What did you reload today?

[misterarman]

Mine worked as advertised. That was about 20 years ago and I still have the kit - just in case. I was amazed how brute force could not unstick such a small case as the .222 Rem. Mag. IIRC the rim basically curled down and the shell holder lost its grip.

Most of the loading I do now is with carbide dies. When I'm loading rifle cartridges, I don't push my luck when the dies start getting sticky.

I have a carbide Dillon in 357sig and 223 and Dillon will tell you even though it's carbide, lube it or eventually you will get one stuck.
They are correct.

 

[Bobbygun]

I have a carbide Dillon in 357sig and 223 and Dillon will tell you even though it's carbide, lube it or eventually you will get one stuck.
They are correct.

Is that due to the bottle neck cases or would they say that about straight-walled case calibers too? I've loaded quite a few straight-walled cases over the years (mostly .357 mag, .38 special, .45 colt, .40 S&W, .480 Ruger & .44 mag) and never used any lube with RCBS carbide dies. I don't recall ever needing to use excessive force either, but I'm not a high volume reloader.

My .223 dies aren't carbide and I don't have a .357 sig.

 

[Caveman Jim]

Or maybe it's just a little fatter cause it's been stretched too much.

Then it Twernt lubed enough, gotta have lube when yer shaping metal man… lube is life…

 

[misterarman]

Is that due to the bottle neck cases or would they say that about straight-walled case calibers too? I've loaded quite a few straight-walled cases over the years (mostly .357 mag, .38 special, .45 colt, .40 S&W, .480 Ruger & .44 mag) and never used any lube with RCBS carbide dies. I don't recall ever needing to use excessive force either, but I'm not a high volume reloader.

My .223 dies aren't carbide and I don't have a .357 sig.

Bottleneck.

 

[Caveman Jim]

Is that due to the bottle neck cases or would they say that about straight-walled case calibers too? I've loaded quite a few straight-walled cases over the years (mostly .357 mag, .38 special, .45 colt, .40 S&W, .480 Ruger & .44 mag) and never used any lube with RCBS carbide dies. I don't recall ever needing to use excessive force either, but I'm not a high volume reloader.

My .223 dies aren't carbide and I don't have a .357 sig.

Bottle neck cartridge's need lube or they WILL eventually get stuck. IMHO

 

[misterarman]

Bottle neck cartridge's need lube or they WILL eventually get stuck. IMHO

Carbide bottleneck dies are actually a waste of money. STIILL GOTTA USE DA LUBE. Unless you are going to make like a billion rounds as they are stronger so they will laste longer.

 

[Bobbygun]

Bottle neck cartridge's need lube or they WILL eventually get stuck.

Carbide bottleneck dies are actually a waste of money.

To be honest, until today I didn't know they even made carbide dies for bottleneck cartridges.

 

[misterarman]

To be honest, until today I didn't know they even made carbide dies for bottleneck cartridges.

They are also very expensive in comparison to straight wall.

 

[Inspector 12]

38 special, 148 gr hollow base wadcutter loaded bullet upside down over 3.2 grains of bullseye. Great little round

 

[misterarman]

38 special, 148 gr hollow base wadcutter loaded bullet upside down over 3.2 grains of bullseye. Great little round

I use 3.1 of AA#2 for said bullet. Great plinker and extremely cost effective but IMHO it is the ugliest bullet I load.

 

[Snip]

They are also very expensive in comparison to straight wall.

I have carbide dies for 308 and steel dies for .223. Both work just fine. For pistol, I like to give cases inside the casefeeder a spritz or two of lube. Not much, but a little lube works great for most situations.

 

[Local Loader]

They are also very expensive in comparison to straight wall.

Have you seen the price of dies lately, straight wall dies are more expensive than bottle neck dies. I wanted an extra set of 45acp dies and they were $30 more than a set of 300WM dies.

 

[misterarman]

I have carbide dies for 308 and steel dies for .223. Both work just fine. For pistol, I like to give cases inside the casefeeder a spritz or two of lube. Not much, but a little lube works great for most situations.

I have also considered lubing everything. I haven't as of yet, but the thought does bounce around in my cranium.
Lube is good.

 

[misterarman]

Have you seen the price of dies lately, straight wall dies are more expensive than bottle neck dies. I wanted an extra set of 45acp dies and they were $30 more than a set of 300WM dies.

I have a set of 300 Win Mag dies for sale that will disprove that theory.

 

[Local Loader]

I have a set of 300 Win Mag dies for sale that will disprove that theory.

I'm talking about just a standard set of dies.

 

[misterarman]

I'm talking about just a standard set of dies.

I guess that falls under "never say never" right?
From all I'm learning about the quality carbide shortage carbide dies are not going to get any less expensive.
Plus rampant inflation.

 

[Local Loader]

I guess that falls under "never say never" right?
From all I'm learning about the quality carbide shortage carbide dies are not going to get any less expensive.
Plus rampant inflation.

Yeah and it sucks, I liked when they were cheaper and all the dies have gone up in cost, at least $20-30 bucks more than the last time I bought dies which was like a year ago.

 

[misterarman]

Yeah and it sucks, I liked when they were cheaper and all the dies have gone up in cost, at least $20-30 bucks more than the last time I bought dies which was like a year ago.

I have adopted the why wait policy.
And if I think I need 1. BUY 3

 

[Local Loader]

I have adopted the why wait policy.
And if I think I need 1. BUY 3

Yeah, I did buy extras of ones I thought I might need later but not as many as I should have. Just didn't have the money at the time to get extras of each in one go. Not much better now with the higher cost and crappy selection of available dies.

 

[Newberg]

I have adopted the why wait policy.
And if I think I need 1. BUY 3

The best part of this strategy, is forgetting about what you bought until you randomly move a box or two and find 4.2k 150grn fmjbt Hornady 30cals and 4k 115grn 9mm projectiles.