Steel RCBS .38/.357 Sizer Die.

USSR

Finger Lakes Region of NY
Been looking around for a steel (not carbide) sizing die for my .38 Special wadcutter brass. Have heard that there is a slight taper in them. Finally found one, but it seems that with these old RCBS dies, the decapping function was done in the expander die, so no decapping pin came with it. The current RCBS carbide dies decapping pin shaft does not fit it, but lo and behold, the one in their rifle dies is a perfect fit. So, I screwed in one out of my .308 Winchester sizing die and I am in business. And, yes, there is a slight taper in the steel sizer die, so I will be sizing them a little less. Just thought you might want to know.

Don
 

358156 hp

At large, whereabouts unknown.
You can also readjust your later model sizing die to only partially size your cases, as long as they were originally fired in the same gun. Just squish them down far enough to support the entire length of the seated bullet. The larger, unsized base will fill your chamber a little better. It does give some cases a somewhat curious almost bottleneck appearance. I realized this after buying a couple of used steel die sets on the auction sites. Still, the actual old style tapered cases just look right somehow.
 

USSR

Finger Lakes Region of NY
Yeah, but you still get it sized by the carbide insert which is at the bottom of the die. I am doing what you suggested with the steel die, and it doesn't size it as much. Also, I use a custom expander die (.3575") and size my wadcutters to .359".

Don
 

RicinYakima

High Steppes of Eastern Washington
Don, I don't shoot as many rounds as I used to do, so I have time to make the most accurate 50 cases. I do just what you are doing, except use .358 expander and .360 for my 100 year old S&W's.
 

RicinYakima

High Steppes of Eastern Washington
Oh no!!! I will not live long enough to complete all the projects I have planned! I start my day at 0500 and don't go to bed till 2100. Never bored, never without something to do and people keep asking me to do more. Now I'm volunteering at the local museum, working on their 200+ firearms collection (with Gatling gun!).
 
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Rick

Moderator
Staff member
I fired an original Gatling gun from the 1800's. Great fun, extremely expensive. Was a show at our range several years ago and one of the vendors was a guy with the Gatling gun, $1.00 per round and ya could shoot all ya wanted. I gave him $20 & he loaded 20 45-70 rounds, was aimed at the 100 yard birm. Not even 1/4 turn of the handle and the gun was empty and there was a very impressive hole in the birm.
 

RBHarter

West Central AR
USSR
I adjust the carbide dies up to only size the top half inch of my 45 Colts for the Rossi 92' . The mouth comes out of the chamber about .486 but they have a .492 max body . My carbide dies take the brass down to .470 and have a huge Coke bottle effect . The sizing alone wears out the brass .
The "neck sizing" pays off having half the case fit the chamber and the false neck fitting the bullet for the throats . The decapping pin adjusts far enough down to still do the job .
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
My old steel RCBS WC sizer die basically neck sizes the front 1/4" of the brass, just a little sizing farther back. My set is early RCBS,
cardboard box with metal tab locks, and no decapper in the sizer,
as you say. Mine is marked for 1960 manufacture.

Aluminum bodied :confused: expander die does the decapping. I made my own deeper than normal expander as a separate step after decapping. My
RCBS decapper/expander is marked 356, and mics out at .357. My home made expander mics out to .358. A case sized will take a .352 pin gauge, after
decapping and expanding it will take a .356 pin gauge, and after my expander, it will take a .357 pin gauge. 0.001 spring back.

You can look at the inside of the case and see that the expander is only touching the top 1/4" where it was really resized.

Bill
 
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USSR

Finger Lakes Region of NY
USSR
I adjust the carbide dies up to only size the top half inch of my 45 Colts for the Rossi 92' . The mouth comes out of the chamber about .486 but they have a .492 max body . My carbide dies take the brass down to .470 and have a huge Coke bottle effect .

Yeah, the .45 Colt is the worst. SAAMI specs for the cartridge call for it to be a straight case, while SAAMI specs for the chamber are tapered. I traded off my carbide dies and bought a set of RCBS steel dies and am much happier. I also bought and installed one of the RCBS Cowboy expander stems which is larger in diameter.

Don
 

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
Yeah, the cowboy expanders are worth every penny. Also the sizers don't size quite as much and I use them in 357, 44 and 45 Colt.
 
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RBHarter

West Central AR
I had a 38 , 38/357 rifle and a 357 that by some freak chance would share brass except for.the real high stepping loads from the rifle back to the revolver . I my notes say that I also short sized those or used the 9mm sizer .
It's been a while since I ran any 38/357 or 9mm for that matter . It seems that the 45 clan has taken it's place .
 

358156 hp

At large, whereabouts unknown.
I fumbled around a bit on 38/357. I started out with Hornady Durachrome carbide for everything, but feel the carbide dies size the cases down too much, so I tried a set of Hornady New Dimension which didn't size the cases down as far as the older carbides, and eventually decided the cases were still getting squished down too much. So I bought a set of Durachrome steel for the tapered sizing die, but wanted a larger base, so I tried out partial sizing with carbide which gave mixed results with some cases. Then I tried full length sizing with a gutted LEE factory crimp die, but got erratic velocities, probably due to neck tension. Now I also have a set of RCBS Cowboy dies, which seem to split the difference neatly. I was using sorted cases, matched by headstamp & weight. Matched lot cases did wonders for getting the consistency I thought I already had, but didn't recognize the shortfall. One other thing I've noticed, Dillons powder drop funnels are not the optimum size for case mouth flaring & expansion. Consistency and fit took me back to the M die.

So I have a bit of everything for 38/357...
 

USSR

Finger Lakes Region of NY
Don, I don't shoot as many rounds as I used to do, so I have time to make the most accurate 50 cases. I do just what you are doing, except use .358 expander and .360 for my 100 year old S&W's.

Ric,

I am sizing my wadcutters to .359" simply because that is the biggest sizer I had on hand. I measured one of the wadcutters unsized and they appear to be .360". So, I just ordered a Lyman .360" sizer and we will see what that does. That's what I love about reloading; buying new tools and trying new things.:)

Don
 

RicinYakima

High Steppes of Eastern Washington
You spend $20 on reloading tools and get hours of enjoyment. Much better than bars and women!