38 Special die setup for 357 magnum Ammunition Reloading with Lee Turret Press

[agentham]

Are you Canadian?

[bearing01]

@agentham Born and raised in Canada. I now live in the USA. /John

[agentham]

@bearing01 I thought I heard some Canadian. ;p

Got another question for you; when I size my .38 and .357 the sizer die takes a good amount of pressure to do it's job often causing a loud noise and the whole bench to vibrate, not to mention long scratches down the length of the case.

I use a RCBS non progressive press so not the same as yours but my .30-06 takes about 1/10 the effort to resize and no big scratches. My cases are lubed well and I am using a steel RCBS die, any suggestions?

[bearing01]

@agentham You get the scratches when you resize? Or do you use a factory crimp die and that's when you get the scratches? I'd check the inside of the die to make sure there are no scratches in the die. Also, maybe use a different case lube. I like Imperial sizing wax. As for the loud noise, are you using bullets with a wax/grease ring? I usually get a noise when I load lead 45acp with a grease ring groove. Try belling the case mouth more to see if that helps. /John

[agentham]

@bearing01 No crimping die, it only happens when sizing. I've cleaned the die a few times and used reasonably ample amounts of lube. The lube I used is the same as I use with my .30-06 cartridges and there have been 0 problems with them, I'll check my local gun shops for the wax though.

The bullets are Hornady 125 gr FP-XTP which have a cannelure but I don't have issues with any of the reloading steps except sizing. Take a look at the video response I posted to get a better idea.

[Dusty45ful]

You have to be careful with a RCBS Resizer/Decapping die. The pin has a neck flaring taper, much like a rifle Resizing Die. I made a mess out of some .357 brass on this die. 'Had to run them thru the Factory Crimping die to get them back. It really stresses the cases.

Thanks for the great video.

[bearing01]

@Dusty45ful Thanks /John

[legalsolutions07]

Very nice vid. As a newbie to reloading you did a great job of explaining the basics. Much appreciated. It made my first attempt much easier to understand everything that is suppose to occur during the reloading process.

[bearing01]

@legalsolutions07 Thank you. Yea, that was the purpose of the video. /John

[keltingr]

thanks. helpful

[bearing01]

@keltingr You're welcome. Thanks for watching & commenting. /John

[gunmanguns]

does the factory crimp die get rid of the bulge in the case that the bullet leaves after seating?

[bearing01]

@gunmanguns I guess, because I don't get any case bulge when loading 38sp or 357mag. The only time I get case bulge (hourglass shape) is when I load 9mm Luger. Thanks for watching & commenting /John

[gunmanguns]

@bearing01 ya that's what i was referring to i dont get any either when i load 38's just cant seem to get rid of it in 9mm they function fine. i would just like to get rid of it

[romansten9]

@bearing01 You mentioned a bulge with 9mm Luger. I have the same issue. Do you do anything to get rid of the bulge? Would crimping help, or maybe making sure the bullets are sized? Because of the bulge, I noticed that some of my rounds fit tighter in the bore, so I usually take the barrel out and make sure they fall out of the barrel when I flip it upside down. I haven't reloaded them in awhile but I think the amount of flare of the case might have affected the bulge too.

[bearing01]

@romansten9 I use a Wilson Max Gage. There's nothing you can do about the hourglass shaped case.  It's not a big deal. Everyone I talk to has this issue. The 9mm case is actually tapered just a little (it's not straight wall like say 45acp) and seating the bullet causes the walls to swell. Fitting tight in the breech may be due to the case. Glocks seem to make the brass head large. I jam the cartridge head first in the Max Gage to resize & make sure the case head doesn't jam. Tks /John

[romansten9]

@bearing01 Thanks for the help. Last time I reloaded 9mm, I think I noticed that factory made bullets were not quite the same as my cast bullets. One caused the case to swell, and the other didn't. I don't remember which one right now! But, like you said its not a big deal and not difficult to correct, if at all.

[vyxaer]

Are you trying to get the crimp just below where the cannelure stops? Is that what you're doing?

[bearing01]

@vyxaer Yes, to get the crimp to bend in just in under the upper ridge of the canneluer. Thanks for watching and commenting. /John

[omckaddis]

good info John, Glenn from norway

[bearing01]

@omckaddis Thank you Glenn. Thanks for commenting. /John

[Clipity]

Nice video.

[bearing01]

@Clipity Thanks. Thank you for watching and commenting. /John