight. The top of the pin should be level with the top of the screw when you tighten it. Don't know what press you are using but why clean, then sizing and depriming and then checking primer pockets? Sounds like you are on a single stage press. If you want to do it that way just get the Lee universal depriming die ( really cheap), clean brass, inspect after cleaning and if you must, clean primer pockets then. I personally don't clean primer pockets.
I use universal deprimer, clean all brass of one caliber only, inspect all including primer pocket and punch out media if present, since cleaning media has some Cabela's shine stuff added I don't do additional lube, carbide resize and prime, then powder die (Lee Auto Drum-very accurate), bullet seat die, factory crimp die. When you start doing 45 ACP this method works very well in separating your small - large primer cases.